What is a Hero?

The term "hero," is used by many people to describe someone, whom he or she believes has done a heroic deed. Everyone is different, therefore, there are many different opinions and viewpoints, as to what people believe a hero is. Therefore, the question arises, what is a hero and what qualities does a person need to be considered a hero? A general definition for the term, hero, is someone who helps without expecting anything in return, no matter what the consequences are, or how dangerous the situation may be. In extreme cases, a hero is someone who puts another person's life before his or her own. When people think of heroes, he or she may envision them as strong men or women that can do anything and that they will stop at nothing to do what is right. Heroes can be anybody of any shape, size, gender, age, and race, also heroic deeds can range from small to large. For example, heroes and heroic deeds can range from a child who found a lost dog and returned it to it's owner, to a trained lifeguard who saved a drowning victims life by giving them CPR. These examples show that there are many heroic deeds that many people can do.

A good example of a hero would be a firefighter. Firefighters always put their life on the line to save other people, for example, the September eleventh attacks, on the World Trade Center. Many firefighters lost his or her life that day, because it was his or her job to help evacuate as many people as he or she could before the buildings collapsed, and for that we consider them to be heroes. Another, more specific and personal example of a heroic firefighter would be my boyfriend's cousin, Billy. Billy had only been a Memphis firefighter for a few months, when his station got the call that a high rise in downtown Memphis had caught on fire. Billy, and three other Memphis firemen, went into the burning building. Billy had lost his partner and was by his self when he got the call that he needed to get out of the building, because the fire was to big. He told them that he was not going to leave his partner and that he was going to find him. The building collapsed and both Billy and his partner died. Billy is considered to be a hero because, he risked his life to try and save his partner's life. The definition of a hero and what Billy tried to do matches perfectly, he put his life on the line to try and save another person.

In the story "A&P," by John Updike, the main character Sammy, tries to be a hero for the three girls in swimsuits. He tries to be the girls' hero, by standing up to Lengel and telling him he should not embarrass them. Then when the girls are told to leave, Sammy tells Lengel that he quits, but the story also, mentions that he hoped that they would stop walking and notice that he was standing up for them. This shows, he was only quitting his job to impress the girls and to get them to notice him. In the end, Sammy quit his job for nothing, because the girls were not in the parking lot when he went outside. Also when he looked through the window, he realized that quitting did not even affect the store, and that the customers were still shopping and checking out their groceries, as if nothing had ever happened. Sammy and what he did, does not match the definition of a hero. Sammy is not considered to be a hero because, he stood up for the girls and quit his job, just to get the girls attention, also his supposed act of heroism did not affect anyone or anything.