hero

[Terrance]

> David Morris wrote:
> >
> > I like this.  It also says of course that Blicero is a figure "of central
> > importance in the novel."   Was Faust evil?  I suggest no more so than
> > Blicero.  It is an apt comparison.
> >
> > Blicero is the Sado-Father to Slothop's inept Oedipus.  Neither is evil.
> > Both are inevitable and both heroic in their own spheres.

As a central figure he is a hero I guess, as Satan is a Hero
in PL, as Ahab is a Hero in Moby-Dick, but heroic, no. He is
not courageous and he performs no heroic deeds. He is
impressive in size and  scope, he is a grand creation, a
monster, a cancerous malignancy, beautiful, sublime
perhaps,  larger than life and death, but not heroic as Pig
is heroic when he saves Rooney when he tries to jump off the
fire-escape even though he is afraid of heights or Benny
when he prevents Pig from raping Paola. There is much
ambiguity and complexity, this is as it should be, even with
flat characters like P's, but Blicero is figure that
embodies or personifies evil. Weissman is more like
Pointsman, not heroic either. 

That's my opinion,