Hero or Coward

Bryan Dietz
Mrs. Collier
10/24/2011
Essay# 4 hero or coward
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between a hero, a coward or perhaps somewhere in between. A hero is someone whom goes above and beyond the actions of an ordinary citizen. On the other hand a coward is someone whom is presented the opportunity to do something great and be a hero and steps down instead of up. Norman Bowker can be justifiably called all of these at different times in his life.
Norman Bowkar fought in a war which shows a great act of courage in and of its self. While in the service he would acquire 7 common valors, which one receives for going through the proper everyday motions of the service. This would place him above an ordinary citizen but not yet a hero. The reason I place him above an ordinary citizen is because he chose to risk his life for his country but he is not yet a hero because that is not an uncommon thing.
As the war progressed I have changed feelings toward him in one particular incident that he constantly refers back to, in which his squad member dies smothered in the “shit field “. Norman Bowkar had an opportunity to save his friend and colleague. Given this opportunity Norman Bowkar, does nothing due to the terrible stench. This may be and unbearable smell but in a time of crisis you need to put your own discomfort aside to save another one’s life. In this instance he takes up the role of the coward.
Even though that situation he acted as a coward would , he recovered from the traumatic stress losing a friend puts on you and would help lead his men throughout the war relatively safely and would live to tell about it .so in light of that situation I feel he may have redeemed himself with his successes throughout the war . So he would be finally considered a hero by the time he arrives home.
Throughout this chapter Norman Bowker, the main character, played an ever changing round character. Since at times he could have been described as any one of these traits, I believe he is just merely a combination of all three as opposed to being just a single one of theses.