The Monsters

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Recommended: Individual’s capacity for self-sacrifice in the face of compelling circumstances

INVISIBLE MONSTERS

To sacrifice oneself and save others is what we've known as human love, and we have also learned that we should respect those who could perform that in any situation, but in reality, the numbers of those people who don't care about what others do seems much greater than the number of those who do. In Stephen Crane's story, "The Monsters", Henry Johnson who sacrifices himself into the fire in order to save a little boy gets treated like a monster just because his face has "burned away"(84). This is very serious problem because it's not what happens only in the book, but also in our present lives.
Henry Johnson is a man who works for Dr. Trescott. One evening when Dr. Trescott's house is on fire, Johnson burns mainly his face and the body while he is saving Jimmie, the son of Dr. Trescott. Judge Hagenthrope tells Dr. Trescott that it is rather killing Johnson for the town, for Johnson wouldn't be welcomed by the people in the town. Then he says, "As near as I can understand, he will hereafter be a monster, a perfect monster, and probably with an affected brain"(86). From this line, we can see that Judge Hagenthrope is afraid and worried about Johnson's face because his face will surely scare the whole town. Dr. Trescott does not listen to him and keeps taking care of him. Dr. Trescott takes Johnson to the house of Alek Williams so that Williams can take care of him, b...

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