The Leap Louise Erdrich Analysis

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Heroes do not need to have the ability to fly or have laser eyes in order to save lives. Heroes do not need super strength or super speed, and they do not need masks or villains to save people. Since the beginning of childhood, many people associate heroes by their superpowers and their iconic symbols. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, but not all of them have flowing capes and tight spandex pants. People tend to forget that average individuals have the capabilities to become heroes too. In order for these individuals to be considered heroes, they must have characteristics such as being altruistic, courageous, and righteous; only these people are the true superheroes.
In order for a person to be considered a hero, one must have the characteristic …show more content…

The narrator recalls a time when she got stranded in a burning house with no escape and her mother, Anna, has made sure she saves her daughter from the flaming house no matter what the situation is set to be. Anna is willing to do anything to get her daughter out of the house. “He couldn’t make his hands work, so she finally tore it off and stood there in her pearls and stockings” (Erdrich 345). Anna was courageous to take off her close in front of everyone. Anna did not care about what the people watching nearby had to say, all she had in her mind was to save her daughter from the fire. She put her life in hand for her daughter to be rescued which shows her courageousness. Anna found no other way to save her daughter, which led her to take things into her own hands. “Outside, my mother stood below my dark window and saw clearly that there was no rescue . . . she vaulted with it toward the edge of the roof, and how it hurtled down end over end without her, and their eyes went up, again, to see where she had flown” (Erdrich 345). Anna knew no one else could rescue the narrator so she decided to do it herself. She willingly wanted to take her daughter out of the house and no one stopped her from going. She was brave to do a dangerous act, of leaping across the branch to the roof, after her long years of stopping her trapeze career. Anna has displayed her courageous trait when she gets to the roof of the burning house. “She was hanging by the backs of her heels from the new gutter we had put in that year, and she was smiling” (Erdrich 345-346). Anna risked her life to save her daughter from a burning house. She could have died in action trying to get into the house. She took a leap of faith to save her only daughter. She remained calm when it was hard for everyone else to do; with her clear mind, she was able to think of what to do to save

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