Unconventional Heroes Goodbye My Lovely, The Thief Groom and In the Skin of a Lion all contain heroes, although their heroism is of an unconventional kind. Despite their non-traditional nature, the characters of Philip Marlowe, Jamie Lockheart and Patrick Lewis are all identifiable as true heroes, because they manage to involve, attract and "conquer" the reader with their positive characteristics. They are not simply ordinary people with some heroic attributes. Furthermore, these characters have many characteristics in common, despite their disparate backgrounds and vocations (private investigator, bandit and worker). This essay begins by introducing the theme of "ambiguous heroism" that runs through each of the three novels, examining the example of The Thief Groom. Subsequently, by examining in detail the evident similarities (and differences) in terms of the characters' moral stance, physical courage and worldview, it will be demonstrated that all three characters are candidates for ambiguous heroism. The simplest example of ambiguous heroism is offered in Welty's work, based as it is on the fact that Jamie is obviously a hero, as demonstrated by the opening quote of this essay, but he is also a bandit. From the beginning, this provision is fraught with contradictions. As Rosamond says, "Although my husband is a bandit, he is very good"2. Conventional value systems that view bandits negatively are not necessarily true in the world of The Robber Bridegroom. The so-called robber groom in Welty's text is very different from that of the original fairy tale on which the novel is built. Most of the negative characteristics of the original thieving groom have been displaced onto the character of Little Harp, while Jamie himself is endowed with a set of positive properties hitherto absent from the thieving groom. It should be borne in mind that in the unrealistic fairy-tale world of The Robber Bridegroom, unlikely things become real, and Jamie's hero status despite his banditry is but one example of this reversal of the expected order in the play. In any case, Jamie does not remain a bandit throughout the novel. In the end he undergoes a transformation: Jamie Lockhart is no longer a bandit but a gentleman of the world in New Orleans, respected by all those who knew him, a rich merchant in short. All his wild ways had been abandoned as a