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The Heroic in Little Women
Louisa May Alcott furnishes a probing look at the hero through recognition of how the
imaginary hero of romantic fiction is not always the ideal while bringing the reader to see the
heroic in the everyday lives of four young women with the primary emphasis falling on Jo. In the
chapter, "Castles in the Air," as each of the characters envisions the distant future (ten years
hence anyway), Jo remarks, "I want to do something splendid before I go into my castle--
something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I'm dead. I don't know what, but
I'm on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all some day" (Alcott 133).
As the book progresses, many references are made to show the shallowness that has
begun to be associated with the heroic. ". . . Laurie heroically shut his eyes . . ." (Alcott 264).
"Fred is not my model hero" (Alcott 294). Finally, Jo focuses the conflict in recognizing the
heroic when she reaches the point of realizing that she "preferred imaginary heroes to real ones,
because when tired of them, the former could be shut up in the tin kitchen till called for, and the
latter were less manageable" (Alcott 298).
With Jo March, Alcott presents a modern young woman in a day when women were
very much relegated to a specific role within the home. From the opening pages of the book, Jo
exhibits a unique strength of character that refuses to be molded to the traditional form. She
longs to be a boy, primarily because of the opportunities available to the male in society.
However, taking her unusual family upbringing and applying it to Jo's determination to be
different creates an individual who is heroic in her strength and courage to stand out in society
and her ability to share that quality with others.
From the moment we meet Jo, she is revealed as one who cares little for what other
people think. She will be her own person. Within the course of the novel, however, she learns
that although one should not allow what others think to determine what one becomes,
consideration for others can never be carelessly tossed aside. The ability to take each situation,
good or bad, and to learn from it sets Jo on her heroic journey. She learns from Marmee the
power of a controlled temper. From Meg she discovers that the role of wife and mother is not
one to be totally scorned. Jo comes to recognize that there is sometimes strength in weakness as
exhibited in Beth. She further discovers that pleasure and a good time though important are not
all there is to life through her relationship with Laurie. Through both Laurie and Amy she comes
to recognize the place of talent in life and the way money can be rightly used for the betterment
of all.
Although not encountered until late in the novel, Jo's journey to the heroic reaches its
culmination in her finding a non-fiction hero of her own in Professor Bhaer. "[W]hile endowing
her imaginary heroes with every perfection under the sun, Jo was discovering a live hero, who
interested her in spite of many human imperfections" (Alcott 321). At this point is revealed a
hero who is not perfect by worldly standards, not a knight in shining armor, not a king making
the supreme sacrifice for his people, but rather the heroic is discovered in the simplicity of
character that revealed that "genuine good will toward one's fellow men could beautify and
dignify" (Alcott 322). Making her deal with her driving ambition, he helps her see "that
character is a better possession than money, rank, intellect, or beauty . . ." (Alcott 324).
Alcott takes great pains to differentiate between the heroine and hero, making it clear
that Jo is no heroine.
[I]f she had been the heroine of a moral storybook, she ought at this period of
her life to have become quite saintly, renounced the world, and gone about doing good in a
mortified bonnet, with tracts in her pocket. But, you see, Jo wasn't a heroine, she was only a
struggling human girl like hundreds of others, and she just acted out her nature, being sad, cross,
listless, or energetic, as the mood suggested. (397)
Laurie observes about the Professor and Jo that they "work like heroes, poor and friendless, but
[are] so full of courage, patience, and ambition" that it causes him to be ashamed of himself
(Alcott 419). Jo, in finding her life's mate however, refuses to allow herself to become a
conformity to society's model of the wife and mother. Rather, she insists that she will carry her
share and help in the earning of the home as a condition of marriage (Alcott 438).
Jo's journey to the heroic ultimately leads her to a role where her life is spent in giving
herself to others, shaping them to be themselves while still maintaining proper place in the grand
scheme of things. Through her characterization, a hero is fully developed as one with the
strength of character that allows one to be uniquely different while seeking always to help others
in the journey of life by placing them ahead of oneself. Jo's heroic act that will not be forgotten
after she's dead, only a dream as a young lady, is realized through the lives she touches and the
future generations she ultimately affects.
Works Cited
Alcott, Louisa. Little Women. Intro. Ann Douglas. NY: Signet Classic, 1983.
© 1993, 1998--Faye Kiryakakis
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