Essay Heroic
Araminta Moser
En 101: Composition 1
3/26/2015
The Meaning of Being Heroic
The word heroic comes from the Latin word heroicus “of a hero” and the Greek word heroikos “pertaining to heroes”. One meaning of heroic is to be impressive; surpassing the ordinary, or larger than life. Another is to show extreme courage. I feel soldiers, firefighters, and police are all very heroic. But to me the events of 9/11 proved even everyday people can do very heroic acts in the face of evil. A great example people being heroic played out in the fatal crash of “Flight 93”. On September 11th simple everyday people boarded a plane and in the course of the flight they learned of the other planes used to fly into the Twin Towers. Upon learning of theses crashes they did an unimaginably heroic deed by overtaking the high-jackers aboard their plane and gave up their own lives by crashing the plane to save the people they did not even know that were the high-jackers intended victims. Firefighters, police, and first responders are all very heroic. They knowingly put their lives in danger everyday simply by going to work and doing their jobs. They never know what dangers they are walking into on any given day. Such as an uncontrollable fire, a gangster in a stolen car, or a car wreck with a patient bleeding whom may have aids or HIV. But they still do their jobs to help these victims. The story “The Lottery” is a good example of how to be totally non-heroic. If just one member of this town had stepped up and said no and gave a justifiable, moral reason to end this tradition maybe the town would have stopped this lottery. Or if this wife’s husband had just a little courage he would have stepped up in her place. The story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a good example of a normal man who wishes to be heroic. He goes about his everyday life daydreaming of being a great hero. He dreams of being everything from a soldier to a doctor. Maybe someday he will have a chance to finally
En 101: Composition 1
3/26/2015
The Meaning of Being Heroic
The word heroic comes from the Latin word heroicus “of a hero” and the Greek word heroikos “pertaining to heroes”. One meaning of heroic is to be impressive; surpassing the ordinary, or larger than life. Another is to show extreme courage. I feel soldiers, firefighters, and police are all very heroic. But to me the events of 9/11 proved even everyday people can do very heroic acts in the face of evil. A great example people being heroic played out in the fatal crash of “Flight 93”. On September 11th simple everyday people boarded a plane and in the course of the flight they learned of the other planes used to fly into the Twin Towers. Upon learning of theses crashes they did an unimaginably heroic deed by overtaking the high-jackers aboard their plane and gave up their own lives by crashing the plane to save the people they did not even know that were the high-jackers intended victims. Firefighters, police, and first responders are all very heroic. They knowingly put their lives in danger everyday simply by going to work and doing their jobs. They never know what dangers they are walking into on any given day. Such as an uncontrollable fire, a gangster in a stolen car, or a car wreck with a patient bleeding whom may have aids or HIV. But they still do their jobs to help these victims. The story “The Lottery” is a good example of how to be totally non-heroic. If just one member of this town had stepped up and said no and gave a justifiable, moral reason to end this tradition maybe the town would have stopped this lottery. Or if this wife’s husband had just a little courage he would have stepped up in her place. The story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a good example of a normal man who wishes to be heroic. He goes about his everyday life daydreaming of being a great hero. He dreams of being everything from a soldier to a doctor. Maybe someday he will have a chance to finally