True Heroes Research Paper

True heroes often do not benefit from their own heroic actions. That idea, unfortunately, is something that is proven to be true again and again during humanity 's history. The forgotten soldiers who lie dead on battlefields; the unacknowledged spies who give their lives for their country, the doctors, the nurses, the paramedics of everyday life. They don 't get the credit, because their superiors take it all. And because they don 't get any credit, they are never awarded. However, this is not always the case. Some heroes do get what they want and probably deserve, and these are the men and women who are held up to be role models for everyone else in society.

Many authors have written about different types of heroes, with the majority

What makes a hero? Heroic actions? Heroic qualities? A hero in one society could be a villain in another. A hero is someone or something who is viewed as doing good for a certain society. And so the unfortunate truth is that heroes are only heroes if society says they are. Take Abraham Lincoln as an example. He was, and still is, viewed as a hero by most of the world 's population. His heroic act was the abolition of slavery. While this was a very good thing by itself, it cost hundreds of thousands of human and animal lives, and caused misery and suffering in all of America. This inevitably led to Lincoln making new enemies who viewed him not as a hero, but as a villain, until his assassination by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. The question is, did he benefit from his actions? Some would argue that he did. He became the president of the USA, and gained fame, wealth and power as a result. And yet in doing so, he made himself a major target for reprisal. In the end, his own heroic actions did not benefit him, and actually led to his death, but they did benefit almost everyone else. And it is because of that that he has become a true hero. Recognition is often a blessing, but in many cases, it is a curse that does not help the hero. In the case of the girls in Rabbit-Proof Fence, it brings hope to an entire generation, but the unwanted fame that arises from the daring escape only results in betrayal by an aborigine man that results in Gracie being taken for a shilling.

The feeling of happiness after helping someone is perhaps the only sure thing a hero can expect, and when even this is not fulfilled, it hurts the hero even more. Fitz from the Farseer series of books is the best example of this feeling of betrayal. He is tortured to death for the amusement of his uncle, but is then brought back by his mentors with magic. However, he is forced to stay dead to keep everyone associated alive, and cannot see them again. When he finally recovers, he is forced to flee after a raid on his home, while leaving the raider 's bodies behind. He unfortunately leaves his most iconic possession on one of the bodies, and when his mentor Burrich comes back, he assumes that the decomposed body is Fitz and thinks him to be dead. Fitz 's sweetheart, Molly, who has his first child, is left to grieve, and she eventually marries Burrich. Fitz is completely heartbroken, and spends a night drunkenly raging at the injustice of the world. His magic allows him to watch both Molly and Burrich, which only hurts him more. He eventually decides to leave his life behind, because Molly and Burrich seem so happy together, and goes on a series of suicidal journeys as he has nothing left in his life anymore. He lives out the rest of his life under an assumed identity, until circumstances allow him to be back with some of the people he loves. He is the best fictional example of a hero who does not benefit at all from his actions. He saves everyone else, at the cost of dying