The Idea of a Worthy Hero - Essay Example

?True Meaning of a Hero The idea of a worthy hero has been deeply ingrained in American society ever since it won independence in 1776. However, overa long period of time the meaning behind this word has changed due to various factors, such as a shift in culture. A hero is supposed to provide comfort during a time of desperate need, but a hero is also someone who can be seen as a role model or someone to look up to. In Nicholas Thompson's Boston Globe article "Hero Inflation," the author discusses how and why the term hero has changed over the past few years. Thompson approaches a sensitive subject, the 9/11 attacks, by surmising that not all of the victims of that horrible event can be considered as heroes. According to his words, a true hero is someone who performs an act of bravery or nobility, and the simple fact is that very few of the victims on September 11, 2001 demonstrated one of or both of these values. The gist of Thompson's article is that we now tend to bestow hero status on someone out of sympathy for their plight rather than anything they may have done to deserve such an accolade. Similarly, but in a different way, in "Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done" Verlyn Klinkenborg writing with the Mother Jones news organization makes the argument that many of us do not truly understand what it means to be a hero. Society, and to a large extent the media, is too quick to throw the word hero out there without first qualifying its appropriateness and/or meaning. Klinkenborg goes on to state that American soldiers who have lost limbs overseas are often portrayed as heroes, even though their misfortune may have been as a result of an accident and they have not yet accomplished anything meaningful. The link between the two articles is that while having heroes to aspire to can be a good thing, if it is used to often then it can losing some of its meaning and value. In the article "Hero Inflation," author Nicholas Thompson is quite firm in his argument, yet at no time is her overbearing or insensitive to the views of others. One such example is when he says the following: "The victims of the terrorist attacks deserve tremendous sympathy. They died tragically and often horrifically" (Thompson, 2002). Thompson goes on to state that America as a country does like to honor those who have fallen in tragic circumstances, but changing the definition of a hero does these people no good and in fact weakens our ideals of what a hero means to us. Further on Thompson lists some people that almost everyone would consider heroes (Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Oskar Schindler, and Henry Johnson), but the common link between all these people is that they performed acts above and beyond what was expected of them or else did something very brave and endangered their own lives. Besides heroic acts and bravery, Thompson also lists success as the third factor in conjuring up a hero. By listing all of his criteria as to what a hero is in his eyes, Thompson is then able to successfully move onto to describing what a hero is not. This form of persuasion is quite compelling because it helps to get the reader onside. Beginning with a positive tone and then moving onto the negative helps to form a well-rounded argument. If Thompson had begun with what a hero was not, many readers may have lost interest because the opening stanzas of the article would be deemed too negative. Thompson comments that although heroes have primarily needed to fulfill those three requirements, there is now a fourth—being a noble victim (Thompson, 2002). Thompson continues by stating that some heroes may also be victims, but being a victim does not instantly make someone a hero. Thompson ends his argument by suggesting that many of the victims of 9/11 were termed heroes because it was a time of desperate need where the American public needed to keep hope, something which almost all heroes provide. In "Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done," author Verlyn Klinkenborg has much of the same tone but comes from a different angle, such as "It's hard to say just when the word 'hero' went bankrupt… We spread the word around like butter on toast (Klinkenborg, 2013). Klinkenborg starts right out with the main premise of the article without first preparing the reader by building them up to it. Klinkenborg's first sentence sets up the rest of the article by stating that the word hero went bankrupt, but it is debatable when it actually happened. This approach is more hard-hitting than the other article, as it does not pull back any punches. Although the tone of this article is different, there are many similarities with Thompson's article. The common trend is that both authors agree that term hero is used far too much and often for people who are not deserving of the phrase. In Klinkenborg's second paragraph the discussion moves away from the meaning behind the word and instead onto people who many would consider to be heroes: wounded American soldiers. Almost everyone would agree that these soldiers have sacrificed beyond measure, but that should not automatically give them hero status. As Klinkenborg mentions, many of these soldiers were wounded in less than heroic circumstances. In the final paragraph, Klinkenborg does show some consideration for the opposite point of view with the phrase "no one has the right to say that these men are not heroes." However, as Klinkenborg says, most people don't fully understand it and so cannot accurately bestow it on somebody else. The writing style of Klinkenborg is highly effective but it does have the ability to upset or even anger some readers with some highly controversial arguments. Still, the method of appeal is well though-out and shows that the author has considered all sides of the argument. Above all, Klinkenborg shows that although the term may be misguided in some uses, the right compassion and/or admiration is there. In addition to the convincing words that Klinkenborg uses to try and persuade the reader, emotional appeals are also made through the use of photos. These photos are of American military veterans who in some way or another have lost limbs in the process of fighting on the battlefield of Iraq. The photos are very compelling and help to instill sympathy in the reader, which inevitably does benefit the author because the reader is much more open to what they will read in the article. In conclusion, Thompson and Klinkenborg use various methods to try and get their points across, but in some way they are both arguing from the same point of view. The pair believes that our definition of the word hero has changed considerably in the last few years, and perhaps too many individuals are given the title and thus diminishing the effects that a hero can have on us. Thompson takes a soft approach to discussing this highly sensitive subject, while Klinkenborg is more forthright and debates the issue head-on. However, what can be gained from reading these two authors' articles is that both are very passionate about what they believe in and leave no stone unturned to persuade the reader. Works Cited Burman, Nina, and Verlyn Klinkenborg. "Returning from Iraq, the Damage Done." Mother Jones. N.p., 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 July 2013. Thompson, Nicholas. "Hero Inflation." New America Foundation. N.p., 13 Jan. 2002. Web. 25 July 2013. Read More