My Childhood Hero

Every child has a hero, someone they look up to, someone who guides their thoughts and influences their life. My childhood hero was Belle from the fairytale, The Beauty and the Beast. As a child, I watched the movie end to end and read the book countless times, losing myself in her magical world so completely that I actually began to know the lines by heart. I never once got bored of it and frankly, right until today, Belle is still my inspiration.

Though I first admired her for her outer beauty, I then began to look up to her for her inner beauty. She was portrayed as such a happy young woman, helpful and loving and with a warm smile for all. Her ability to be everyone’s friend, to sing such delightful songs always made me happy and feel like part of her world, not just an on-looker. I actually used to wish that Belle would come alive and be my friend.

However, the main reason Belle became my hero was because of her sacrifice. Her willingness to let go of all she knew and loved to save her father has never ceased to impress me. This truly showed me the depth of her love for her father and taught me the value of family and parents. Besides depicting Belle’s loving side, her sacrifice also gave me an insight to her courage. She braved the hound dogs in the mountains and continued with what she started out for, as a sacrifice to the beast who resided in a huge, deserted palace in the loneliest part of the mountains. It was through Belle that I learnt the importance of patience, endurance and perseverance. She had the courage to face the beast, to endure his fearful sight and to bear the brunt of his volatile temper just to save her father’s life. Not only that, Belle was also able to see through physical countenances and fall in love with the ugly beast instead of shunning him away and marrying the handsome but shallow Gaston.

To me, Belle was and still is someone I want to be. I always wished to grow up to be the way Belle was. I related to her through our common passion for books and loved her for who she was. Through Belle’s final victory where the beast transformed back to a Prince and Gaston got defeated, she became my image of how the good and righteous always triumphs over the evil. The magic within the tale and the “happily ever after” ending has given me a reason to belief in the unbelievable, to have faith and truly trust the existence of a greater power. The true love between the Beauty and the Beast is why I dream of my Prince charming finding me one day.

Belle’s heart of gold made her my childhood hero. Ten years have passed and unabashedly I confess that she is still my role model and I still do hope that I am able to be as admirable as her. Who says fairy tales are for kids?