Is Gen a Hero?

Last time we discussed the book, we discussed whether or not Gen could be considered a hero. We found that he had some heroic traits, but mostly, people thought that he was not really a hero. Some points that people had were:

Heroic

• He stole Hamiathes' Gift
• He was the hero of Eddis (although not of Sounis)
• The story is through his point of view, so the readers are rooting for him
• He felt bad about stealing the Gift from the gods
• He works for the greater good
• He chose not to kill when he had the opportunity

Not Heroic

• He steals things
• He is not smart (although some people disagreed with this point, and we will come back to it later!)
• He uses betrayal to his advantage
• He has bad or no morals
• He went to jail
• Heroes aren't scared of fighting
• He hid the Gift from the Magus

However, Gen's story maps almost perfectly onto The Hero's Journey. For your first blog post, choose a part of the Hero's Journey and find a part of The Thief that matches that part of the journey. Together, we can parallel the entire Hero's Journey to Gen's journey in The Thief.

And if you want to, add your own thoughts about whether or not Gen is a hero. What are the requirements for a hero? How does Gen compare to other heroes you know?