ABSTRACT
Though infinitely varied in detail the hero story is always the same. Exciting and suspenseful, it keeps the reader turning the pages to find out what happens next as one peril, predicament, terror, mystery and struggle follows another, but the hero’s ultimate triumph is always assured. Most readers enjoy these stories, they are the basis of some of the most popular films ever made, and children often nominate ‘adventure’ as their favourite kind of reading (Lodge 1987:151). One reason for their appeal is their very predictability: the formula to which they conform is so familiar that they present no challenge to the reader s interpretive or critical skills. Further, their series of banal thrills reinforce the standard perceptions and prejudices of our culture, assuring the young Western male reader of his innate superiority.
