Hard Rock Returns To Prison Heroism

What is a hero? Is it a being or idea classified by tights and capes or is it something more? A hero can be anything their society makes them out to be, which is the case in Etheridge Knight’s short story, “Hard Rock Returns to Prison.” A hero can also be a reassuring mother of a frightened child, as shown beautifully in John Hope Franklin’s short story, “The Train from Hate.” In both stories, the theme heroism plays important roles in their respective plots. Both stories also prove that the term “hero” has no singular meaning, as the term can have a multitude of meanings. Similarly, the police that protect our streets and serve their local people are the heroes of our real world society. A hero can be anyone and anything their society wants

The young Franklin boy was upset and hurt. He also thought of the train conductor, the man who kicked him and his mother off, as being “so mean” (Franklin 1). His mother caught notice of this and decided to give her troubled boy an important life lesson and some reassurance. His mother told the young boy that “the laws required racial separation…(though they) could not make us inferior in any way,” while also adding that, “the conductor was not superior because he was white, and (the boy) was not inferior because (he) was black” (Franklin 1). This important life lesson changed John’s life, as he learned that, despite what the law may suggest, all people are meant to be equal. Additionally, John was saved by his mother from falling into a sea of hatred due to the incident, as he realized that “it took too much energy to hate or even fight intolerance with one’s emotions” (Franklin 1). In the eyes of John Hope Franklin, his mother was his very own hero, as she was a reassurance and a sedative to Franklin’s hurt and discouraged heart. As opposed to the perception of a hero in Etheridge Knight’s tale being a fearless leader, the mother is the comfort hero to John in Franklin’s tale, as most parents are to their beloved