What is a hero?

Someone who can fly across the country or shoot laser beams out of their eyes? No, the main heroes in our lives are the ones we pay the least attention to. A hero’s traits vary from strength to emotional to witty. As an example think about doctors. They have to have strength, wit, and emotional all at the same time. They pursue the ideas and conquests for a hero but it doesn’t even have to be that. A hero doesn’t have to be a doctor or even a human. It could be an animal. A hero, no matter who they are or what they wear, they all have to hold the traits of witty, emotional, and strong. ​To be a hero you must be witty, always on your toes no matter the circumstances. If you were to be stuck in the forest with no one else to help you your main strategy is to survive. You always have to be ready to take the shots, if something comes in your way, you have to be ready to tackle it and get over it. Always on your toes to take on a problem that you would need to get over without a problem, if you want to get back to civilization to live not be put in a morgue.

For example a doctor, every hour of everyday you have to be on your toes at any point ready to be hit with a problem. If you’re not ready you can fall apart unable to handle the tasks ahead. If you are in the E.R and someone comes in with a shark bite for example you would need to one; have that procedure drilled into your brain and two; you would need to know if something goes wrong, be light on your feet and find a way to figure it out. You can’t only follow the book. When you learn a certain procedure about a person that has a crystal clear problem, step by step. Then one day you are doing the procedure and something comes up that isn’t part of the original plan and you didn’t have another idea you might lose that patient and your reputation. For example like in ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer says “Polyphemus’ voice: ‘Nobody, my friends, is trying to kill me by violence or treachery.’ To this they replied with winged words: ‘if you are alone, and nobody does you violence, its inescapable sickness that comes from Zeus: pray to the lord Poseidon, our father.” If Odysseus told the Cyclops his name he might have not made it out of the cave none the less survived, but because he was on his toes and had to come up with a clean cut but simple plan he told the Cyclops his name was nobody, so when the other Cyclops’s heard his cry they thought he was crazy.

​Another trait that you must carry is to be emotional. If you don’t care for someone or something to help you complete a quest than you don’t have a reason. You aren’t really helping someone out of the care in your heart. If you were just walking and someone falls down to the ground due to unknown circumstances, what would you do? Most people would turn their head and keep walking like they didn’t see a thing. But a true hero out of the goodness in their heart would stop whatever they were doing just to go and see what was happening. And if possible help, no matter if they don’t know that person or if they are in danger as well, as long as they know that the person would be safe. For example a doctor has to be around sad families, sad patients that might know that they may not even be able to survive. But the best doctors are heroes are at the same time. I remember when I was little my GG was diagnosed with breast cancer.

We found out we weren’t able to get rid of it and it would cut down her life span but even though that doctor knows what happened she made us all smile and that’s a gift. If that doctor wouldn’t have been there I don’t know what my family would’ve done. In my eyes that’s a true hero, someone out of the good in their hearts helping someone get out of rough times in their lives, and easily putting a smile on their face. This relates also to Ana in Springboards ‘An Everyday Hero’ says “It is simply something that happened, and it is killing her. What surprises me, however, is that although I know she is afraid, she fights this lethal disease every moment of every day, and she does it with a smile.” Ana really is a true hero. She knows that if she begins to show that cancer is dragging her down it will bring the rest of her family with her. The fact that she wants to keep going strong without anyone else’s pity is a true hero. She cares more about her family health and happiness than her very own.

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Then finally strength is a combination of both emotion and wit. To be the complete hero you must be strong too. Yes the stereotype of superman being able to lift rockets and throw villains halfway across the country is not what I’m talking about. Yes, you would need physical strength but you also need mental strength. Think about if you got stuck in a forest again but this time with a younger sibling. Your first thought is how do I get back while keeping your sibling with you. You need mental strength to survive, if you begin to worry so will the younger sibling and then it will be harder and harder to move on from that point. Also think about a doctor again, you have a patient coming in to the E.R but you can’t get a gurney yes you would need physical strength but what if their bleeding a lot? You would definitely need mental strength. If you were mentally weak you would most likely not even get close to the hurt victim. A true hero would have the strength to carry the victim into an operating room no matter the circumstances because if you need to save a life that is what you need to do.

This relates also to Corie Brown and Laura Shapiro’s article ‘ A Woman Warrior’ says “It’s even more satisfying to see a girl picking and choosing among emblems of masculinity. Physical strength, yes; refusal to show emotions, no”. Mulan has both mental and physical strength throughout the poem and in the movie. The movie shows that she goes into a war for her father who is a veteran, and she knows that if she lets him go he will not make it back. So she shows her mental strength by giving away her true identity to become a man so she can take the place of her father, even though she knows she might not make it back alive. She knew if she didn’t have the mental strength and to take the chance of going her family would all begin to fade. ​That’s a hero to me. No magic or super powers to help them defeat their problems or even villains they use the traits of a hero wit, emotion , and strength.

You need all of those to be a hero they, pursue the ideas and conquest for a hero. No matter what they put themselves in front of everything to save the citizens or even a random bystander. Heroism is definitely not anything to do with wanting fame and fortune because you earn more profit by the fact you made someone’s day better or saved their life. Wit, emotion, and strength all make up the definition of a hero.