The antihero is a character with qualities of a villain but with elements of a heroism within himself. The character often serves as a vehicle for the literary representation of social and political realities (Flowerstorm Website, 2008). In the novel Rule of the Bone, Chappie was the anti-hero who through several life stages found independence from a broken family, the wrong associations and addiction, and his adventures in Jamaica. Finally, he opts to live a normal life and goes back to the United States.
Chappie found freedom from a family that deprived him of a normal childhood and introduced him to parental injustices at a very early age. He left home and tried to find meaning of life in his unfortunate situation. At this point in the novel, he wore a cross-boned tattoo and changed his name to Bone. The wrong associations led him to a violent life and made him conclude he is destined to be a criminal. Deep inside was his longing for love and affection as reflected by his rescue of a child from a pedophile. Both Bone and Rose, the child he saved, will eventually find refuge with a wise and gentle Jamaican (named I-Man) who lives in an abandoned bus. At this time, he realizes he can be independent from his old friends and their bad influence and experience a peaceful stage in his life. I-Man was around to answer the young adolescents questions about living as an independent individual. I-Man treated Bone as an equal and the latter experienced having a friend without being dependent on that friend. At his time, Bone found himself less dependent on marijuana and less dependent on his old friend Russ. His former friendship with Russ was correlated with his dependency on marijuana. Here we see Bones inner side and his potential for turning into a better person.
The setting shifts to Jamaica. Here Bone finds himself totally independent. He enjoyed doing things people tell him not to do. He was following the lifestyle of his father who did not have a good life. Bone knew that total independence and freedom is not good. He decides not to follow the footsteps of his father. Slowly the antihero in the story turns into the traditional hero normally depicted in literature.
Bone returns to America as a mature adult decided to live a good life and get an education. He knows that he has to make a decision and do something so he can have a better future. His decision to abandon the pleasures of Jamaica marks another achievement in freeing himself from the clutches of earthly materialism that weighed heavily in his decisions during his youth after gaining freedom from his family. He knows now that too much freedom is not good and destructive. He did not allow this destruction to happen to him, as it happened to his own father, by giving up the pleasures of life in Jamaica and setting a new course in his life as an independent person. As he saved Rose from the pedophile, he saved his own life from corrupting and destructive effects of unbounded pleasures in Jamaica.
Bone is the anti-hero who at first was a despicable villain but in the end appealed to the sympathy of the reader as one possessing heroic traits that eventually save himself from disaster. His strength of character in the end calls for emulation. The struggles he underwent molded said character and revealed his motivations similar to that of modern day heroes.
There is parallelism in the life of Bone and Huckleberry Finn. The latter in his boyhood also found himself running from home after suffering abuse. In the course of his adventures, he meets Jim the equivalent of I-Man. Although there are significant differences between them, during the time of Huck, family relationship was stable and intact. Bone was born into a family with a nagging mother and an abusive father. Huck;s adventures were founded on his innocent outlook in life. In the case of Bone, he was escaping from the tyranny of child neglect and abuse.
Both of them are escaping from the social illnesses of their times. Hucks escape symbolized freedom from racism while Bone escaped from child abuse. The significance is that there were neglect of certain sectors of society. During Hucks time, the black people were not considered a part of the mainstream of American life. In the case of Bone, present day society has failed to take care of its youth which explains the prevalence of drug addition, unwanted pregnancies, and a growing number of out-of-school youth..
As Huck and Jim traveled peacefully down the Mississippi River, they met all sorts of people, both good and bad. In the same manner, Bone met different kinds of people. In their encounters, the protagonists learned about life and had a lot of questions needing answers in order that they find their own life directions. At one point in the story, Huck questioned the importance of pride and honor after two feuding families committed murder in their name. Bone would encounter freedom and independence in its extremes and the corruption they can do to an individual. We know that pride, honor, freedom and independence are factors that have served as foundations of American history.
Both Jim and I-Man played roles of strong and wise men. They provided the parental guidance which were missing in the two boys lives. Both instances signal societys failures in taking care of their own youth. At the time of Huck, family ties were strong and stable. Bone faced a different family situation that seemed to be depicted as the rule in the novel. Modern society is marked with disintegrating values and the family is one of its victims.
Both characters depicted adolescent lives and resorted to escapism to resolve heir problems. Today, Bone serves as an example of how modern day youth can fall into the pitfalls of modern day living. Many homeless children today can find comparisons with the experience of Bone. But human nature has not changed much as Huck also encountered thieves and murderers during his travels with Jim. Huck was lucky he belonged to a society that cared for the oppressed and the underdog. Bone was lucky to be strong and wise to make an independent decision that will change his life for the better. It was up to him to make the decision on his own; basing on what he encountered in the past and what he wants to be in the future.
The role of the family is one of the most important themes of both novels. Both Huck and Bone have problems with their families and eventually runs away. As they traveled down the river, families attempted to adopt Huck. Bone, on the other hand, experiences peace while living with Rose and I-Man in the abandoned school bus. Both novels depict the problems of the world and many of these stem from deteriorating family ties. The family serves as the basic building block of society, then and now. The stories speak out not only to the youth but also to adults as to the importance of the family in countering the moral decay that has afflicted modern society.
Reference
The gallery of antiheroes and villains. Retrieved January 20, 2008,from http://www.flowerstorm.net/disa/Gallery/anti-main.html
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