Radio, television, and the press form the vast stage on which the publicdramas of our time are played to a responsive audience of millions-thepeoples of our nation and of the world. Almost anyone can steal the sceneand become a public hero, a favorite villain, or a lamented victim. How dothese persons-the symbolic leaders-emerge? Who are they? How does theclimate of public opinion affect the would-be leader? How does the publicuse its leaders?

In this original application of information theory to social analysis, Orrin Klapp examines how and why societies are producing more stress than they ever can handle.

This volume presents three major social types in American society-heroes, villains, and fools-as models for American behavior. Approaching these models primarily through language, Orrin E. Klapp explores what they may suggest about Americans as a people. Rather than study people, the author describes abstract types named and embedded in popular language. These social types are important symbols; and a way to attack a symbol is by identifying its meaning in various contexts. He further argues that the language surrounding heroes, villains, and fools reveals a social structure. We may not...