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Jack Gantos A Hero Analysis

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For an individual to classify themselves as a hero they have to possess special qualities. These include courage, selflessness, humility, patience, and caring. Somebody could not claim that they are a hero if they were not courageous and eager to carry out any task. This goes along with selflessness because a hero should not base their tasks on personal achievement. A hero should never view themselves as more important than others. A hero needs to be patient with others and care about the surrounding people. This is most likely why heroes do what they do because they care for others. In Hole in my Life by Jack Gantos, Gantos appeared as a selfish, vain, childish man with limited to no motivation yet thinks he is perfect. He is nothing that …show more content…

Some destroyer qualities include choosing to live in the moment no matter how it might harm others, disrespecting life and property, and causing their own annihilation. These are all presented in this case. Gantos loved to get drunk every night, not aware of how it influenced the people he was living with. He destroyed their house in many aspects during his drunken rampages and got booted out of his room, thus causing his own destruction.
Gantos left Florida after graduating from high school and flew to Spain to live with his parents. The island they were living on was in a racial battle with his parents on the losing end. His dad later described it as: “houses are broken into every night. People are being shot. The only good thing about having a screw-up for a son is that the FBI is watching the house day and night.”. (P.122) Everyone was struggling and failing, to escape. That was when Gantos befriended Rik, a drug dealer who could get him off the island by sailing a ship full of drugs to New York with his colleague Hamilton. Gantos complied and took off right away. This further shows his destroyer tendencies. He overlooked he was leaving his parents in the midst of a racial conflict. Since Gantos was getting off the island he gave it no second thought. After leaving the island Gantos was in continuous fear of getting spotted on a ship packed full of drugs. This represents his innocent side, his fear of getting caught. This fear never leaves

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