Definition Essay: What Makes A Hero?

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According to the dictionary, a hero is a person, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities. For the most part the dictionary is correct, but what it doesn’t state is what truly makes someone a hero. Many claim they fall under the dictionary’s definition and because of that they claim to actually be a hero. Truthfully there are very few heroes out there. A hero is not someone who claims to have helped someone out. It is someone who takes their words and turns them into actions. Someone who would give their all to save someone else. Even though super heroes are fictional, they are perfect examples of heroes. A hero is selfless, brave and intelligent. To begin with, a hero must be selfless. They must be willing to put their life on the line in order to save another. For example, a firefighter will constantly put his life on the line to save someone in a fire. Someone who is unwilling to die or risk their lives for another is not a hero. Saving another person’s life is no easy task and risking your life for some random person is quite unlikely. That is why very few can be bestowed with the title hero. As an example, the super hero Spiderman often will risk his life to save the innocent citizens of his city. To summarize. A hero must be selfless in order to have truly earned the title hero. In addition, to being selfless a hero must be brave. …show more content…
Being brave is the ability to not be scared of dangerous situations. For instance, a police officer has to be brave in order to enforce the law. A “cop” needs to be the hulking brutal force that keeps order on the streets. If we had no one to enforce our laws then we might as well not have any. Cops cannot be scared to go into combat with their firearm even if they are at risk of being shot. Also, I do not know about you, but I for one have never seen Batman run away in the middle of combat. How upsetting would it be to watch a movie and the protagonist just gets up and leaves in the middle of combat. Even more disappointing if they just called it quits because they were too scared of the enemy. To display an act of bravery is also a challenge. A great example of bravery, is when I put the flames out on my mother’s back. She was not paying close attention and turned her back to the stove causing her to have second and third degree burns all down her back. But I did not cower from the flames. I ran straight to her aid with no hesitation. Therefore, bravery is what defines a hero. Most importantly, a hero must be intelligent. You can be selfless and brave, but without intelligence you will probably just get everyone including yourself in more danger. Any worthy hero takes time to plan out a situation and handles it accordingly. Also, if you do not know how to improvise in a situation then you are probably just a burden to your group. For example, if you are in the middle of a gun fight and are aware that you are running out of bullets then you will have a backup plan. Improvising is making something up on the spot. In the television series Arrow, the island that they are trying to survive on is bombed. One of their friends

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