White Mouse: A Secret Hero
As she cautiously walked along the pitch black streets, making sure that no Nazi had noticed what she had been doing this late at night, Nancy Wake spotted her next target. The hero archetype displays the quality of goodness no matter the obstacles they are struck with and seeks to maintain harmony and justice in society. During the time period of World War II, the life of Nancy Wake as a spy involved many dangers and obstacles, especially since she was a woman. Women in the time period were expected to live a life that consisted only of housework, sex, and acceptance of the fact that the could never be as good as men. However, as a hero, these obstacles did not stop Wake from achieving her goal of restoring harmony and justice in society. Nancy Wake can be considered a hero as she fought to prove that stereotypes, such as women are supposed to live a simple and proper life, should not be an obstacle in a time of need and even if they are it is the job of an individual to go against them and help society save the lives of innocent people. Wake’s actions towards the Nazis during the French Resistance and reactions to men on the comments made about women demonstrate all of the characteristics of a hero.
Nancy Wake secretly fought against the Germans during the invasion of France, which in many people’s eyes was villainous, but at the end proved to be heroic as Nancy showed that stereotypes should not be an obstacle under any circumstances. Wake was enraged after the German invasion of France demonstrating that she was ready to do anything to bring justice to France including killing a German guard with a single karate chop to the neck, executing a spy who had been working for the Germans, shooting her way out of roadblocks and biking for seventy hours through Nazi checkpoints to deliver radio codes for the Allies (Cohen). These actions illustrated her anger and rage, which at the time was extremely unacceptable for women. Although Wake makes an attempt to prove how women can also play a vital role on the battlefield and how individuals should not be afraid to speak up on their opinions, she does it in a way that negatively impacts the society. Her actions demonstrate how she thought that eliminating the enemy, the German and Nazi soldiers, was the only way she could bring justice, which is a prevalent characteristic of the villain archetype. There were, however, many encounters between the Germans and Nancy Wake in which Nancy chose to bring out the goodness in her and not harm any soldier. She describes herself as “...friendly, I was polite and was always well dressed and I had a good excuse for travelling. My French was perfect and I had an accent from Provence and the Germans were easier to fool than the French” (Joffe). Even though Nancy Wake was aware of how cruel many of the German soldiers were and was only using them to free France from the Germans, she acted in a friendly manner towards them. As a hero, she ch...
