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What major qualities or traits does a hero demonstrate
What characteristics does a hero have
What major qualities or traits does a hero demonstrate
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Throughout his book, Mike Alsford provides examples of the problems many heroes are faced with, and delves into the psychology behind the choices they make in order to solve these problems. A goal for most heroes is to save the innocents while restoring balance between the powers of good and evil, which often involves defeating an enemy. The enemy is often one villain accompanied by a throng of followers - an army, slaves, disciples, and/or brainwashed specimens. Now this is where it gets tricky. The hero knows the villain cannot maintain the present state of power he/she holds without destroying innocent lives, but there is also a link that binds the villain to innocent individuals, and this link is affecting everyone connected to it. As with the conversation in the film Clerks, there is a persistent problem of differentiating the innocents from the guilty. Do we blow up an entire planet because the inhabitants are mind-controlled by an evil dictator, or do we try to break the link that is binding the masses to the one, in doing so freeing the minds of the entire population? How do we decide who is truly evil and deserving of death or who is simply being held under the control of something beyond them? Also, a general problem that arises when battling the issue of who exactly to save is that of humanity versus other lifeforms. Who is more worth saving, based on their species? Are the humans always innocent when standing up against aliens, robots, cyborgs, etc.? Is it justifiable to commit xenocide in order to preserve the human race? What makes humans more worthy of life than others? This is the "greater good" - humans against the universe or one group of humans against another so we can "save the children" - but how have we a...
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... fall by the wayside, only to be mourned by those who knew them personally. This is not the way of the superhero, no, this is a selfish, monetarily-based endeavor to keep peace with those who are bringing the most "to the table". I agree with Alsford, the power of power can only be measured through its application, and if the hero's power is misused, it is futile and worthless. In summary, I think global efforts should be made to not only maintain balance as a whole, but also to begin viewing all humanity as one, and all of humanity worth saving. By changing our view on reality, we can change the world; violence and human monitoring are not the only ways to keep the peace, we can also start employing our wits and really start talking out our problems. The issue is not whether or not the enemy is defeated, but rather whether or not our species has learned to listen.
The late 1960’s famously introduced the idea of the “anti-hero”, which is defined as an individual with heroic qualities who is not in the position of an archetypal hero. One such example is the movie Cool Hand Luke, from 1967 starring Paul Newman. The movie surrounds a prisoner named Luke Jackson who refuses to comply or conform to the norms of the prison. The powerful Captain and the mysterious prison guard, whose silver reflecting sunglasses was the inspiration for one of the main prison guards in the popular Stanford prison experiment, tested his acts of defiance. This paper discusses the movie Cool Hand Luke and how the prisoners, Luke and the themes in the film relate to the Social Psychology 1ZO3 course focuses of conformity, non-conformity, and obedience to authority.
Claudia Card begins by questioning the difference between wrong and evil. How do we know when something crosses the line between being just wrong, to being an evil act? How does hatred and motive play a part in this? How can people psychologically maintain a sense of who they are when they have been the victims of evil? Card attempts to explain these fundamental questions using her theory of evil; the Atrocity Paradigm (Card, pg.3).
Explore 2 episodes in the novel ‘Heroes’ which you find most dramatic and interesting. The novel Heroes was written by a great popular author called Robert Cormier as it shotrlisted for The Carnegie Medal in 1999. Robert Cormier started his career as a journalist as it wasn’t shortly after he had published his first work of fiction when he was only 20 years of age. He was a controversial author who regarded glossing over the harsh realities of life, however disturbing as a betrayed of his youth readers.
“At much earlier times, people suffering from schizophrenia were viewed as either cursed by the gods or blessed by them” (Saks 169). Nobody can deny that Elyn Saks lived an amazing life. She grew up with a very misunderstood mental illness, schizophrenia, and overcame it to become a very well known and respected professor and mentor to others. Although Saks triumphed over her mental illness, does her life story fit the mold of Joseph John Campbell’s archetypal hero in his book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces? Campbell was an American mythologist, writer, and teacher whose work covers many different parts of the complex human experience. Campbell’s magnum opus, or finest work, was a book known as The Hero With A Thousand Faces. In this book,
In Campbell’s A Hero With A Thousand Faces, the author explains all seventeen steps of the hero’s journey, and how many fictional characters achieves some of them throughout a transforming moment of their lives. However, he never spoke of the Journey in the non-fictional world. After reading and analyzing the life the Wright Brother’s I concluded that they also went through the same steps while inventing the first aeroplane, and that their invention shaped our culture for the better.
What is a Hero? In the Novel Mythology by Edith Hamilton it speaks of many Greek Gods and Goddesses, you get a clear outlook on many of the characters in the novel. Many of these gods fit some criteria on what a hero is. An Epic Hero is a character who is brave and takes risks to accomplish tasks not only for themselves but for the goodness of others. A Hero is someone who doesn't only do things to benefit themselves but benefits the people around them and goes on quests to establish their greatness. Who is also glorified by their community. In the Novel two characters by the name Theseus and Perseus meet many of these characteristics. Perseus is very brave and goes on a quest to capture an item that is very dangerous
The bulk of the praise a hero receives tends to be in response to his or her actions. People look up to the heroes who can perform the most miraculous feats. However, there is an element of heroism beyond the superficial element of a hero’s actions: the hero’s character. Both heroes and antiheroes might do great things; however, the similarities end where motivations are considered, and these differences in motivations are rooted in the differences in the character of heroes and the antiheroes. An antihero’s character is flawed, leading to actions based on selfish and impure motivations. In contrast, a hero is characterized by his or her selflessness; this can be defined as putting the interests of others above the interests of oneself, and
Humans across the world find themselves divided into three categories. These three distinct categories consist of heroes, villains, and something similar to villains called bystanders. Everyone in this world fits into one of these three categories. Men, women, and children across the world find themselves placed into these categories because of their current situational circumstances, past experiences, and morals.
Heroes are often described as physically attractive, strong, intelligent figures with a flair for grand gestures,and an eloquent knack for stringing words together. The fundamental aspects of what defines a hero are conveniently glazed over. People forget that heroes often lead lives of quiet determination. When they have an idea, a goal they want to accomplish, they ignite a spark within themselves that burns into an uncontrollable blaze, which that can only be tamed by success. The fabricated image of a hero has been so deeply rooted into society that the quiet heroes in literature, such as Jefferson from A Lesson Before Dying, are often forgotten, or the misdeeds of cowards such as Frankenstein are overlooked. Jefferson is the literary foil for Victor Frankenstein, because he has strongly built morals that enable him to become a hero, whereas Victor Frankenstein is a weak willed and indecisive character. A hero is defined by their ability to go through with a task despite the obstacles that lie in their way, along with their courage and ultimately, they accept any responsibility that may befall them.
Good and evil have existed since the beginning of mankind. Good defends the righteous, as evil has been bent on destruction. In today’s society, many people believe that good will always triumph over evil. The murderer will eventually be caught by the police; the carjacker will one day meet his doom; the superhero will defeat the evil villain. Simply, in some circumstances, this is not entirely true. Good does not always prevail over evil. This is exceptionally true in the movie No Country for Old Men by the Coen brothers. The dominant theme in the Coen brother’s movie is evil.
According to John Steinbeck, "Heroes are innocent; villains are cunning." This statement likely regards the internal aspects of characters, such as intellect, reasoning/motivation, and morality/responsibility, as indicated by consistency in action and/or articulation, as in direct speech or soliloquy. An examination of the heroes and villains in Measure for Measure, Othello, and Hamlet can determine whether Steinbeck's generalization is applicable.
The terms "hero" and "villain" are as distinct as the terms "good" and "evil." They are mutually exclusive; the hero is courageous, popular, strong, morally, and willing to save the people at whatever cost, while the villain is despicable, hated, and heinous to his core. However, when we turn away from the archetypal world of comic books, this distinction is no longer as clear. When we look at real human beings we do not see a hero as a hero or a villain as a villain, but rather individuals composed of varying degrees of both extremes. No hero is perfect, and no villain is completely heinous. The most recent film adaptation of the DC Comic series Batman presents this truth of human nature. The Dark Knight Rises effectively communicates the
Throughout history, there have been many human beings who have been seen as either a hero or a villain. In their childhood, these people had obstacles that were in their way, causing each individual to either work harder or give up. People, however, must understand that each individual has potential in achieving their goals, but if one is mistreated or deceived due to jealousy, resentment, hatred, or ambition, it can lead to many catastrophic events. People who have pride and arrogance do not want to have equals, rather they want to see their victims suffer. These people have no difficulty in achieving their goals due to the fact that their victims have too innocent a nature to suspect the nefarious motives of their enemies.
of whether or not mankind is good or evil, illustrating the characters’ understandings of human
We have been taught that we should always follow our priorities, whether it is dealing with jobs, families, education, or faith. Ethical egoism teaches us that if our interests are any one these or something else, we should put it first because these are our values. But how far should we go in protecting our values? Is there a limit of how they should be protected? Am I doing what’s best for my priorities or for me? Although we should protect our values, there needs to be a limit and a focus of how I should protect my values with the best intentions. The film, Prisoners, presents this moral dilemma of torture through the characters’ decisions and emotions.