The American Hero
For many years the American Hero has filled the silver screen and wide screened television sets, along with shelves of countless bookstores. Audiences love to see the protagonist overcome great odds, defeat the forces of evil, and save the beautiful girl at the last second. The character of the American Hero however, is not a new idea. James Cooper, in the 1800’s, created the archetype of the American Hero. Natty Bumpo, also called Deerslayer, embodied many qualities of the great American Hero. Modern day heroes are simply following the example set by Cooper’s creation.
Two qualities that many heroes possess are bravery and honesty. In the excerpt “Deerslayer Escapes”, Natty Bumpo exhibits these two traits when he returns to accept his punishment for killing a great Huron warrior. His punishment for killing is death. Knowing this and still returning to the tribe shows tremendous bravery. After Deerslayer returns, Cooper writes the reaction of the tribe. The leader, Rivenoak, describes Natty of being brave and honest, by saying, “ Paleface, you are honest. We shall treat you as a brave.” Natty Bumpo speaks of his own honesty when he refuses to take their compromise for death. The solution is against what Deerslayer believes in so he doesn’t go along with the plan.
Heroes are also expected to stick to their beliefs, regardless of consequences. After killing the Huron’s best warrior, the Hurons offer Natty a solution. He must marry the widow of the fallen warrior. The reason is because there is no one to hunt or provide for the family. Deerslayer doesn’t mind providing for the family, but refuses to marry the widow, who is old enough to be his mother. He responds with this “As for feeding the children, I would do that cheerfully, could it be done without discredit.”
The stereotypical hero is usually skilled with a weapon. Natty is in pioneer times, so there isn’t much choice in weaponry. Besides his gun that he kills deer with, there isn’t much that Deerslayer can do. When facing the tribe, waiting on his sentence, Le Panther, the Huron leader, throws a tomahawk at Natty. With his quick thinking he grabs the tomahawk before it even gets to him. He throws it back at Panther.
Today in the world there are many types of adventures that are closely related to the Hero’s Journey. In the book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon, it uncovers the adventure of Christopher Boone searching for the killer of Wellington, his neighbor’s dog. Christopher ran away from Swindon, his hometown, because he discovered that his father lied about his mother’s death and that he killed Wellington. While on his adventure, Christopher encounters challenges such as talking to strangers and being followed by a police officer. Since Christopher was a person who showed symptoms of Asperger’s Syndrome, a developmental disorder that affects a person’s ability to socialize with others, it causes him to have a hard time
In the genre of western films, the hero plays a key role. Humanity portrays civilization overcoming the hostile country (Miller 66). In many films the American civil war is over, and people have turned their attention to more constructive pursuits. Battling nature to progress America's future, rather than each other. In between this wild country, fraught with danger and corruption lies the role of the hero. A hero is an individual with exceptional skills and through his abilities is able to rid a stricken town of the corrupt elements within. In many cases however, the hero's skills are not enough. His relationship with the community can define how successful his help can be.
A brave hero often risks his/her lives to save someone else. In Zeitoun, Dave Eggers tells us a story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, the hard working Syrian American owner of a contracting company in New Orleans. Zeitoun and his wife Kathy ran the company together. They have three children named Nademah, Safiyah, Aisha. Kathy has a child from her first marriage. Zeitoun is very closed with his family and he takes his family like nobody else. When hurricane Katrina landed in 2005, endless number of people were affected. Mayor Nagin ordered a first time ever mandatory evacuation. Kathy moved with the children to her sister’s house in Baton Rouge. Zeitoun refused to leave with his family because he didn’t want lose his properties, but at the same time, his customers trusted him and gave him their house keys to check on their houses, which caused his separation with his family. This illustrates that Zeitoun is a responsible, powerful, trustworthy, and unselfish person. During the hurricane, Zeitoun was using a canoe rescuing people. Due to the lack of rescue work, many people didn’t get enough supports at that time. Zeitoun had the courage to sacrifice his family, safety, and selfish needs for saving the people.
In the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie, Jackson wanders from person to person and seems to have an unusual connection with those that are Native Americans. All of his ‘friends’ may fail him, but he never disowns them. Some may argue that he is simply afraid of people he can’t relate with, but it is evident that he merely feels a familiar bond with those he can relate with. This is also apparent in the poem “Capital Punishment,” when the cook feels sympathy for the Indian killer. Therefore, the story simply exemplifies the family bond Native Americans feel toward each other due to the prejudice that they feel from peoples of other races, and not a fear of people from other races.
“The journey of the hero is about the courage to seek the depths; the image of creative rebirth; the eternal cycle of change within us; the uncanny discovery that the seeker is the mystery which the seeker seeks to know. The hero journey is a symbol that binds, in the original sense of the word, two distant ideas, and the spiritual quest of the ancients with the modern search for identity always the one, shape-shifting yet marvelously constant story that we find.” (Phil Cousineau) The Hero's Journey has been engaged in stories for an immemorial amount of time. These stories target typical connections that help us relate to ourselves as well as the “real world”.
Likewise, Natty was a skilled warrior. “…Tempted the young man to retaliate… Natty threw back the weapon at his assailant, Panther neither raising an arm nor bending his head to avoid it.” (Deerslayer; pg. 150) Chingachgook, his adopted father, taught him to be a warrior. Panther, chief of the Huron village, never thought after throwing the weapon Natty would retaliate. Panther was so shocked that he did not have time to react. Natty was a wise, and accomplished warrior. Also, in The Last of the Mohicans, the opening scene of the movie shows Natty as a skilled warrior and pure at heart. Magua, who was a two-faced Indian, attacked the English on their way to the fort. Natty, Chingachgook, and his brother see this and help fight against Magua. Natty killed about four Indians in this scene.
The book titled ‘Being Consumed” written by William T Cavanaugh challenges the economic ‘free market’ system by opposing it with a Christian alternative which will actually be to the benefit of consumers in the market. The alternative method practices true freedom for consumers and points out the definition of freedom we were tailored to understand in the economy, which is in actual fact a vicade or a marketing strategy to exploit consumers into thinking they are still part of controlling the economy. It is discussed as good opposed to bad or negative opposed to positive and offers explanations and examples relating to the free market we in and the negative impacts on the consumers and negative practices which in turn benefits bigger corporations.
Watching a film, one can easily recognize plot, theme, characterization, etc., but not many realize what basic principle lies behind nearly every story conceived: the hero’s journey. This concept allows for a comprehensive, logical flow throughout a movie. Once the hero’s journey is thoroughly understood, anyone can pick out the elements in nearly every piece. The hero’s journey follows a simple outline. First the hero in question must have a disadvantaged childhood. Next the hero will find a mentor who wisely lays out his/her prophecy. Third the hero will go on a journey, either literal or figurative, to find him/herself. On this journey the hero will be discouraged and nearly quit his/her quest. Finally, the hero will fulfill the prophecy and find his/herself, realizing his/her full potential. This rubric may be easy to spot in epic action films, but if upon close inspection is found in a wide array of genres, some of which are fully surprising.
The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper, published in 1841, tells the story of a young man’s journey through life. The main character, Natty Bumppo, is everything that any man would want to be. Most of these characteristics presumably come from the fact that he is a part of both worlds, and displays the best attributes from two different cultures. Natty Bumppo. or Hawkeye, is the typical American hero; he is a very observant, courageous, skilled, fair man, and all of his actions show that.
One characteristic of an American Hero that Nathaniel relates to is that he is a loner. He does not belong to any particular group of people or society. Nathaniel seeks justice above all things and always puts the mass of people first to save them. Nathaniel also possesses traits of a hero by having a damsel in distress, in Last of the Mohicans Nathaniel’s damsel in distress is Cora Munro. He does anything to make sure she is safe and protects her at all costs. As most heroes do, Nathaniel has a sidekick, Major Duncan Heyward. Heyward assists Nathaniel in obtaining justice and protecting Cora. For example , in the end of the movie the Hurons want to kill Cora as revenge for the death of Magua’s children and Nathaniel proposes that they take him rather than Cora but Heyward offers up himself , sacrificing himself to protect Cora by giving her a better chance of surviving with Nathaniel. As Heyward is being burned alive , Nathaniel uses his super power, which is to make accurate shots using a rifle, to save Heyward by shooting and killing him to put him out of his misery. Nathaniel defeats the Hurons and saves his damsel in distress all in the name of justice, as any American
scenes which gives you the need to be one of the characters from the flick.
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
A tragic hero is defined as a person of high social rank, who has a tragic flaw or flaws that lead to their downfall. These heroes’ downfalls are usually either complete ruin or death. Tragic heroes face their downfall with courage and dignity. While many characters in Julius Caesar could fit these conditions, the person who fits the role of a tragic hero the best is Marcus Brutus. Brutus develops into a tragic hero throughout the play, and this is shown though his qualifications of a tragic hero, his high status, his tragic flaws, and his courage in the face of his death.
Because of the outlaw hero’s definitive elements, society more so identifies with this myth. Ray said, “…the scarcity of mature heroes in American...