About HeroesThe word hero can be confusing, for it has several meanings. It is often appli
About Heroes
The word hero can be confusing, for it has several meanings. It is often applied to ordinary people who happen to perform. an act of great courage—a fireman who saves someone from a burning house at the risk of his own life, for example. Then, the principal character of a play, a novel, or a firm is known as the hero of the story, even if he is not particularly brave. But the heroes and heroines that we are going to consider now constitute a third group. They are the giants, the out-of-the-ordinary figures whose superiority fills our hearts with admiration and awe; the men and women who give us a high example to follow, a purpose in life, or sometimes just a dream, because they represent the person that we would like to be.
Humanity has always had such heroes. Some have been the saviors or the builders of their country, like George Washington, who gave generations of Americans their model of determination, selflessness, and honor. Others have been religious leaders or gorgeous women; conquerors, athletes, or pioneers; characters in novels or revolutionaries; saints, sin nets, likable robbers, or movie stars. Whatever they did, they were all stars—shining, glorious, showing the way to their followers below, wishing to imitate the good characteristics and the virtues of heroes can change the behavior. of their admirers for the better.
Many articles have appeared in recent years, claiming that there are no more heroes in the Western world. The authors say that, particularly in Europe and North America, the young now refuse to admire anyone; that we are living in a world too well informed, too curious and critical for hero worship. The press, books, and television keep showing us the faults of the public figures who could become today's stars, until we lose faith and start looking for defects in any person who seems worthy of respect. In a neighbor or a statesman, we try to discover the weaknesses, failures, or ugly motives that are surely hiding behind his noblest actions.
Is it true that we know too much？ Were our ancestors lucky to be only partly informed？ Those who read the first biographies of Charlemagne, George Washington, Joan of Arc, or other great men and women of the past were not told that their hero had bad breath or disliked his mother; they only found a description of his great accomplishments and their admiration was strengthened. In fact, early biographers didn't hesitate to make up an admirable story or two about their hero. The man who wrote the first biography of Washington, for instance, invented the cherry tree; he admitted later that there was no truth in it, but he said that it was in character and that it would give young men a good example to follow. His readers didn't seem to object; the book was reprinted eighty times—a tremendous success in those days.
Modern biographers do not invent such stories; they respect the facts, as indeed they should. But we pay a price for their truthfulness, for in their efforts to show "the whole person", they tell us more than we really need to know about private lives, family secrets, and human weaknesses. The true greatness of a fine man is often forgotten in the display; and people lose not only their admiration for him, but their willingness to trust any other "star" completely.
This shows clearly in the remarks of a high-school students near Los Angeles, who were asked whom they admired. "Nobody," said a young man, "because the objects of our early admiration have been destroyed. People we wanted to believe in have been described to us with all their faults and imperfections; that makes it hard to trust the 'historical' heroes." Another student, a girl, added, "The people we try to imitate are the unknown adults, the noncelebrities in our lives. In stead of dreaming of being like some famous woman somewhere, I want to be like my mom's best friend, whom no one in thi
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