Is Louie a hero? How do you define heroism?

[Kyle]

What do you think?

[Hannah]

Well, I'm only up to, like, Part 2-ish. But I think that he's kind of a hero. Maybe not in the conventional sense. I mean, he hasn't saved a child's life, tackled a crazed gunner, or laid down his life for a friend (yet), but he gets up every day and faces challenges, and I don't just mean in war. Even when he was running and training, he was taking the obstacles that came his way and getting over or around them. He turned himself away from stealing/wreacking havoc and towards being a cool guy who works hard all the time. He kept running when people were cutting him with cleats and still ran well. He basically gave all he had. In my opinion, that's what being a hero is about. Not everyone is going to do some drastic, awesome thing that makes them eligible for the label of "hero." Most people won't even have a chance to. But everyone is able to take problems or challenges and overcome them. Everyone is able to be an inspiration and a muse. Everyone is able to be pretty awesome. And to me, that makes them a hero.
So anyways, yeah, Louie is pretty much a hero.

[Anna]

As F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, "Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." I loved the hopeful ending of the book (trying not to write a spoiler, here!), but at the same time, there are years upon years that Louie will never recover. Though Louie overcame tragedy, it did claim a significant portion of his life.