What makes a man a “hero”? The tragedy of September 11th has labeled many people as heroes but many people are beginning to lose focus on what the word actually means. The dictionary gives multiple meanings of the word. A hero is defined as an “illustrious warrior or a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities” or even “one that shows great courage”. To me these are all very different meanings but I would like to share my definition of what a hero really is.
To me a hero is a person that is brave in an extreme situation and acts anyway; knowing that bad things might befall him, because they know it has to be done. An example of this lengthy definition would be Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Although he may be the obvious pick for “hero” he does fit my criteria. Dr. King lived in a place and time when speaking out against racism was dangerous and deadly. He fought on even after his own home was firebombed. This shows his extreme bravery and the only conceivable reason for him continuing was because he knew it had to be done.
Some people are heroes simply by definition but some live up to all the prerequisites for hero status without even realizing it. Going back a few months to the September 11th tragedy, former New York City mayor Guiliani was dubbed a hero. At first, because of my intense dislike for him I denied him “hero” status. This was wrong on my part because the dictionary says he is, “hero- the central figure in an event, period, or movement.” My mistake was because there are so many different definitions of hero that, I don’t know a “hero” when I see one. According to the dictionary Monica Lewinsky is a hero because she was “the central figure in an event or movement”, and I would hardly call her a hero.
Hero Definition Essay
Essay “Great heroes need great sorrows and burdens, or half their greatness goes unnoticed. It’s all part of the fairytale. ” -Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn. Heroes can be found in normal, everyday people; however, they go unnoticed because they did not have to overcome a great calamity to perform an action. More well known heroes have all overcome the worst of situations imaginable. For ...
To be a hero is to be brave in an extreme situation. To other people it could mean something a lot different because of the vagueness of this word. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a hero to me; Guiliani is a hero to the media and Ms. Lewinsky is a hero to the dictionary. These three people are far from alike but this word says they’re the same. What do you think
