Thursday, September 10, 2009

When it comes to being a hero some people have different opinions on what makes one. Some people look to comic book characters or firefighters for heroes, while other people think of their parents or other close relatives. A hero defined by dictionary.com is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” Some people may not see a hero as someone fitting this definition. Some may view a hero who has not performed a courageous act but someone that greatly influenced them or someone has accomplished many things. I look at a hero being someone that could fit either one of those descriptions. Everyone has someone that they may consider a hero whether someone agrees or not.

Someone I consider a hero because of his accomplishments is Barack Obama. He may not have done anything overly courageous but he did achieve something that many people did not think would possible as soon as it was. My parents tell me that he did something that they didn’t think would happen in their lifetime. Even though my parents always told me that I could do whatever I want, it’s just nice to see him as the leader of the country. He has something that I can look up to and strive to make myself successful as well. Like I said my criteria for making Barack Obama a hero is not for some courageous act but for his accomplishments.

In the case of Sammy and whether or not his is a hero is up to the opinion of the reader. I personally don’t see him as much of a leader. He may have performed a heroic act but I don’t think that is what classifies people as heroes. People can do heroic things for all the wrong reasons. Sammy quitting his job because of the unfair treatment of the girls on its own would have probably made him some sort of hero. Because he was looking for approval and praise from the girls as his main goal, his heroism was lessened. I also don’t believe he would have performed the act if he were not attracted to “Queenie”. His attraction to her made all the difference in whether or not he would quit or not. He may have felt the treatment of the girls was unfair but I doubt he would have quit his job. Quitting his job was just to impress the pretty girl and if she wasn’t pretty then there would have been point in doing it. The fact that I believe that does not make him a hero in my eyes. Some may disagree but that is the way I see it.