Jorge
10/03/2013
How’s your Hero? What is your definition of a hero? Someone you look up to? Someone that does heroic acts? Or just someone that is fictional? These are the questions to consider when trying to define a hero. People today have their own unique definition of a hero as we do not live in ancient times. In ancient times heroes were suppose to be of divine ancestries, who were endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for their bold exploits, and who were favored by the gods. According to Merriam-Webster today, a hero is a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities. Throughout history tall tales have been told of ancient heroes like Hercules, Beowulf, and Moses of how they helped their people overcome difficulties in their society. Although most of these ancient heroes are fictional, many may be regarded as great and heroic in literature. In the last 300 years or so there have been influential that have change the world or contributed to make the world a better place, and therefore earning the right to be called heroes in their society. Many tend to look up and define as a hero who they think are worthy of such a title. Parents may be consider as such as they always support and do their outmost to help their children succeed. This is the case in “The Train from Hate” were the mother consoles her son while teaching him a valuable lesson about after being kicked out of the train. Teachers, policemen, or even friends can be considered someone’s hero. In “from Bodega Dreams” we read about how a science teacher, Mr.Tapia, not only tries to teach his students science but also wants to inspire his students to overcome previous set forth by the other teacher, Mr. Blessington. Heroes do not always have the qualities one would expect a hero to have though. “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane” shows how the toughest inmate is consider the jail’s hero because of all the beatings he has been involved during his incarceration. These three stories showed us how different a hero can be defined by people and that a cape is not always necessary. A hero does not to need to perform brave acts to be considered so or be widely known, nor be of divine ancestry for that matter. Like portrayed before, anybody can earn the title of hero because of their actions, but it takes individuality to keep that title. A hero is someone that will always be there for you when you need them. He or she will always “come to the rescue” when your down and give you a helping hand to rise up. They always try and put their best foot forward by staying loyal to you and never deceiving you. Heroes will try to inspire you to do your best and stay on the right path to success. In from Bodega Dreams Tapia says “you guys are smart enough to know that it’s up to you to become what you want to be.”(Quinonez) This had came after Sapo made a reference about Mr.Blessington. tapia was in this case was trying to be a hero to his people, in this case his students, by telling them they could do more than what was expected. All in all this is what defines a real hero. Caughey (1984) argued that heroes represent people’s ideal self-images in that they possess or exemplify qualities that individuals sense in themselves but would like to further develop or improve. (Sullivan) Yes, many may think that heroes need to perform acts of bravery to be considered great, but sometimes it is their qualities that shape them into what someone thinks what a hero truly is. Depending on the setting, people tend to have their definition of a hero. The characters in all three selections possess heroic traits in their own way. George Bernard Shaw said once “you cannot be a hero without being a coward” and that is the case with Hard Rock. The character in “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane” is a vicious and insane prisoner that everybody respects because he is able to do what no else will. In lines one and two proves it as it states “Hard Rock was “know not to take shit from nobody”, and he had the scars to prove it.”(Knight) As previously stated many look up to their parents as their heroes. The son in “The Train from Hate” states at the end of the story that “he shall always be happy that my mother taught me that the journey to understanding and tolerance was more important than the journey to Checotah.”(Franklin) All these characters may not possess the bravery many may look in heroes but they possess the qualities to earn them the title of hero. To summarize this concept of what a hero is, it all depends on the person. One can look for a hero that does brave acts without any thought of compensation. Others may look at heroes as role models and someone they can look at. Someone doesn’t have to be Superman after all to be somebody’s hero.

Works Cited
Franklin, John Hope. "The Train from Hate." Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Ed.
Missy James and Alan Merickel. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. 223-224.
"Hero." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2013.
Knight, Etheridge. "Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane."
Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Ed. Missy James and Alan Merickel. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. 194-195.
Quinonez, Ernesto. "From Bodega Dreams." Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Ed.
Missy James and Alan Merickel. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. 178-183.
Sullivan, Michael P., and Anre Venter. "Defining Heroes Through Deductive And Inductive
Investigations." Journal Of Social Psychology 150.5 (2010): 471-484. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 3 Oct. 2013.