Thomas Covenant...coward or hero?

[Wildwood]

Bear with me this is the first time I have ever started a topic in anything...

Many years ago I tried to read TCTC and I had a very difficult time because of the main character. I couldn't stand him! He was so very unpleasent, and completely without any hope, I just couldn't bear to finish. I very rarely, NEVER finish a book, but this one...well I couldn't understand Covenant .... I tried, I understood that he was coping the only way he knew how, but to CHOOSE to not help those in need, to leave the fate of the land in the hands of the people who were reaching out for help from him....

Anyway, in the first part of the book, the old begger man sends a boy to give Covenant a clipping...

"A real man-real in all the ways that we recognize as real-finds himself suddenly abstracted from the world and deposited in a physical situation which could not possibly exist: sounds have aroma, smells have color and depth, sights have texture, touches have pitch and timbre. There he is informed by a disembodied voice that he has been brought to that place as a champion for his world. He must fight to the death in single combat against a champion from another world. If he is defeated he will die, and his world- the real world-will be destroyed because it lacks the inner strength to survive.
The man refuses to believe that what he is told is true. He asserts that he is either dreaming of hallucinating, and declines to be put on the false position of fighting to the death where no "real" danger exists. He is implacable in his determination to disbelieve his apparent situation, and does not defend himself when he is attacked by the champion of the other world.
Question: is the man's behavior courageous or cowardly? This is the fundamental question of ethics."

OK so does Covenant not remember reading this at all? You would think he'd connect the dots and remember....but he is so preoccupied with telling himslef that it's all NOT real and making deals with himself to not go crazy he disregards the world that he IS in at the moment.

So here is my topic, was Covenant courageous or cowardly? If this has already been discussed please forgive me...but I am eager to hear your views.

[Worm of Despite]

As I'm re-reading the books and they're still a bit dim on me, I won't say anything myself, but I will quote TC on the subject:

"Craven? Hellfire! I'm a bloody coward!" Some of his rage returned to him, and he sputtered through the sweat and tears that ran into his mouth, "All lepers are cowards. We have to be!"

Okay, I lied. I'll say something, but not much. I think TC was a lot of things. He could be outrageously courageous and compassionate when need called; he could be a coward when need called; he could be a rapist at his lowest, his darkest.

Let's face it: TC was freaking complicated. That's why I like the guy. But I think, as others have stated before, that without his said complications, he wouldn't have been able to fight Foul. I'm not even really sure what that means exactly, but I've heard others say it before.

[UrLord]

he is so preoccupied with telling himslef that it's all NOT real and making deals with himself to not go crazy he disregards the world that he IS in at the moment.

If you felt in danger of going insane, would you pay more attention to that, or to the imaginary plights of dream-people? I feel like I can understand Covenant, that's why I can feel empathy for his need to assert that the Land is a dream. To me, he uses the word cowardice to describe his intense instinct for self-preservation, and instinct which has been impressed into him by the leprosarium to the point where it consumes him. To me, the entire first chronicles is about him learning that this leper's need for self-preservation (what he deems cowardice in himself) does not have to consume everything that makes him human. The last page of the first chronicles makes that explicit:

He was a sick man, a victim of Hansen's disease. But he was not a leper--not just a leper. He had the law of his illness carved in large, undeniable letters on the nerves of his body; but he was more than that...And he had a heart which could still pump blood, bones which could still bear his weight; he had himself.
Thomas Covenant: Unbeliever.

I wouldn't call him a coward. He's a fighter; he's a man completely unwilling to admit defeat. The problem is that for most of the first chronicles he sees the Land itself as his enemy, as a danger to him, so he fights it with everything he can, primarily Unbelief.

EDIT: Oh, I also have to point out that just because he read that paper doesn't mean that he'll immediately say (upon arrival in the Land) "Wow! This is exactly like the situation described by that paper! Maybe there's more validity to this world than it would seem..." Obviously, the more logical explanation would be that his subconscious mind has taken hold of the ideas in the paper and his dream is a result of the paper itself.

[Skyweir]

I think TC was and probably still is .. both coward and hero!

I remember reading TCTC the first time .. the rape scene and after when he struggled to deny and hide from the wrong he knew he had done .. I loathed his cowardice then .. and came to love his valour in surrendering his life to save the Land.

That kind of self-sacrifice doesnt come without great courage and great valour!

TC is himself a paradox .. like most human's can be

[Wildwood]

As I travel along the story I am really growing to appreciate the complexity of SRD's writings. I was younger when I first tried to read the cronicles and I couldn't grasp the enormity of the struggle that Covenant went through. If you dont have the life experience to reflect off of, sometimes you really can't comprehend the difficulties that others go through. Now though, I start to grasp the inner turmoil that he has been going through and the need he has to believe that it all isn't real. I agree with what you said Ur-lord:

I wouldn't call him a coward. He's a fighter; he's a man completely unwilling to admit defeat. The problem is that for most of the first chronicles he sees the Land itself as his enemy, as a danger to him, so he fights it with everything he can, primarily Unbelief.

Also you have to take into account that he is a young man that had everything going for him, wife, child, number one best seller....Then from out of nowhere the rug is pulled out from under him and it's all gone. People hate him, revile him. He still is reeling from the blows and then THIS insanity happens to him....

Let's face it: TC was freaking complicated. That's why I like the guy. But I think, as others have stated before, that without his said complications, he wouldn't have been able to fight Foul. I'm not even really sure what that means exactly, but I've heard others say it before.

Have to agree there,Lord, without his complexity and inner turmoil, he would be your standard every day hero.... The layers are what make this story so very deep and real.

TC is himself a paradox .. like most human's can be

Again I agree Sky. I am really starting to see that as I read the second book.

I just gotta say I am so glad I found this board!!!

[Skyweir]

we're glad you found KW too wildwood!!

[JD]

TC reacted to situations as a leper. He was a social reject, the town he lived in loathed him until he saved the little girl, then they more or less tolerated him. As a leper he could not afford to believe in the Land, or its people who were so dedicated to the Land, and just great people. He did what he had to do to stay alive for the most part, except for the rape. Now he wasn't the nicest guy in the Land, he made some comments that offended people and he acted like a jerk on occassion, but in some situations he was very compassionate. The way he comforted Lena when she asked him to marry her, his caamora for the Unhomed in Coerci was very emothional and touched most of us deeply. Yes he was a coward at tims and a hero at others. A lot of people brag about how brave they would be if they were in a perilous situation, as a former Air Force Security Police Officer and as somoene who has had a loaded pistol directly pointed at me, you don't know how you're going to re-act until it happens.

[wayfriend]

And he who wields white wild magic gold
is a paradox-
for he is everything and nothing,
hero and fool,
potent, helpless

TC is a cowardly hero, of course!

I'm not really sure what purpose the beggar's note serves. Perhaps it only exists in order to prime the reader's imagination, to provide a hint on how to interpret the subsequent events. It doesn't do anything for Covenant in story, as you have noted.

[Khaliban]

If he truly believes he is in a world that does not exist, in a dream, then he is neither. If the other champion does not exist, facing him is not curageous and running is not cowardly. It's like attacking something in computer game. Maintaining that it is all a dream is an attempt to hold on to his sanity. That is either defiance, resolve or stupidity depending on the situation, but it is not cowardice. If, however, he believes it is all real and says he doesn't, then he is a coward. If he fights because it might be real, then he is logical and somewhat brave. If he fights because it's cool, then he is an idiot.