why do humans need heroes

Chavous 1
Chavous, Lauren
Ms. Swain
Acc. British Lit.
29 August 2013

Why and how humans need heroes?

A hero is a person, preferably a man, who is idealized or admired for outstanding achievements and qualities. Usually a hero is one with superhuman powers or having impossible qualities. As a hero you would think of Superman, Spiderman, or maybe someone like Beowulf, but now a days some of our heroes are soldiers who fight a war or at person who leads the way for other humans to stand up for their rights. In the modern world or now, most people no longer fear the possibility of a disaster. Heroes are a remainder to us of the aspirations that are limited in our lives each day. Heroes give us someone to model ourselves after. As humans we have someone to look up to make us a better person or to be like someone who achieves great goals in life. We are unwilling to sacrifice ourselves that has anything to do with danger or someone in need of help.
It has to be that one person who has a change of heart or courage to push other people to stop being selfish creatures. None Of the wise ones regretted his going, much As he was loved by the Geats: the omens were good. And they urged the adventure on. So Beowulf Chose the mightiest men he could find, The bravest and best of the Geats… Chavous 2 (Raffel 116-121)
In the story Beowulf, a troll, Grendel, was attacking King Hrothgar city. No one had the courage to stand up to Grendel for what he was doing their city. Therefore, Beowulf, a widely named hero, was brave enough with fourteen men to defeat Grendel. Even without the fourteen men
Beowulf would still have defeated Grendel, because it took Beowulf for those fourteen men to
“fight” against Grendel. We cannot help but realize that the world is a troubled place, for example, poverty, murders, wars, discrimination, etc. Heroes are there in our darkness hour to prove to us that no matter how much suffering there is there is some good people we can count on to do the right thing. For example, a man named Martin Luther King was an ordinary man who believed in equal rights for African American. Mr. King is a hero in the African American culture because he paved the way for blacks today. There are many personas of a hero. People look up to sports athletes, actors, parents, pastors and teachers to name a few. My example of a hero is Barack Obama; he was the first black male elected President of the United States. He had the courage that most African
Americans do not have because of the history behind us. He has to endure a lot of hardships being the first black president; however, he always keeps his dignity and confidence in making the decisions for the citizens of the United States. President Obama has not only paved the way for black men and women, but also gave us hope and courage to do better in our country. He is an example of what African Americans can be and will do in the future. Heroes are what we are what need in our darkest times. They are the people we think of when we are in need. We always ask ourselves “What would Martin Luther King or Barack
Obama do?” The answer is always up to you, it is always your choice to be the hero you always wanted to be. It is always that action, that one person who has the courage, who is brave enough Chavous 3

to take that step to also encourage others to do the same. Why do humans need heroes? Because they give us the courage that we wouldn’t have without them.

Chavous 4 Raffel, Burton. Beowulf: Poems. New York: New American Library, 1963. Print
Blog.richmond.edu, 2010. Web. 3 October 2010
Relevantmagazine.com, 2013. Web. 14 January 2011.