The Hero in the Mirror: From Fear to Fortitude

Utilizing examples from the clinically personal to the globally political, Sue Grand deconstructs the myth of the Hero-an externalized, larger-than-life personality who has the power to assuage our suffering while at the same time relieving us of the burdens of personal responsibility and social justice. In its place, she argues for the recognition of an ordinary hero, one who shares our fear and our flaws as well as our fortitude. As she grounds her thesis in clinical work, we meet combat veterans and children with imaginary villains, the analyst who fails to discover her own personal hero and the patient with whom she reclaims it. But she also reaches out to the wider world, critiquing the Hero's relation to war, terrorism, state-sponsored terror and genocide. This is an investigation that grows from the intimate to the collective, with implications for every corner of humanity. Book jacket.