Heroes are not always apparent in stories; the common saying “not all heros wear capes” is very true. In everyday life, we see people we might call heros for various reasons- the firefighter who saved the people from a burning building, the police officer who comes just in time before the bank robber escapes with the money, the doctor in the ER who saved a person’s life after a car crash- the acts are all out there. But heroism lies deeper than just insane acts of bravery in other’s eyes, but in the person’s own eyes as well. Kim Savage’s After the Woods explores heroism in both the conventional and unconventional aspect that readers think of when they hear “hero”. Julia is a 16 year old girl who goes through a traumatic event and has to sort out what happened to her by herself. She and her friend, Liv, were running as practice for track which resulted in her being alone in the woods for two days. Now out of the woods, she had to find out why what occurred happened to her. Julia does not just find herself in the woods for two days for nothing. When running, her friend, Liv, gets pinned down by a man she does not know. …show more content…
She sets out to uncover the whole truth to what happened to save herself and her mentality from what could drive her over the edge. Heros in the typical sense are people who go out and save others. Julia brings justice for herself. She is brave, delving into a difficult and upsetting moment in her life to understand her situation. She brought up memories and situations that caused a mental disorder (PTSD) to develop for her. She was very brave and put herself through situations that made her uncomfortable, reminded her of the past, in order to keep herself moving into the future. It was very heroic to take the risks that she did, and she did save