Deconstructing the Hero

This book sets out to explore the structure and meaning of a popular literary genre, the adventure story. It contains analytical readings of some of the most popular adventure stories and looks at their influence on children.
Explores the structure and meanings within one of the most popular of all literary genres - the adventure story. This work offers analytical readings of some of the most widely read adventure stoies such as Treasure Island, the James Bond stories and Star Wars. It describes how adventure stories are influential in shaping children's perception and establishing values. When many of these stories define non-white, non-European people as inferior, and women as marginal or incapable, we should be worried about what they are teaching children to think. The author shows how teaching children to read books critically can help to prevent the establishment of negative attitudes, discourage aggression and promote values of emotion and creativity.