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Essay On Fred Collins Heroism

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A Mystery of Heroism, Is Fred Collins a Hero?

Not every act is heroic and not every person is a hero. There is a set of criterion that needs to be met by a person to be a hero or an act to be heroic. A hero must be noble, selfless, shameless, and compassionate. For an act to be heroic, the person must be aware of the danger and think before acting. The act must be noble, selfless, and compassionate.The act must also benefit someone other than the performer of the act. Following this criterion, Fred Collins is not a hero although he performed a heroic act.
Fred Collins is not a hero. As stated by Fred Collins in the text,”Heroes had no shames in their lives, and, as for him, he remembered borrowing fifteen dollars from a friend and promising to pay it back the next day, and then avoiding that friend for ten months...He saw that in the matters of the well, the canteens, and the shells, he was but an intruder in the land of fine deeds.” Heroes are supposed to be selfless and without shame. Fred is neither of these and has he had stated, he does not fit into the category of a hero. A hero along with selfless and shameless must be noble. Fred Collins is not noble. Fred Collins motivation to go retrieve the water was not noble but was driven by the need to prove himself and fear of shame. “Some of the resentment toward his companions, which …show more content…

Fred Collins is not a hero and does not fit into what a hero needs to be. Though he is not a hero he was able to complete a heroic act. The initial action of getting the water for himself and his companions was futile for the fact that once the water arrived safely it was spilled. But this is not the act in question, his heroic act was giving a dying man his last drink. How a person can perform a heroic act but not be a hero perplexing, and thus may be the mystery of heroism. With the given criteria, Fred Collins is not a hero but performed a heroic

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