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.