ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book is a place for afterthoughts, perhaps to draw tighter certain threads, or even to mend a fence where hindsight or criticism has revealed the need. Mockery of heroes, too, does not always mean that morale is low and people are hopelessly dissatisfied. It is well known, for example, that some of the military units that griped the hardest also fought the best. Mockery of heroes might be directed mainly at reckless and phoney efforts to impress others, and might actually reflect pride in real achievement. Some trends in heroes, villains, and fools do not fall easily into a simple picture. Readers may be puzzled by apparent contradictions. Both heroes and villains are being "humanized," which in many cases is equivalent to deterioration. It may be asked, then, does this not imply a decline of melodrama and favor perception of tragedy.
