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| Heros.....do we have them | Started by: Purr_Baby on Feb 24, '08 07:50 |
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Good point Platinum Everyone may have a hero if it is simple someone that you can look up to. |
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| Reply by: Purr_Baby at Feb 24, '08 12:21 | |
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I agree adebayor, I said alot of what you just have in my ealier post, I stated that courage, determination, and bravery where all attributes which a hero should posses. So i completely agree. |
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| Reply by: Platinum at Feb 24, '08 12:34 | |
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Adebayor Could it be this: A hero is someone who get all those around him killed. |
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| Reply by: Purr_Baby at Feb 24, '08 12:41 | |
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I'm gonna be all student like and use English Literature to define the term hero... Firstly there is the classical hero, the type you would read about in The Iliad and The Odyessy, who would display bravery, convinction and martial prowess. The other type is that of the biblical epic, such as Paradise Lost, and then the attributes that determined whether or not someone was a hero were things like compassion, love and kindness. So take your pick really, however I think the classical hero would be much easier to find in this world rather than the latter. |
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| Reply by: CiprianiBlue at Feb 24, '08 12:45 | |
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A heroe, is unlikey in the mob. Everyones bullshitting, backstabbing, brown nosing, arse licking bastards, and i'm not just talking about CP. Wants heroes? Read a comic book. |
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| Reply by: shithappens at Feb 24, '08 12:47 | |
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Well there is a honest opinion by S...happens That may be the first one yet. |
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| Reply by: Purr_Baby at Feb 24, '08 12:54 | |
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...well, he's gotta be big, and he's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight... I'm holding out for a hero! I'm holding out for a hero in the morning light. *Hammer boogies on down* |
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| Reply by: _The_Hammer_ at Feb 24, '08 12:56 | |
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HAHAHHHA LOL Thanks Hammer for the little break in the discussion LOL |
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| Reply by: Purr_Baby at Feb 24, '08 12:57 | |
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While I like the example of the literary hero, I still believe there are other types of hero out there. Take the local fireman. He's an ordinary man...ordinary home, ordinary family, hangs out at the same bars you do, and so on. Yet, his job is to put his life at risk to save anothers, day in and day out. This is a guy that will die, so that you may live. The thing to focus on, with this man, isn't necessarily the bravery, courage, mental prowess...it's the selflessness. It's the fact that this man does what he does, not for himself, but for others. Now, are there heroes in the mafia? Sure. They're probably just not the conventional type you think of. Many of them (us) are born and bred to die for the ones they love, to protect their families, traditions, and way of life. Granted, many are out for personal gain, but there are some that stand up for the honor of it all. To me, that's a hero. To the question, is a hero someone that gets his family killed? That's a tough question, because I don't believe it's just the action that defines a hero, but the convictions driving him to that action. Did this someone get his family killed because he felt like he was doing something that would benefit them as a whole or did he pick a fight due to his own ego? Did this man get his family killed because he was too lazy to make an effort or did this man get his family killed while trying to protect them? To me, all of this is subjective anyway...as someone said, one can be a hero to one person and not another...but again, I think it all comes down to the motives behind someone's actions. |
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| Reply by: Adebayor at Feb 24, '08 12:59 | |
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One of the things I myself makes a hero has been said before, And that is this: No one wants to be a hero, it is how you react to a curtian thing that makes us heros. Can we all be heros "NO" Should we try to be a hero "NO" Are there heros in every combat or battle "NO" Does one dream that they are a hero....I would say "YES" |
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| Reply by: Purr_Baby at Feb 24, '08 13:13 | |
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Joey walks up to the crowd and passes out a paper with a very long essay on it One daydream that almost all of us have had is to be a hero. The heroes of our daydreams vary; often, as we grow, so do our ideas of heroes develop and become more sophisticated. Tellingly, early hero-worship is often called 'looking up to someone,' and, obviously, as children, we literally look up to those tall people, our parents, who are probably our first heroes. However, once we really begin to consider heroes, one particular difficulty seems to arise again and again. That problem is identifying a hero. There are many ways to determine who a hero is, or how someone comes to be a hero. In this essay you will set forth and argue your idea of who, or what, is a hero. Once you have decided how you wish to approach this Idea, it is your responsibility to present your decision In this final exam, using the argumentative methods you have learned over the last term. In the accompanying packet, you will find Information to support a variety of responses. Before you start your research, though, you will find below eight questions and some accompanying issues - ONE of which you will choose as the topic for your final exam. Remember that although much material is provided for your consideration, you must focus on answering ONE question to deal successfully with this exam. 1. Some people say that heroes are born and not made, that heroism is a matter of fate, but if heroes are made, who - or what - "makes" them? Heroes in ancient societies can be called upon to illustrate both sides of this question. In one sense, heroes seemed to be determined, that is 'made,' by a common understanding. Most people simply agreed that heroes were literally 'extraordinary,' and performed astonishing deeds, far beyond the capabilities of the average person. However, Hercules possessed superhuman characteristics and an extraordinary destiny from the moment of his birth. He simply could not have enacted the will of the gods had he not been half divine. And yet, because of his incredible nature, an aspect of himself over which he had no control, he was probably a hero to almost everyone in Ancient Greece. Another ancient figure who seems almost more than human is Alexander the Great. In his various campaigns, Alexander and his men conquered territory from Greece to India, penetrating 14,000 miles to the east of Greece. Literally deified in his lifetime and dead at 33 in 323 BCE, reputedly Alexander wept because there were no more worlds to conquer and it would be centuries before anyone could begin to match his stature. Half god or not, Alexander's heroism, on one level or another, can never be disputed. 2. Will a heroic person always behave as a hero? One quality that quickly arises in a discussion of heroes is courage, usually physical courage. This calls to mind figures like Manolete, the great bullfighter, or Sergeant Alvin York, the outstanding American soldier of WW I who won the Congressional Medal of Honor after storming an enemy machine-gun nest, single-handedly killing more than 20 Germans and forcing another 132 to surrender. But York was a deeply religious man who had to be persuaded to go to war by his pastor. Would his heroic nature ever have been revealed if he had not gone to war? Emotional courage, too, may also be waiting to show itself in a person's life. If heroes are born, do they have any choice but to be a hero sooner or later, one way or another? 3. How should we consider someone who surprises everyone with his or her heroism? What about the person who is expected to behave In a particular way? Is the heroic act quite separate from the person who performs it? What about the 'ordinary' mother who, without thinking, rushes back to a smoky, flame-engulfed apartment in an attempt to save her helpless child from a hideous death? Is being labeled a hero sometimes simply a matter of surrendering to impulse? What about the otherwise innocuous whistle blower who may go so far as to draw the wrath of authority to protect more vulnerable comrades? We may remember Karen Silkwood, who worked in a nuclear plant where fuel rods used in nuclear fission reactors were made. Already fatally affected by chemical poisoning, Silkwood died in mysterious circumstances after she had spent several months gathering evidence of plutonium contamination throughout the plant. As she acted over an extended period, this may have been 'deliberate' heroism, and yet what had the dying Silkwood to lose? How important is the idea of sacrifice when identifying heroism? But could some people in these same circumstances be seen to be 'merely doing their duty" when they react as did our heroic figures above? Aren't firemen, for instance, supposed to rush into burning buildings? Shouldn't a chaplain in a concentration camp automatically sacrifice himself to save his fellow man? 4. Can heroes really be heroes if only a certain group In a society call them heroes? For example, Joan of Arc had visions which directed her to make it possible for Charles VII to be crowned king of France. Eventually made a saint, Joan was a heroine to those French people who wanted to see Charles Vil as king, but the English had her burned as a witch in 1431. When Jack Johnson became the first black man to win the heavyweight championship of the world in 1908, he was hailed as a hero by the black community in America, but bitterness amongst many whites ran so deeply that Jess Willard, one of the contenders put up against him, was known as 'the great White Hope.' The 'hope,' of course, was that Willard would return Johnson firmly to his 'pre-heroic' place. Francisco 'Pancho' Villa, a Mexican whose real name was Doroteo Arango, was known to some simply as a bandit chieftain, an opportunist seeking personal gain after the fall of Porfirio Diaz in 1910. However, pursued into Mexico by General John J. Pershing after Villa and his troops killed sixteen American citizens, Villa eventually saw almost all Mexicans and many Americans turn against Pershing, who was recalled to America by President Wilson in 1917. Pershing went on to become a hero in W.W.I, but Villa died in 1923 after being shot from an ambush. Who decides who is a hero and who is an outlaw? 5. Can people who are noble and admirable In one aspect of their lives, but contemptible or immoral in other areas still be called heroes? In the often impassioned worlds of religion and politics, for example, it is simple to find people who have consciously dedicated their entire lives, not just the impetus of a moment, to a cause. Surely Mother Teresa and Mahatma Ghandi would qualify under these rules and it might be argued that no one could sustain that noble behavior, had she or he not been born a hero. But what about those people who are regarded as heroes in one facet of their lives, but are all too human in other aspects? We might put Henry Ford, Babe Ruth or Yasser Arafat on this list. Is it fair to call someone a hero if we have to pick and choose amongst his or her actions? 6. Can being talented, but having to struggle to express that talent, qualify a person as a hero? Sometimes an individual who heeds a more unusual call, but who follows that call with total dedication is called a hero. All heroes don't appear in the great and traditional areas of confrontation- war, religion, and politics. What about people who follow an unexpected summons? For examples, we might look at Dorothea Dix or Vincent Van Gogh or Roger Bannister or Edgar Allan Poe or Elvis. Is it the talent or the struggle to express that talent that makes the individual a hero? 7. Does time matter in understanding the creation of heroes? Heroism seems as if it should be a timeless, unchanging quality. Heroes traditionally bestride the ages and so it seems only right that a hero virtually radiates an aura that is both immediately and continually perceptible. Yet most contemporary people's view of Jesus would not match Herod's perception. Neither Columbus nor John Kennedy seem to be quite the men they once appeared to be; Paul Robeson came, went and came again. Once, Charles Manson was seen as monster; now some people wear sweatshirts with slogans printed on them demanding his release from prison. How could Emily Pankhurst and her daughters have been seen as "crazy hooligans, their followers [as] shrieking hysterics, [and] their policy [as) wild delirium'" (Brendon 157) ?* Why could someone not be recognized as a hero through the ages? Is time a filter of true heroes or does time passing simply, increasingly, blur any and every image? *(Brendon, Piers. Eminent Edwardians. London: Secker and Warburg, 1979.) One way to conclude this discussion may be to come back to our original proposition: 'Heroes are made, not born.' In the last years of the twentieth century, we may find a maker of heroes that ignores, engulf s or surpasses all previous creators of heroes. That influence is, simply, 'the media.' 8. What Is the role of the media on the making of heroes? It is true that without the media, which may discover and certainly announce people of valor and honor to us, we might never get to know of the heroes amongst us. No single one of us can know the name of even every child that performs a noble deed, and if we do not know our heroes, how can we celebrate them? More sinisterly though, the media can be superficial and capricious. The past itself changes under our eyes; people who are "nobodies" one moment are apparently "heroes" the next and then these same people are gone again - either exploding further into Neverland with Michael Jackson or dissolving into obscurity. Or are the media identifying something else for us - not the hero but the celebrity - someone who has attained the "fifteen minutes of fame" that Andy Warhol claimed we were all due? How often are heroes chosen for their merchandising potential? After all, by wearing a certain brand of shoes, can everybody be just little bit of a hero? How difficult is it to be a hero in media land? Is Princess Diana behaving heroically as she withdraws from her stodgy husband and the moribund House of Windsor? Is Kurt Cobaine a heroic suicide because he absented himself from a world that was no longer tolerable? How do we see an American president who may be best known for his aggressive campaign challenge to the voters: "Read my lips"? What about a highly-paid athlete in professional sports? Obviously, if no one else has his or her talents, he or she must be one of those superhu |
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| Reply by: Joey_Panero at Feb 24, '08 14:05 | |
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| In a word sir...DAMN....well done | |
| Reply by: Purr_Baby at Feb 24, '08 14:08 | |
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| Thanks | |
| Reply by: Joey_Panero at Feb 24, '08 14:09 | |
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I would like to thank all of you that contributes to this discussion I really enjoyed finding out your veiws on this matter. Purr_Baby Tips her hat and disappears out the back (down the alleyway) |
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| Reply by: Purr_Baby at Feb 25, '08 05:18 | |
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