Twentieth century witnessed the coming of age of a new kind of hero- the middle class hero. The rise of the middle class hero is not an isolated event. Instead it is the culmination of a centuries long process. At each successive stage a minor subversion of the nature of the hero took place culminating in the new hero who can with some qualification be called the anti-hero. The qualification being that anti here is not a negative quality, which traditional meaning would render the anti-hero a villain. …
