Real Heroes in our Society Essay

A hero's place in society has remained relatively consistent since the very beginning of time. Throughout the years, people have seen many different versions of larger-than-life heroes, who have completed seemingly impossible tasks and persevered through immense adversity. The common denominator between all of these heroes has always been that each and every one of these beings has put his/her own life in danger and fought great battles in the pursuit of a better life for mankind as a whole.

Tim O’Brien’s book “The Things They Carried” epitomizes the degradation of morals that war produces. This interpretation is personified in the characters who gradually blur the line dividing right and wrong as the motives for war itself become unclear. The morality of soldiers and the purpose of war are tied also to the truth the soldiers must tell themselves in order to participate in the gruesome and random killing which is falsely justified by the U.S government. The lack of purpose in the Vietnam War permanently altered the soldier’s perspective of how to react to situations and in most cases they turned to violence to express their frustration.

“It’s not true that there are no heroes anymore…” (Oliver Stone SB 63) Heroes. Today when we hear heroes we think of superheroes with powers. but have we really thought what heroes really are? Heroes are your regular everyday people that work to the best of their abilities to make a difference in the world. A hero is not someone who thinks about themselves but someone who does things that they believe are right and are admired or idealized for their courage.

Society’s perception on war is often clouded by popular media. Action packed movies with fictional war heroes, and video games set in past wars, are examples of such hyperbole. It is outlets like these that raise society’s expectations of soldiers into unrealistic ideas. While it may seem as black and white as killing the bad guy, majority of the population does not consider the long term effects war may have on soldiers. Most movies portray soldiers as emotionless killing machines and leave out the lifelong psychological effects war can have on a person. Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried is a look into the mind of a soldier in the middle of war. In the book, we learn of First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, a soldier who is carrying the guilt

A true war story is rather difficult, if not impossible, to share when it goes beyond one’s imagination. Regarding such a story, one morally sound aspect about it is that it lacks morality or meaning to it. Extracting facts from a true war story is a daunting task because what seems to happen is what actually occurs. In what is to follow, I will tell one awful true war story.

“My conscience told me to run, but some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight pushing me towards war (49).” “I did not want people to think badly of me. Not my parents, not my brother or sister, not even the folks at Gobler Café (49).” These men were stuck between a rock and a hard place, and this was the case in many aspects of war, not

was not the truth. This book showed the harsh reality of war that most people

What are Heroes “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” Joseph Campbell.

War is courage. War is sacrifice. War is heroism, to the outsiders at least. To the young men fighting for their country daily, a decision that is far beyond their control, war strikes entirely different emotions in their minds. In Tim O’Brien’s novel, “The Things They Carried,” he reveals that soldiers carry much more than meets the eye. Yes, soldiers carry loads of physical items needed for survival, but what about the emotional and psychological aspects war leaves for the young soldiers to carry in their minds? In this segment of O’Brien’s novel, he exposes that what these young men experience in their time at war changes them forever. A soldier before and after the war are two completely different people, simply because war is powerful, and it has the ability to alter your mind and feelings permanently. O’Brien shows this through themes of distraction, guilt, and lost love.

“War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” —O’Brien, page 76

A true war story can have no moral. Neither side can be the protagonist or antagonist. Both sides are anti-heroes, they are neither good or bad because there is no moral to war. Since war has no moral, it affects soldiers emotions by effecting their morals. Due to the immorality of war, there is no correct side or perspective.

American heroes are typically held to near impossible standards. They are expected to be not only valiant and daring, but also have a strong sense of morals. There is much more to being a hero than simply putting your life at risk, but being a mediocre member of society still does not meet the requirements. Many question if these idols were born with the characteristics of the typical leading man or if they were taught. In “The Right Stuff” Tom Wolfe portrays the concept of heroism as discouraging and severely distorted in the eyes of the public.

A problematic ideal of war is that by going to the war and fighting against the enemy you will become a hero. Slaughterhouse-Five consistently argues against that idea. In the

There are many types of heroes (such as the ones in comic books, myths, movies, or even just everyday life heroes) but all of them have perseverance when they’re going through a conflict. Heroes are role models and they’re people that we look up too. They all have unique and special qualities that make one another different from each other. For example policemen battle crime everyday and when they’re overcoming a conflict they have determination, courage and other traits that people admire them for and that make them as a hero. Typically a hero is admired for their achievement/actions and qualities.

Flames are coming out of every opening in a building and a firefighter runs in to save someone that is inside. A police officer is shot while trying to ensure that no innocent lives are taken of those being held hostage inside a bank. A lifeguard jumps into the deep end of the pool to save a drowning child. Firefighters, police officers, lifeguards or even the next door neighbor could be considered heroes. Why does society have a need for heroes? What traits should heroes have? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a hero in the following ways: a) a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b) an illustrious warrior c) a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d) one