Analysis Paper

In the episode of “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been” the main protagonist, Angel, portrays a vivid character with many perceived and real flaws. Angel's character does not seemed destined for heroism, yet the story pits him in situations where he does pull through to be an unlikely hero. However, based on his actions I have come to the conclusion that Angel is an uncommon and non-traditional hero because his actions are mostly self centered, and self motivated.

Angel is a vampire who lives alongside humans by masquerading as one. He chooses a shady hotel as his residence, knowing that the occupants will not question any strange aura he may emit, nor will they encroach on his personal space. Angel dresses in a manner which makes humans assume he is a rebel, and he lets them believe he has a drinking problem. I believe his disguise backfires when a young woman named Judy running from the law attempts to enlist his help. I think she assumes that he would be use to people in her situation, and maybe believe that unlike others, he could understand her situation.

It is surprising that Angel does not respond to this situation in the way that most archetypal heroes would. Rather than reaching out to Judy and recognizing her as another troubled soul, struggling with the same challenges that he himself struggles with, Angel reacts towards Judy with disdain. He doesn't really care about the human Judy, and would have never bothered to help her in any way if she had not revealed herself as sharing a very interesting commonality with him.

During the time that Angel knows Judy as merely another human, he does not hesitate to push her away, obviously not caring about her in the least. He doesn't start to care, and continues to ignore her multiple attempts to beseech his assistance until she reveals that she is half black living as a white person. During the time period of the 1950's, Judy's racial status caused her to be treated unfairly in society and she had little to no civil rights to rely on. Angel's only draw towards helping Judy, is that she presents a living parallel of himself. Judy struggles with a secret identity (recently exposed) and he struggles with his vampire identity. While they each deal with their situations in different ways, yet Angel is suddenly stricken with a strange compassion towards Judy because of the similarity of their afflictions.

Another example of Angel's disregard for others can be witnessed directly after Judy's betrayal of him. Angel is faced with a choice to save the humans in the hotel – or walk away. Angel allows a selfish grudge to prevent him from saving any of the occupants of the hotel. It could be argued that Angel's actions are a justified punishment for those who persecuted him. However, upon closer analysis it is clear that Angel's actions are spurred by pure desire for revenge against the people of the hotel who were responsible for his hanging. Most importantly, one must also consider the future occupants of the hotel as well. These people cause no ill-will towards Angel and merely had the misfortune of encountering the hotel. A true hero would never allow innocent bystanders to suffer because of the misdeeds of bad people. These two facets of Judy's betrayal and its consequences compound Angel's disregard for others and create some interesting conflicts in placing his character in the category of a “hero”.

In 2003 Angel returns to the hotel and finds that the demon residing there is still alive. Seeking redemption, Angel decides to destroy the demon. His lust for redemption is a selfish concept that only benefits him because the people he would be helping are already dead. After the demon is destroyed Angel finds out that Judy is still alive, and living in the hotel. When he visits her she surprises him by asking for his forgiveness. This is could be argued that this is a compassionate act, however I disagree. Angel doesn't hesitate, he grants her the forgiveness immediately, because it is the forgiveness he wishes he could receive. His actions make him a very unlikeable character that makes a questionable, but interesting hero.