A National Hero
William Wallace is our first example of a chapbook hero. Through analysis of both stories of William Wallace and Captain America we will discover the obvious difference and parallel similarities between each hero. First, we should establish background information about a modern popular superhero. Steve Rogers was a scrawny no-body who wanted to do something meaningful with his life. When war broke out in the 1940s Steve attempted to enlist in the army. After failing the pass the physical requirements several times he was invited to be part of Operation: Rebirth, a project that would create the first super soldier through a series of "super solider serum" injections and controlled bursts of Vita-rays. This changed his physical features to be at peak performance. Rogers was then assigned to serve as a counter-intelligence agent and a symbolic American hero to counter Nazi propaganda. With the help of a special shield made out of Vibranium, the strongest metal on Earth, he became an indestructible force against his enemies, specifically Red Skull.
Returning to William Wallace, the chapbook starts with a brief depiction of Scotland during the thirteenth century. Words and phrases throughout the first paragraph paint a negative picture about the prosperity of Scotland and more importantly of the villainous English. Overlords of cruelty, oppression, betrayal and despair force slavish submission of the Scottish. It is from this setting that, like most comic books, a hero is needed to rise up and fight to defeat the villains and avenge the innocent. Parallels can be made to the creation of Captain America. In a time of despair and national war an hero rises to help fight off evil and restore balance to the realm. An event happened that sparked the desire to fight against the enemy and in the case of William Wallace and Captain America this event was a national crisis. Wallace later became one of the main leaders of the Scottish independence movement, while Steve Rogers became the beacon of liberty during World War II.
Page ten speaks of the personal characteristics of Wallace, many similar to Rogers’s character. Both heroes are "eminently fitted for his perilous enterprise" but Wallace has a love for Scotland, strong resolution, and strength of body and mind and firm manners to lead the followers of the cause.
This passage highlights Wallace's accomplishments during the War of Scottish Independence; he defeated the English in battle and chased them almost completely out of Scotland, regained control of castles and towns and led a campaign into northern England, all in the name of freedom. Rogers helped defeat Red Skull and the Nazis during World War II much like Wallace did for another invader in the thirteenth century, some 640 years earlier.
This passage nicely sums up the motives of William Wallace and Steve Rogers: to deliver their country, or the world, from oppression, support a cause with a true heart and justice all in the hopes of glory. Each character is rightly portrayed as a national hero. Now that we have looked at Captain America as a modern superhero alongside William Wallace as a proto-superhero we understand they both have many similarities qualifying them as heroes. It is only through the type of literature that heroes take on different qualities, powers, uniforms, names or stories but in some ways heroism is an inherent and timeless quality.
