Fat Pig Heroism

Tom is an immoral character. He is very unlikeable because of his uncivilized attitude. He is a very arrogant, dominating and boorish man who doesn’t cares about anyone focusing only on what he wants and looks down on poor, helpless people. Not only this, but he is also racist and a complete hypocrite.

When we are faced with a moral dilemma, our illusion clashes with reality causing us to learn more about our true self. It is then that we become unable to sustain our illusions, and therefore lose a part of our perceived identity. Through On the Rainy River, Tim O’Brien reflects upon his illusion of courage, and his clash with reality, which caused him to realize his “secret reservoir of courage” didn’t hold much. Upon his realization, Tim lost a significant part of his perceived identity- his courage.

Many times in a story what the main characters say can reflect their personality and lifestyle. This is shown effectively in the memorial epic by Paul Zindel, The Pigman. Throughout this stunningly truthful story, John and Lorraine consistently say things that show just what type of people they are.

Michael J. Fox said, “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized, and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.” In Laura Hillenbrand’s novel Unbroken, the author tells the story of the main character Louie’s life. Growing up, Louie always had a strong mind. He became a well known track star and with the pressure of running, he never gives up what he was passionate about. Louie Zamperini suffers through a difficult time as a POW, yet he is able to gain back his dignity by having stubborn optimism and a tenacious will to survive.

Kurt Vonnegut’s unique story “Harrison Bergeron,” displays a theme which is a warning about the dangers of equality, which is equality is a hindrance to an individual’s success and society’s success, but this hindrance is ironically, unequal. In the story, Harrison and his bride are arrested for their unwillingness and inability to stay within the bounds of equality enforced by the Handicapper General. Equality hinders the success of an individual like the weights hinder the beauty and grace of the ballerinas in the story. Equality doesn’t promote everyone to be equally better, but to be unequally worse. Handicaps are no use in ensuring equality, because one’s strengths will always shine through, such as Harrison’s strength and wit, or the

Humanity is one of the many virtues we as humans believe we are born with. However, living in a world much like the one described in both The Hunger Games and The Road novels, some may argue that turning off one’s humanity is a necessity. Nevertheless, both novels prove that while some characters had to turn off their humanity in a horrific world like The Hunger Games and The Road, the two main characters of each book demonstrated how a barbaric world could not take that virtue from them.

Louis was bullied, it caused him to do many terrible acts. Louis stole beer, was chased by police, and known for getting into fights. His brother encouraged him to join the track team to keep Louis out of trouble. Louis became such a successful track athlete that he made the 1936 U.S. Olympic Team. From being a track star it brought upon strength to Louis. He became so powerful and calm while lost at sea and at the Japanese POW camp. This expierence taught him how life is so meaningful and what made him who he was.

Egalitarianism can be absurd and detrimental to American society. In the story, heavy weights are put on strong people, and grotesque masks are put on

She had a healthy body, she was intelligent. She had an “abundant sexual drive and possessed strong arms and back,” (2, 8-9). She was herself blind to her own positive qualities as she was too busy trying to please others with her looks, “she went to and fro apologizing,” (2, 10). She apologized to everyone for her imperfections. The imagery of, “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (2, 11), portrays the indifference society felt towards her. She wanted to be appreciated, but she was only seen her for her looks and not her inner self. She had learned from the time she was a child her imperfections made her not good enough or socially

Heroes have achieved many feats that support the belief of a greater good and expressing valor and selflessness through the ages. There are fictional or real life accounts that have recognized these men and women for their vigor and marked them as heroes due to their events of success and motives of committing the heroic deeds. Yet there are copious amounts of people who have sacrifice themselves for a greater good but they have been lost through time even if their actions were prosperous or doomed in the end with a valiant purpose. They are unsung heroes who committed the actions based on their inner fire of what is right or honorable or rather than the fame they hope to achieve from those acts. The world or a populous may not know of their actions, but the actions and beliefs of an individual or group can entitle them of being hero-like without the necessity of recognition and success. They have lost their lives or a part of themselves to a cause based on righteousness rather than self-gain. They presented selfless heroism rather than the the intention to receive praise from the victories. Sacrifice contributes more to Heroism because the individual invested his or her own determination, valor and accepting the opportunity to risk their self-health (physical or psychological) based on great intentions rather than reaping the accolades of committing good deeds.

As she looks at herself in the mirror in Jimmy’s room, she still appears a little uncomfortable with herself, but she realizes there is no reason to be, because that’s who she is, and being herself is a beautiful thing. She also makes a comment to Jimmy as she is about to leave that still shows some insecurity. He tells her he will write to her and send her emails. She quickly tells him no. She thinks that they will not have anything in common anymore, and that he’ll find someone else. “You’ll probably end up meeting some skinny girl, right?” she says. I think that while she is learning to accept her own body, she is still buying into the idea that skinny automatically means better, and that if Jimmy finds a skinny girl that is interested in him, he will be more interested in her than he is in

Vonnegut's, short story, “Harrison Bergeron”, portrays Harrison as a considerate, ignored hero but also an outsider, standing up for the people’s and his rights. Vonnegut made it clear that Harrison’s appearance and beliefs are portrayed negatively to others, while the equipment used on him and others, but also the responses from him and to the handicap generals, ballerinas, and news reporters have made them get a wrong

In Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Good Country People,” O’Connor examines Hugla’s relationship to her wooden leg and the autonomy it gives her. Hugla sees as her leg as the only thing she’s in control of and nothing else in the world matters, and she thinks that she is better than everyone else because she has a doctoral degree in philosophy. O’Connor conveys this through irony begging with the story title.

"Duties Done", a piece from The Pig that Wants to Be Eaten, explores the difference between a fulfilled promise and an unfulfilled one. "Duties Done" is a short story about four characters, Hew, Drew, Lou, and Sue. The family all promised their mother that they would regularly write letting her know how everything was going during their expedition around the world. It is here where the question arises of whether the children actually kept their promise. Even though they promised frequent written updates on their travels, none of them actually arrived and their mother never received any updates. Though each child did write to their mom, Lou and Sue were the only children whom actually made a sincere effort to fulfill the promise to their mother.

Throughout the short stories, characters endure circumstances that allow them to realize the unfairness of the world, ultimately causing a change in attitude. In “Souvenir,” the protagonist finds herself in a shop purchasing a pack of condoms for her mentally ill boyfriend while being followed by an old man. With the belief that sacrificing something precious of herself such as her virginity, the teenager initially felt that her love could save him from his mental illness. Those in the store around her, however, forced humiliation upon her, especially the elderly man. Finally becoming aware to those around her, she has an epiphany of those surrounding her in addition to the society she lives in. Witnessing the differences in people’s behaviors and attitudes, she grasps the understanding that people are influenced by others