Edward Britton, written by Gary Crew and Philip Nelson, invites the reader to believe that the protagonist, Edward Britton, is the true hero
28.02.2011 NDA
Analytical Essay- Edward Britton
“Edward Britton”, written by Gary Crew and Philip Nelson, invites the reader to believe that the protagonist, Edward Britton, is the true hero. Hero is a person who can be looked up for their actions. They exhibit qualities of fearlessness, humility, inner strength, determination, selflessness, fortitude, conviction and helpfulness. Edward, who had great personality traits such as honesty, bravery, reliability and personal strength, stood out as a model citizen in the midst of all the disobedient prisoners. Even though he was wrongly accused of stealing, he remained strong and positive during his prison term. The novel therefore portrays Edward as a true hero who should be a model for everyone.
Throughout the story, even though Edward was faced with violent and oppressive situations as a prisoner, he continued to display noble qualities and that makes him a true hero. Even though he was in prison for no reason, he held strong conviction of his innocence. Honesty, bravery and personal inner strength were foregrounded through the way he conducted himself within the novel. The authors portrayed Edward as a young man who had great personal strength which ultimately propelled him to achieve his goals. He also endured all the sufferings and toughened himself up in prison by thinking positively. For instance, he showed honesty when he spoke to Susan, “… but what I told Dr Patterson was true. As God is my witness,” (p.135). Furthermore, he insists strongly, “I stole nothing, as I have just explained!” (p.137). Therefore, the novel proposed that Edward was the kind of person who stood by his ideals. He also expressed his sincerity when Hetch and Buckridge accused him of stealing Susan’s diary- “‘I know nothing of this,’ he protested. It was the first time that he had opened his mouth… ‘You can’t accuse me of this, you can’t…’” (p.231). He also cried out, “I did not! I did not do that! I would never do that. I love her! I love her…!” (p. 232). For those reasons, Crew and Neilson encourage the reader to believe that Edward is a strong hearted man with a heroic personality which he exhibited throughout his ordeal.