How Aron Ralston and Abdulrahman Zeitoun Became Heroes - Term Paper Example

HOW ARON RALSTON (PROTAGONIST IN 127 HOURS) AND ABDULRAHMAN ZEITOUN (PROTAGONIST IN ZEITOUN) BECAME HEROES. Introduction The word hero has various meanings in today’s self-helpful world. However, all these meanings achieve in describing heroes as individuals who courageously and deliberately overcome hurdles for the benefit of others disregarding personal consequences. The only qualifying credentials for heroes and a measure of their true leadership are the conquered obstacles. Heroes are likely to risk their lives, physical or financial well-being just to save another human being or maybe a dog or cat. In a much broader perspective, individuals who survived the 9/11 attacks, the Vietnam wars and civil right activists who manages a march with fire hoses and fierce dogs can also be viewed as heroes. However, a common belief held by most people is that heroes are extraordinary and have abilities of performing astonishing deeds that are way beyond capabilities of ordinary people. Discussion Some people argue that heroes are born and not made while others argue that heroism is just a matter of fate. In line to supporting the proposition that heroes are made, another question comes up, what or who makes the heroes? These arguments can be proved or dismissed by the characters Abdulrahman Zeitoun in the book “Zeitoun” and Aron Ralston in the book “127 Hours: Between a rock and a hard place.” The two books are real life experiences showing heroic acts of the two men. In as much as these two people showed heroism in what they did, some people have argued that their heroism was a matter of chance. This notion is debate-able and depends entirely on ones views and opinions regarding life. The protagonist in “Zeitoun”, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, is a Syrian American who decides to stay behind in New Orleans with the intention of protecting his home and his successful construction and painting business while his family flees New Orleans to Baton Rouge during Hurricane Katrina. Just like most people, he had thought that the flood wouldn’t cause much damage other than breaking of a few windows. Upon waking up one morning, he finds his city submerged and this prompts him to use his old canoe to navigate the flooded streets to assess the state of the city(Dave pp. 20). The city is in a mess and the author describes its strange details to be like visions of the apocalypse. He further compares the scenario by beginning the novel with an epigraph from “The Road” a post-apocalyptic novel by Cormac McCarthy. Zeitoun assesses the situation of the city and respond to cries for help. So many people needed help yet most government organizations such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) were not willing to help. Despite their powerful fan boats and state-of-the-heart apparatus with the capacity to save lives, they did not do much. This gives Zeitoun the opportunity to be the hero of a city that is in desperate need of one. Being an experienced and powerful sailor who doesn’t fear the watery world, he traverses the city responding to calls for help. He first rescued a 70-year old woman who was trapped in her house. Upon hearing the old woman cry for help, Zeitoun swims inside her porch and finds the elderly woman hovering above him using her furniture as a make shift floatation aid(Dave pp. 180). She was holding on to a bookshelf n water had reached high up to her shoulder. Zeitoun claim that she had been in the water for almost twenty four hours. The woman weighed 90 kg and the canoe couldn’t carry her, so Abdulrahman left to seek for an alternative solution. On her way out, his canoe was almost toppled by a speeding fan boat. He finds it difficult to get help since people are not willing to assist due to the reports that the city is in a state of anarchy and violence. Luckily, a fishing boat stops and he makes use of his construction skills and strength to lever the woman on a ladder into the vessel. Zeitoun was shaken to watch an elderly woman suffer like that. He claimed that the situation had robbed the woman her dignity, and witnessing all that really pained him. Abdulrahman Zeitoun also rescued a local church pastor together with the wife. Zeitoun had known the couple for years and when he heard them crying out for help, he did not hesitate to help. It was also heroic of Zeitoun for taking food and water to a man who was trapped in his house. He did this humanly act every day up to the time he was arrested. In that chaotic and tragic situation, Abdulrahman managed to rescue and save more than ten people(Dave pp.150). He claimed that he did everything he thought was necessary to save lives. His assertion that God had made him stay for a reason could be used to support the claim that ‘he became a hero by chance’. If he had decided to leave with his family members he could have never been a hero. Hurricane Katrina gave him the chance to be a hero and he made good use of the opportunity. On the contrary, his beliefs and opinions regarding life can justify the claim that he was born a hero. He says that he did what he brought up to do, and that is to save lives. Despite his efforts in saving lives, the government failed to recognize his heroic acts and in fact sent unidentified police officers to arrest him claiming he was a terrorist. He got arrested six days after the floods while at home together with Nasser Dayoob-his Syrian friend, Todd Gambino-his tenant and Ronnie, a white man whom Zeitoun did not know but had offered shelter to upon his request. The only reason they were told for their arrest is that they were Al-Qaeda and Taliban(Dave pp.250). They were incarcerated but Zeitoun was released a month later while his friends were released several months later after the charges against them were dropped. The treatment Zeitoun received from the police is all that still angered him; however he was not bitter or vengeful. He continued his heroism by dedicating his time to rebuild the city. He played a great role in rebuilding a local museum, some schools and more than 250 houses that were damaged by the floods. He had plans of buying a bigger canoe having lost his old one. A bigger one that would facilitate easy rescue of many people in case another Katrina strikes. Zeituon is indeed a true herohaving come out to help flood victims single handedly. Aron Ralston in the book, “127 Hours: Between a rock and a hard place” also appear as a hero though not to most people. The book is a record Aron Ralston memoirs reflecting on how his hiking in Blue John Canyon in Utah ended up being tragic. Ralston climbed a more difficult fissure in a huge rock and accidentally knocked loose a huge chalkstone boulder which trapped his right arm against the rock wall (Aron pp.23). Various thoughts wondered in his mind on what he could do to salvage himself from the situation. He talks of how he was looking at his hand stuck in the rock and that twenty four hours had passed without blood circulating in it (Aron pp. 110). Aron takes us through his earlier life and death situations in which he had escaped death. While reminiscing about his life experiences as an adventurer, he kept telling himself that he is a strong man and this gives him the will to live. He battles with thoughts of suicide and ending his life since he is one hundred percent sure that no one is coming to rescue him. This is because he had failed to leave behind his hiking itinerary. To him suicide is a better option rather than dyingof giving up or dehydration (Aron pp. 190). As days passed by, his thoughts and emotions changed with his situation getting more serious. He therefore started eliminating his survival options one by one. Having explored all the possible solutions and analyzing the tools in his backpack, he films the images of the circumstance he is in using the video camera he had carried with him. Staying trapped for over five days and the arm developing gangrene, his view of the situation changes. He begins to regard his arm as the trap and the boulder as the tool. It’s at this point that he makes the vital decision that would change his life forever. He decides to amputate his arm to free himself from the boulder. This act makes him view himself as a hero as he tries to adapt to his new condition and the challenges arising from his amputation. The fact that he managed to survive the whole situation for six days and amputating his own arm makes him a hero. His heroic nature is therefore brought about by the circumstance in which he was in. He did an extraordinary thing cutting his arm, something most ordinary people wouldn’t even think of doing.It is one hundred percent true that his heroism was just a matter of chance and fate. If he couldn’t have been trapped by the boulder, he couldn’t have cut his arm hence he couldn’t be a hero. Conclusion In comparing the two characters, Abdulrahman Zeitoun is more of a born hero than Aron Ralston. This is so because Zeitoun chose to help the flood victims out of his love for humanity and respect for dignity. He had a choice of staying in his house protecting his property from looters, but he went out in his canoe and responded to calls for help. Aron Ralston on the other hand had to wait for six days to cut his hand. He had to do the amputation since it was the last option he had to survive. If his hand had not developed gangrene we are not sure if he could have got the guts to cut it. Works Cited. Aron,Ralston.“127 Hours:Between a Rock and a Hard Place.”New York: Pocket Books,2010 Dave, Eggers. “Zeitoun.”San Francisco: Mc Sweeney’s, 2009 Read More