Heroes Across the Semester

When I first started this class, I think I had a sort of naive view of a hero. I knew Superman was a hero, and I knew Batman was a hero. I considered all the Packers and Brewers players heroes, and most of the Bears and Cardinals players enemies. To be honest, I don't think I ever really thought of the morality or dynamics of heroes and the fact that some heroes weren't always heroes at all.

Going through the list of books and heroes we analyzed this semester, its obvious that a hero can take many forms and do many different things to be heroic.

In Wool, Juliette is obviously the main hero. She, like a "typical" hero, comes from a poor background with little opportunity, makes the most of it, and eventually gets the chance to defy all odds to make things right in her society. 

Next, we read a series of short stories, and the thing I remember discussing most vividly was vigilante justice. I was very conflicted on this issue because in fiction, it is endorsed via heroes like Batman, yet in real life, it is scorned because of cases like that of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. I still think that if you are in the right place at the right time, and something obviously sketchy is going on, it is ok to step in, but its not ok to intervene with a dangerous weapon when no lives are in obvious jeopardy. 

The first book we read during class was the classic hero's journey epic poem, The Odyssey. In it, Telemachus and Odysseus display heroism that is the basis for classic heroes as we know them today.

After that, we delved into As I Lay Dying. This book was particularly interesting regarding its heroes because nobody in the book was particularly spectacular. Each character had admirable characteristics, such as Darl's extreme love for his uncaring mother, Cash's handiness, Dewey Dell's ability to survive through her terrible teenage pregnancy experience (we hope), and Anse's insistence on fulfilling his unloving dead wife's last wish (despite his possible anterior motives). However, no character ever really solves the families problems. There isn't much improvement on the Bundrens from the beginning of the book to the end.

The next book we read was The Memory of Running. In this book, Smithy quite literally goes on a hero's journey, biking across the country with the ultimate purpose of seeing his dead sister. Although the reason he picks to go to LA is to get his sister, thats not the reason he goes on the bike ride. The reason he goes on the bike ride, in my opinion, is just to go somewhere, to get out of his life in Providence. His bike ride unintentionally becomes a hero's journey as he slowly becomes a better person physically and mentally.

As I was reading The Memory of Running. I was also writing my research paper about Donald Driver, my Packer fandom, and various issues regarding professional football players and the media. Donald Driver is a typical heroic athlete, having grown up extremely poor, he had great success playing football and has given a ton of time and money to charitable causes. However, the media often portrays true heroes, such as Richard Sherman in a negative light because negativity sells, as is shown in the constant stream of headlines regarding Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and Aaron Hernandez. Rarely is there a front page article about Driver, Sherman, or the countless other heroic athletes.

Finally, we read Room. Aside from Jack's brief incredibly heroic escape, Ma and Jack do not display typical heroic traits, yet they are heroes in their ability to cope to their entry and re-entry into the outside world.

As is apparent in my views of heroes in each of the books we read, my view of a hero Over the course of the semester has become way more dynamic and debatable than the black and white definition I seemed to have before the class. 

Room and other famous kidnappings

When reading Room, it was clear to me that incidents such as the one occurring in Room has happened in real life many times before. With this information, I decided to do some research to see the outcomes of these various situations.

The first that came to mind was that of the three women whom Ariel Castro, the Puerto Rican man living in Cleveland, kidnapped over the span of three years (one in each of 2002, 2003, and 2004). He kept each of the women locked in bedrooms until his capture in 2013. They survived constant and repeated emotional, physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, as well as frequent death threats. One of the women bore Castro's child, and another was impregnated five times, but Castro starved or beat her so miscarriage was induced. The women were fed a meal a day, went to the bathroom at infrequently emptied plastic toilets, and were allowed to shower at most twice a week. In 2013, Castro left the house unlocked. One of the women thought it was a trick or a "test" (something Castro had done before) so she did not leave. However she did capture the attention of neighbors and Castro was soon arrested. Castro pleaded guilty to kidnap, rape, and aggravated murder and received life in prison without parole plus 1,000 years. A month into his sentence, he hung himself.
This situation obviously closely resembles Ma and Jack's situation in Room. However, I wonder most how the women he kidnapped (and the child, who was at times taken out of the house by Castro) adjusted back into normal life. What I found was quite interesting. The women who were taken by Castro returned to Castro's home and spoke with neighbors about the ordeal. One of the women seemed to relish in the tables being turned so quickly and for Castro to now be locked up. At his trial she told him "You took eleven years of my life away, but now I have it back. I spent eleven years in hell. Now your hell is just beginning". This approach seems like quite the opposite of Ma's, who wants to forget about Old Nick and Room and never have to think of either of them again.

The other situation that was brought up in resemblance to room was one that Claire's student discussion group brought up as the basis for Room. Josef Fritzl had kept his daughter Elizabeth Fritzl locked up in his basement for 24 years. She had eight children, four of whom were kept with her, aged 19, 18, and 5. One of her children died just days after being born. Eventually, Elisabeth's 19 year old daughter was critically ill so Josef arranges her to go to the hospital. A week later he releases Elisabeth and her other two children, saying she has decided to return home after a 24 year absence. He had done all of this without his wife, Rosemarie, ever finding out. Soon, Josef was arrested, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison.
The author of Room, Emma Donoghue, said it is going too far to say that her book was based on the Fritzl case. She does, however, admit that she did get the idea from the Fritzl case, citing the five year old boy kept by Josef Fritzl as the child that sparked the idea for Jack. Similarly to Ma and Jack, the Fritzl's were extremely pale upon release and couldn't stay in the Sun for too long. They were kept in a hospital for several months without publicity as to respect their privacy. They also all suffered from panic attacks and other mental obstacles associated with their previous living conditions. However, it is known that they all made a full recovery and are now doing well. This case is much more similar to Room regarding the aftermath of the situation, and rightfully so considering Donoghue admits getting the idea for her book from this case.

What we can imply from the different cases I have mentioned is that different people cope different ways and that Ma and Jack do not deserve to be judged or ridiculed because of their coping mechanisms (i.e. breastfeeding). Regardless of the ways they handle their release, they went through a horrible situation and anything they do to stay alive or their actions after their release should be applauded.