In combining elements of the outlaw hero with the official hero while overall favoring the outlaw heroic mode, Gump resembles a Trickster figure, as Brown (1990) (as well as many other scholars) have described this archetype. The Trickster is neither purely good nor purely evil, neither purely an outsider nor purely conventional. The Trickster is a chaotic figure, and fundamental to his or her appeal is that we are never entirely sure which face the Trickster will show to us from one moment to the next. Throughout the literary and dramatic traditions of a range of cultures and ages, the Trickster helps to produce that sense of resolution so often missing from real life. The Trickster exists, more than for any single reason, to ensure that the good are rewarded and the evil are punished and - when this is not possible - that we as observers can at least come to a sense of peace about the injustice of the world. The former role - meting out judgements - tends to be played by the outlaw hero while the latter - helping us to understand that we must support our society and culture even when things are unfair - is the role of the official hero. Gump, as a Trickster, plays both roles.gination valuing self-determination and freedom from entanglements. By contrast, the official hero, normally portrayed as a teacher, lawyer, politician, farmer, or family man, represented the American belief in collective action, and the objective legal process that superseded private notions of right and wrong. While the outlaw hero found incarnations in the mythic figures of Davy Crockett, Jesse James, Huck Finn, and all of Leslie Fiedler's "Good Bad Boys" and Daniel Boorstin's "ringtailed roarers", the official hero developed around legends associated with Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Lee, and other "Good Good Boys" (http://www3.cerritos.edu/fquaas/resources/English102/outlawh |
