Heroes

Authors around the world have found a common definition for a hero that is accepted by society. In books and novels a hero is always portrayed as a strong and powerful man, fearless and determined. Beowulf, The Odyssey, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are great examples of this common definition of a hero. Usually heroes go off on a journey to fight evil and at the end they would end up with whatever they wanted, plus the love of the people. This idealistic view of a hero is shared amongst us all, no matter where your from or what language you speak. But are they truly heroes?

In our world heroes come in all shapes and sizes, ranging form Superman, Aqua man, or El Zorro. What qualifies them as heroes are the qualities that they have. They are all invincible, they have super powers, super strength, and most of them are good-looking. But is that all you need to be a hero?

A hero is someone who is willing to sacrifice something highly valued for the sake of helping, someone who has intrepidity, someone with courage, bravery, conviction, selflessness, dedication, loyalty, perseverance, etc... A hero is somebody who dedicates their time to something, but wants nothing in return. A true hero is somebody, anybody, men or woman, who can make a change in this world without using any superpowers.

Humans all around the world have different people that they consider to be heroes. Here in the U.S. we consider Martin Luther King Jr. a hero. We consider Rosa Parks to be a hero; we also consider September 11 firefighters to be heroes. Other heroes recognized worldwide are Mahatma Gandhi, also known as the "father of the nation", and Che Guevara, also known as "El Che".

These world icons were not classified as heroes only for what they have done, but also because they serve a purpose to us as humans. To humans these worldwide heroes are role models that push us to be better people and to always reach our goals, no matter how many obstacles we have to face. They give us hope and encourage us to make a change in the world. Therefore we do need them, because we cannot wait on the world to change by itself. We are the ones who are going to make the change, and thanks to them we know where to start and how to succeed.

There are also people who might think that we do not need heroes in our world. For example, Bertold Brecht once said, "Unhappy the land that needs heroes." From my understanding of what makes a hero, that statement is false. We need people in our world to look up to; somebody who is better than us so we can strive to be better than them. Heroes and icons play a huge role in our lives. Whether or not they have done the same things or even shared the same ideas, everybody has one and everybody needs one.