The lack of heroes in modern society has become a result of the high expectations set by Americans. "The American hero is a very different role model from his ancient Greek and Norse counterparts" (Burke). Americans want heroes

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Where Are Our Heroes?

How would our world differ if we still had heroes such as Hercules, Zeus, and Beowulf as role models to guide us in the right direction? Chances deem that society's safety and evil-free environment with no three-headed monsters or evil creatures to interfere with our lives would finally exist. However, the world we live in today does not contain the fictitious heroes of that stature anymore. If one were to look "hero" up in the dictionary, it would read as "a person that contains such characteristics as courage, strength, wisdom, honesty, and morality." A hero possesses any of these traits yet, more commonly, it also describes objects of little importance. Through the word's overuse, hero has lost its meaning and has also lost its value to people in today's society. While the complexity of a hero makes it difficult to find a real hero for use as guidance, youths today can find guidance by focusing on the positive characteristics of common role models.

Heroes in our modern culture continue to decrease as a hero's meaning becomes more undefined. In a poll performed this year, out of 1,022 Americans, more than half could not name a public figure that they considered a hero (Clark). These people turned down athletes, politicians, and celebrities, most of whom are originally associated with heroic qualities. A hero commonly designates a person that sacrifices him/herself for the betterment of others. However, today's hero contains multiple meanings of myriad importance. For example, now more than ever, people label insignificant objects as heroes. By labeling mousetraps and dietary fibers as heroes, society downgrades the noble word and incorporates it into everyday language. This now ambiguous title leaves society perplexed about the legitimacy of the word.
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As "hero" becomes excessively applied, the search for a hero that lives up to the criteria becomes quite difficult. Though youths usually turn to heroes as a guide in life to stay on the right track, modern societies' youths must turn to ordinary people and learn from them what they would normally learn from heroes. "We don't need romanticized, one-dimensional people but human heroes whose moments of greatness can inspire us" (Marjane). Even though these people fall short of perfection, youths can concentrate on their positive characteristics as guidance through life. Many of these people exist in society ...

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