A Star Called Henry Book Analysis Essay

The novel A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle follows a young boy raised in the streets of Dublin named Henry Smart. Henry grew up with a neglective mother and an absent dad. His childhood was filled with many struggles including the loss of his brother victor at the age of nine. These events cause a self-identity crisis seen throughout the book as henry assumes many identities. Leaving us with the question of who is Henry Smart? Is it possible to define Henry Smart by just one thing? Is he the villain or hero? Is he a boy or a man? He changes with every experience like a puzzle just when you think you have figured him out, he becomes something else.

Henry’s identity crisis started when he was younger, being named after his father and his dead older brother, he grew up wanting to own a title. He knew his father only named him henry to replace the child that he lost. He hated competing with dead henry, even without ever meeting him he assumed that he was his better. Out of jealousy every night he killed his brother by yelling “My name is Henry Smart! The one and only Henry Smart” at the star his mother named henry until it disappeared. (Doyle, Roddy. A Star Called Henry. Vintage, 2000.) He refers to himself as the only henry not just for his brother, but also because his father was absent in his life, in fact within the whole book it is rare for anyone to refer to him as Henry Smart Junior. 

After his father left, Henry had to grow up and become the man of the house at the age of nine. He would leave and come back to feed his family, until one day Victor was killed by consumption, after this death it would be a very long time till he'd showed his face around his family, and because of victors death, he felt he had nothing. Not long after he found another purpose. During the time that Henry lived in Britain ruled Ireland leaving the country poor and hopeless in need of a savior. And Henry would become that “savior”, to be more exact a freedom fighter to assist in Scotland's liberation. This job was dangerous and if he was caught, he would have been put to death, but all Henry saw this as an opportunity to set his country free. The rebellion failed, but this brought hope to some of the people's hearts.

After multiple rebellions when things seemed bleak, Henry was hired to become an assassin to create chaos and start an uprising in Ireland. And this time the operation was more discrete. During this operation, Henry learned that if he started by dressing differently they would not suspect him as a killer, because “a man with a gun is a criminal. A man with a gun and the uniform is a soldier.” Doyle, Roddy. A Star Called Henry. Vintage, 2000. Section8) After a few assassinations Henry became even more respectable in the eyes of Dublin, young boys came to him so he can help them join the fight. Everything was going well until Henry was caught in jail. But the most shocking part of this story was that after henry was caught he dreamt of being with his mother and brother, this makes the audience wonder if Henry really changed from the little boy he was. Not long after his capture, Henry is released and now he gains a different perspective on life because he realizes that all the things he did he wouldn’t reap the glory of it, he would just be a name for those who would benefit from his deeds and that would be a younger generation.