Heroism In The Things They Carried

“What’s a Hero?”
When I think of a hero I immediately think of someone who is strong, intelligent, handsome, and daring. We keep these heroes in our hearts and minds. Throughout time we follow them through their rise and fall from the pedestal, which we have placed them on. Upon closer look, many different qualities make up a hero. I believe heroes are those who are admired or idealized for courage, honesty, bravery, selflessness, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
Let’s review the definition of a hero, it is important to know what makes a hero. First off a hero can be any average person. At times we often think that heroes are only in the movies or the athlete that makes the final touchdown in the super bowl. An Example of a hero
In the story, “The Things they Carried” by Tim O’Brien, illustrates great examples of heroic duties. In this story we meet soldiers with a crazy amount of mental trauma and otherwise baggage. We learned that the soldiers carry lots of things, from guns to fear to expectations. “The Things They Carried”, is a powerful story on the experiences of foot soldiers in Vietnam and after the war. Lt. Cross, in the beginning is always thinking of Martha but after the death of his friend Lavender, Lt. Cross burns Martha's letters and accepts the blame for Lavender's death. While he destroyed the physical accoutrements, the mementos of Martha, Lt. Cross continues to carry the memory of her with him. Lt. Cross steps up as a lieutenant and he showed strength and understood his obligation to be a leader and save the lives of the men he leads. Another great example of a hero was Henry Dobbin, a foot soldier in Alpha Company who symbolizes, "America itself, big and strong, slow but always plodding along." He is a large man with a soft heart who feels sympathy for others and anger against unwarranted cruelty. He has a keen sense of morality and treats everyone, enemies and friends, with