Is Superman A Hero Essay

1468 Words6 Pages

A red cape rushes past, catching the wind within its grasp. It waves to those passing by on a warm afternoon. It is a beacon of hope… donned by a three-foot-seven-inch little boy. One may ask, “Why is he dressed like this?” The answer is quite simple: Superman is this little boy’s hero. “‘Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!’” His role model is someone to be in awe of, but, ultimately, Superman is flesh and bone. The other heroes children dress up as: firefighters, police officers, or princesses are still human. These men and women are people that should be admired. But, is there a way for all of humanity to take a step towards greatness? Arthur C. Clarke, the author …show more content…

He enters the mission as flesh and blood, became a part of Discovery, and returned as a Space Child all within the timespan of a few years. After passing through the star gate, Bowman finds himself in the “space hotel room.” The room is equivalent to a pen in a zoo. It looks exactly like a room on Earth on the surface. However, there is not a Bible in the dresser nor do the containers of food actually contain what they claim to. While Bowman is in the room, he sees an older version of himself. Then, he becomes this older version of himself who is eating at the table. When the wine glass falls to the ground, it falls at a normal speed and stays broken. This also directs his line of sight to a dying version of himself. In the last seconds, the monolith appears once again and transforms Bowman into a Star Child. All of the dimensions of Time merges at once, but it only applies to Bowman as the demonstrated by the falling glass. “Into pure energy, therefore, they presently transformed themselves; and on a thousand worlds, the empty shells they had discarded twitched for a while in a mindless dance of death, then crumbled into rust.” As a Star Child, he is outside the limitations of time and distance which he demonstrates by crossing solar systems in a few seconds when he returns to …show more content…

As a Star Child, Bowman has the ability to cure the problems that the World faces: overpopulation and nuclear annihilation. “He put forth his will, and the circling megatons flowered in a silent detonation that brought a brief, false dawn to half the sleeping globe.” Bowman is presented as the remedy for the problems that the world currently faces. Paralleled by Moon-Watcher’s earlier actions: making tools the solution to hunger, and at the same time launched ape men to the top of the food