In the book Heroes by Robert Cormier Larry LaSalle is a mysterious and shady character who often controls the others in the book even when it would seem he was in a hopelessly weak position. However he is popular and stands out from the crowd and ran a popular youth club for teens. He was also a decorated war hero, who, like Francis Joseph Cassavant, had won a Silver Star medal for bravery. However little is known about his previous life (lives?).
In chapter five, Larry LaSalle is portrayed, in stark contrast to the rest of the book, as a Good Samaritan, who helps out at the local youth club regularly an runs events such as sport tournaments and dances, often himself competing but The past life of Larry LaSalle is shady and mysterious, one of the few things we still know very little about even at the end of the book Heroes. However what we have found out seems to suggest that he was a successful star in new York, who had his own show and was in the newspapers. However he left under a cloud in hurried and suspicious circumstances . We can only assume that this was also because of “he sweet young things” because he used the plural when he talked about “ the sweet young things” when taking about Nicole and also seemed to treat the incident as minor and of no significance whatsoever. “Sweet young things? Had he done this before ? how many young girls had been invaded by him?” and “Rumours told us that Larry LaSalle had also been a star, performing in night clubs in New York and Chicago . Someone brought in a faded newspaper clipping, showing him in a tuxedo , standing beside a night club placard that read ‘starring Larry LaSalle’ . We knew little about him however , and he discouraged questions…….Why did he turn his back on show business and return to Frenchtown ? No one dared to ask him, although there were rumours that he had ‘ gotten into trouble ‘ in New York City…” This shows that Larry LaSalle was not someone that should have been trusted running a youth club or anywhere near one and that this was known early in the book.
Larry LaSalle is a contradictory character, who , wile first appearing kind and benevolent , becomes
