How Atticus Finch and Elie Wiesel Demonstrate Heoric Actions Unintentionally

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According to Umberto Eco, “The real hero is always a hero by mistake….” In other words, one doesn’t act heroic as a lifestyle, but by surprise when the time comes to do so. To be heroic means to put others before you in a desperate time of someone else’s despair. Two works of literature that agree with the critical lens are the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee and the memoir, Night, by Elie Wiesel. Atticus Finch and Elie Wiesel both demonstrate heroic actions unintentionally.
Atticus Finch from, To Kill a Mockingbird, is characterized as a wise man that is an exceptional father to his children and always teaches them the right perspective about life and the people around them. He was appointed to the lawyer for a black man who “raped” a white woman. This was a bold task because it was a white woman’s word against a black man’s. While Atticus took this challenge as an opportunity to really try and win this case, everyone saw it as already lost. Atticus wanted the trial to be fair and for it to be evident that Tom, the man he was defending, was innocent. He show...

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