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Recommended: What is heroism
Alistair awoke suddenly. He looked around. Nothing. He could have sworn that he heard something. He must have dreamt it. Alistair was just about to drift back to sleep when he heard it again. It was a slight rustling. Alistair rose from the cold mat serving as his bed. He had to discover what that was. He pulled on his dirty, patchwork cloak and rushed through the creaky door. Torbin, his master, wouldn’t even notice his absence.
Alistair quickly ran towards the bushes where he had heard the noise. He plunged his hand into the bush. He felt something hard. He withdrew it. To his great surprise, it was a chess piece. It was a white king to be exact. Alistair examined it closely. Despite his status as a peasant, he knew many things. He had been stealing books from the king’s library, when his master him with the taxes, since a young age. Someone must have placed the chess piece in this bush. But why? Alistair felt around to check for any more items. He withdrew a dented mug and a ball of wool. Even more mystifying. Suddenly a guard spotted him.
“You there! What are you doing out this late?” the guard yelled.
“I was going to fetch firewood for my master,” Alistair replied thinking quickly. The guard advanced towards him. The guard had sensed the lie. Alistair took off. Alistair navigated through the narrow alleyways of the city with the air of an expert. The guard, burdened with heavy equipment gave up after tripping on the cobblestones. Alistair ran to an old abandoned tavern he could use as refuge.
Alistair cautiously opened the large door of the tavern. Upon doing so, he fell through a concealed trap. He fell into a large dimly lit room. Alistair started to panic. A dark creature was lying in a corner. It heaved itself up...
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... in. Alistair could not run this time. The demon aimed a kick at Alistair. He rolled over, narrowly avoiding it. The wall crumbled. An idea struck him. Alistair drew from his cloak, the white king, the mug and the ball of wool, and threw them directly above the demon, close to the roof. The demon raised one of its hands to catch them. As it did, one of its fists hit the roof. The roof started crumbling burying the demon. It howled and dropped the three items. As fast as his one good leg would carry him, Alistair dashed for the items. He picked them up and flung them into the ring of fire.
As the items melted in the ring of fire, the monster emitted a terrible scream. The labyrinth started to crumble. Alistair did not attempt to escape. He had done what he had to do and saved human kind. Alistair was at peace, oblivious to the chaos surrounding him. He died a hero.
Who is your hero? Many of us can clearly picture our idea of our personal hero in our head, but is the person you consider to be a hero really a hero by definition? In Heroism: Why Heroes are Important, Scott LaBarge, a Classics and Philosophy Professor at Santa Clara University, awakens your thoughts on the word heroism and how it has changed since its origins in ancient Greece. Throughout his essay, he goes in depth into the term ‘hero’ and compares it to society’s take on heroes today. Although LaBarge uses examples to back up his stance that “Today, it is much harder to detach the concept of heroism from morality (LaBarge. 1),” his essay contains flaws and he contradicts his own words.
But he had no power to retreat one step, not to resist, even in thought, when the minister and the good old Deacon Gookin seized his arms and led him to the blazing rock. Thither came ...
Once we were all in the circle, Gabriel uttered a few words, sending our bodies to Purgatory. After a few minutes of being thrown to Purgatory, we made it. The scene just as I remembered-- bloody. I surveyed the area, checking for any witnesses. After making sure the coast was clear, I entered the tent, pulling out the syringe.
What makes a hero a hero? By definition, a hero display courage in adverse situations and who are willing to self-sacrifice in positions of weakness. Based on this definition, the character of Macbeth is not a hero but a man whose lust for power led to his own destruction and take opposition against Ian Johnston’s Introduction to Macbeth. I believe that the character of Macbeth in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth is not a hero because he was responsible for killing Duncan, murdered people on unjustified grounds, and was the cause of his own demise
Once inside his sanctuary, he did not know what to do with himself, but vibrating energy fueled by jealousy and rage flowed through him, and it needed to stop. He let out an unrestrained roar, damn what those who lived close by thought of him. He paced. Charged to his wardrobe, tossed his clothing over his shoulder, then withdrew Alis’s hair combs. Dropped them and crushed them under his boot. Picked them back up. Flung them onto the floor. Upended his bedside table, which sent a clay mug spinning across the floor where it shattered against the wall.
What is a hero? For the most part the answer to that question is entirely subjective, what someone must do in order to be labeled a hero or, for the matter, a villain is almost entirely up to each and every individual reader. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the speaker introduces the protagonist of the play as a loyal and valiant warrior, typical traits of a hero, but it quickly becomes clear to any reader that Macbeth, the protagonist, is not in any sense of the word a hero. That insufficient heroism can be credited to a prophecy given by three witches that had a similar effect on both Macbeth and Banquo. The only clear hero of the play is Macduff, a man with a strong sense of loyalty to the country he swore to serve.
“How often, asleep at night, am I convinced of just such familiar events – that I am here in my dressing-gown, sitting by the fire – when in fact I am lying undressed in bed! […] All this would not happen with such distinctness to someone asleep. Indeed! As if I did not remember other occasions when I have been tricked by exactly similar that’s while asleep!”
“The room was silent. His heart pounded the way it had on their first night together, the way it still did when he woke at a noise in the darkness and waited to hear it again - the sound of someone moving through the house, a stranger.”(4)
2. Dike (p.77 to 79) Robert Ross shows his perseverance, when he tries to save himself from drowning in the dikes. He fights against Mother Nature, and thinks strategically by pushing himself and not giving up. He was fearful of drowning, mentally motivated himself to get out and avoid dying, and soon eventually breaks free. This shows how strong Robert is when motivated by the will to survive. Although he was fearful, he overcame it and saved himself, since some would just give up. Before entering the war, it was seen that he would run away from his problems (Rowena’s death), but now as he realizes that there is no point of return, he finds a new sense of drive. He shows his willpower, by maintaining an independent, and strong, logical mind when faced with fear, and learns to fight so that was doesn’t get the best of him. “I don’t want to drown, he thought. Please don’t drown. He pushed himself up with his head hanging down,” (Findley 79).
They continued to walk onward, while the elder traveler exhorted his companion to make good speed and persevere in the path, discoursing so aptly, that his arguments seemed rather to spring up in the bosom of his auditor, than to be suggested by himself. As they went, he plucked a branch of maple, to serve for a walking-stick, and began to strip it of the twigs and little boughs, which were wet with evening dew
As shown through an analysis of heroism itself, overuse of the word “hero”, and the falling rate of world violence, the end of heroism will be a sign of a better society. Heroism exists as the unordinary and as soon as heroic actions by the public become ordinary, extraordinary heroic acts will stagnate- not being the cause of a better society but the byproduct of one.
In the heartfelt novel, Lord Jim, Joseph Conrad explores the concept of heroism through the conduct and emotions of Jim, a man who spends his life attempting to seek penance for an act of cowardice he committed as a young officer during the shipwreck of the Patna in the East. Through the eyes of the narrator, Marlowe, the reader sees Jim's internal struggle to repent for his sin as he "jumps" from job to job trying to escape his ominous legacy, eventually landing in the dangerous and isolated community in a native state, Patusan. There he lives contentedly detached and hidden from the Patna until civilization reenters his dome in the form of an evil man, Brown --unveiling Jim's repressed and remote secret by hitting his guilty conscience -- causing Jim's long awaited dark fated death, yet, ending his life with a trace of heroism.
I still remember the look on my mother’s face, as I was pulled out of her tight grasp. I cried like never before, as I was being taken into the carriage. The guards had an accent like the men from the east. Wearing grey clothing with helmets that had antlers. They had horses which I had never seen before, black with silky hair like the finest silk that the lord's wore. Consequently I was terrified of what was going to happen next, there was a man whom I commanded to let go of me, he ignored and then threw me into the carriage. It was gloomy, also smelling like the faeces of the cattle. I was the only boy there, there was a tiny hole next to me; I had no clue what I was doing but I looked through it anyway. I saw an isle
What makes the acts of heroism different from the daily life of others? To people the act of heroism can be from their favorite sports player or an actor. But, to some they could be there family member. Each heroic act in the society is faced with great challenges but the hero never backs down. In addition, heroic acts have many different purposes in our society. The acts of heroism are considered as an inspiration to others and a reference but, it takes certain attribute such as courage and selflessness.