John Irving’s Heroes and Their Graces

Abstract

Referring to John Irving's 2001 published fiction The Fourth Hand, the publisher commented, "It seems, at first, to be a comedy, perhaps a satire, almost certainly a sexual farce. Yet, in the end, it is as realistic and emotionally moving as any of Mr. Irving's previous novels." In his early six novels, John Irving shows the world suffused with grief and deception. But his novels finally turn out also as a comic and robust novel. The writer's success in achieving this thick description of the contradictory modern world is largely due to his development of the idea of the flawed hero. Despite loss, sadness and abandonment, Irving's heroes maintain classical heroic traits such as intelligence, tenderness, protectiveness, strength, bravery, sense of humor, independence, attractiveness. In this article, I tried to emphasize these graces potent in Irving's heroes as the most attractive and influential device for the writer's consistent popularity among the general public. The cinematization of his four fictions attest to audience's sympathy toward rewarding vulnerability and truthful exaggeration in the depiction of Irving's heroes. By taking full responsibility for their own fate despite having the flaws, Irving's protagonists still appeal to many readers as heroes resilient in a modern chaotic world without losing their graces.