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
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.
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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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 and they come close to bearing the qualities of a hero through their distinguished achievements and admirable traits.
By examining people and ignoring characteristics that make them unworthy of the classification of a hero, it restores the gap of the missing hero. Nelson Mandella, a great example of a person who accomplished great deeds already in his life, contains some flaws as well. He saved the country of South Africa by leading a peaceful transfer to democracy. However, he was sentenced to life in prison for helping arm and train blacks to fight South Africa's racist laws. Through looking at his sacrifice to better society, youths can learn from Mandella by concentrating on his good deeds rather than his prison sentence.
The possibility of filling the gap left from the disappearance of heroes exists. There are countless examples of people who have the potential to be a hero, but that is not the point. Currently there is a dilemma concerning a lack of heroes and its effect on modern youths. The people in general are guilty for causing the lack of heroes in our society. The public is guilty by itself for dwelling on mistakes, negative characteristics, or accidents of potential heroes by publicizing these things. People enjoy finding the flaws of the great as a way to believe that they do in fact fail to uphold the standards of perfection. However, they are much greater than the average person in reality.
Reaching and attaining the expectations of a hero will never happen and, somehow, the term of a hero has also lost its merit. Along with "hero" losing its value of nobility and greatness, people that could once consider themselves heroes have lost their recognition as a hero as well. Today's heroes no longer fulfill the heroic traits of honesty, courage, or faithfulness; rather, Americans classify people as so-called heroes once admired for characteristics in "arenas" such as athletic ability, wealth, beauty, or celebrity status. Therefore, finding those heroes from whom we can grow a right perspective of the world around us became extremely difficult in today's world of widespread self-centeredness. Furthermore, the people in the public eye termed a hero just as quickly demolish in their ranking. "Those arenas no longer produce national heroes thanks to...the media's 'tell-all' approach to all who achieve any visibility" (Carroll). In other words, the media must not go behind the scenes and find negative qualities with a person who accomplished something spectacular. Their achievements should grasp the attention of the public without attaching the person's mistakes or misfortunes along the way.
The probability that the media withholds the responsibility for the current shortage of heroes remains highly feasible. Long ago when heroes came in handfuls, the public only knew that hero for that person's deeds. The public stayed unaware about the facts behind that person's life. However, today's society probes at public figures, finding all sorts of embarrassing or dirty details, making them incompatible hero material. People revered John F. Kennedy a hero while alive because people only knew about his good achievements; such as urging Congress to send Americans to the moon, among other things. In addition to Kennedy, people speculated on another hero, Babe Ruth, regarding his grand ability to play baseball and his attributions to the sport. Preceding their deaths, the truth behind their lives came out. John F. Kennedy, accused of eliciting sex, became questionable in his hero status. People also condemned Babe Ruth of womanizing and abusing drugs. A more current hero, Bill Clinton, no longer fulfills his hero status because of his infamous affair. With societies constant nitpicking, the journey of a hero will never reach an end because people will not accept them.
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 that, despite performing extraordinary or noble deeds, also want their heroes to persevere despite misfortune. Heroes face dangers, challenges, and temptations of all sorts: physical, moral, or material, and they restore wholeness of persons, families, or communities. Americans expect modern heroes to stay levelheaded and always risk themselves on behalf of a better world. In other words, Americans want their heroes to go beyond expectations, resulting in a society that no longer accepts heroes.
The deficiency of heroes remains crucial to all people, especially to youths. Youths look at heroes for inspiration, help, and dependence. Heroes provide a function in society by curing the diseases, exploring outer space, stopping criminals, and making all wrongs right. Heroes fill our hearts with hope in despair and they lift our souls in time of need. "The lesson for children is clear. Children need real heroes, people who have say, who possess principles and, most of all, who display values that will serve for a lifetime" (Cohen). The absence of a hero causes turbulence in the lives of people. In effect, society has coerced to turn to the next best thing, role models.
The heroes of ancient times known to all, Hercules, Zeus and Oedipus, have found their place in ancient history. These fictitious heroes left impossible roles to fill for the heroes of today. Many factors contribute to the difficulty of stepping up to hero status. The ambiguous meaning and complexity of a hero, and the role of the media each play a substantial part to the recent disappearance of heroes in society. Yet, despite these major factors, we must find a way to fill the gap by focusing on positive characteristics of common role models because hero-figures are needed in the lives of youths for guidance through life and act as a safeguard.
Works Cited
Carroll, Mary. Rev. of Everybody is Sitting on the Curb: How and Why America's Heroes Disappeared, by Alan Edelstein. Booklist 92.21 (1996): 1798
Cohen, Stewart. "Lessons in Moral Behavior: A Few Heroes." A Childhood Education 69.3 (1993): 168-171.
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