A Good Deed Creates a Good Samaritan, Not a Hero
A GOOD DEED CREATES A GOOD SAMARITAN, NOT A HERO
Connie Halal
English Comp 122
Prof: Amy Morris
May 17, 2013
A good deed creates a Good Samaritan, not a hero Today’s society is a busy self absorbed atmosphere. Our cultural system encourages everyone to go about their business on a daily basis while routinely ignoring the hungry man on the street corner or the dead animal on the side of the highway. It’s normal to mind your own business and not stick your neck out to help a fellow human being. So when an individual breaks the norm to lend a helping hand, the good deed becomes media worthy heroism. This is absurd hero worship considering opportunities to help arise every minute of every day, yet the opportunity is usually ignored. Society is being rewarded for doing minor good deeds or behaving like a Good Samaritan by receiving fanfare that would rival the pope coming to town. However, with so many bad deeds accruing, every small act of kindness can be misconstrued as heroism. A good deed creates a Good Samaritan, not a hero. Although the Good Samaritans of today’s society should be praised; they are not heroes and are not on par with the hero’s of mythology.
The word hero has several variations of its definitions. One example from the Webster’s dictionary is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities”. (Dictionary .com) In the book World Mythology (Rosenberg, 1994), a hero is defined as “children of gods who have unusual birth, possess extraordinary strength, embark on arduous journey and have unusual deaths”. The two meanings are different, yet very similar. As a child of a God, these individuals must strive for heroism. They have a propensity towards bravery and a born need to be admired. As children of gods they are required to prove themselves worthy of the moniker hero. The common modern man however merely has to be at the right place at the right time and
Connie Halal
English Comp 122
Prof: Amy Morris
May 17, 2013
A good deed creates a Good Samaritan, not a hero Today’s society is a busy self absorbed atmosphere. Our cultural system encourages everyone to go about their business on a daily basis while routinely ignoring the hungry man on the street corner or the dead animal on the side of the highway. It’s normal to mind your own business and not stick your neck out to help a fellow human being. So when an individual breaks the norm to lend a helping hand, the good deed becomes media worthy heroism. This is absurd hero worship considering opportunities to help arise every minute of every day, yet the opportunity is usually ignored. Society is being rewarded for doing minor good deeds or behaving like a Good Samaritan by receiving fanfare that would rival the pope coming to town. However, with so many bad deeds accruing, every small act of kindness can be misconstrued as heroism. A good deed creates a Good Samaritan, not a hero. Although the Good Samaritans of today’s society should be praised; they are not heroes and are not on par with the hero’s of mythology.
The word hero has several variations of its definitions. One example from the Webster’s dictionary is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities”. (Dictionary .com) In the book World Mythology (Rosenberg, 1994), a hero is defined as “children of gods who have unusual birth, possess extraordinary strength, embark on arduous journey and have unusual deaths”. The two meanings are different, yet very similar. As a child of a God, these individuals must strive for heroism. They have a propensity towards bravery and a born need to be admired. As children of gods they are required to prove themselves worthy of the moniker hero. The common modern man however merely has to be at the right place at the right time and