What Is a Hero

Bhargav Patel

Whum 102

12/18/14

Final Paper

What is a HERO?

The word hero is known to almost all people that know English including young children even some who English is not a first language. In addition, if one was told to give examples of a hero, the list could be big enough ranging from people we envy to those we feel or think they are heroes. However, if you would ask people to define the word, there are very few who would give the right meaning. Many people define a role model or person they think is a hero out of their occupations. As a kid, my heroes were movie stars that took the daring acts that no body else could do, as well as characters in stories that did what ordinary people could not do and people whom I envied probably because of what they are and what they do. However, a person does not become a hero because of their occupation or what they do that we envy. Rather, a hero in general terms is a person who takes a bold step or achievement that requires courage, bravery and a kind heart to do it, and normally done for others. In the story Billy Budd and Metamorphosis, one can see that the main character shows signs of what is means to be a hero.

In order to understand the definition of a hero, it is important to know what makes a hero. First, as mentioned above, heroes are not heroes out of their occupations, such as athletes, movie stars even although the character in the movie can be considered heroes, and people in occupations that we tend to find very important such as doctors. A doctor’s work is to save lives, thus, when they do this, it is what we expect of them. However, if this doctor saves a drowning child by swimming in a fast flowing river, he becomes a hero. In this case, he demonstrates an act of bravery, courage and a loving heart for the child that drove him to take the bold step. Therefore, a hero can be any person irrespective of occupations, who takes a bold step to do something for others, in most cases being acts of kindness...