Essays on Hero

This paper proposes to delineate the characteristics of Holden Caulfield, the adolescent protagonist hero of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and illuminate the reasons as to why this prototype of brooding adolescence, displaying a rather uber-cool style of disaffection, disenchantment and disillusionment became an indispensable figure of interest, in literary circles as well as popular culture. The paper seeks to take issue with the wider dimensions attached to the ‘incapacitation and debilitation’ Holden is often accused of and address Salinger’s vision behind etching Caulfield precisely the way he is. The paper also wishes to foreground Continue reading...

In the post-9/11 world of espionage, soldiers have been replaced with spies as nationalist heroes – since drones do much of the grunt work now as opposed to reservists, the nebulous War on Terror is fought through intelligence and espionage. At the same time, we take a much more self-reflexive look at our heroes, especially in media, and question whether or not they are truly worth rooting for. These notions of the flawed heroic spy, the one who does what is necessary while putting themselves through misery, is explored in depth in the recent films Casino Royale (2006) and Zero Continue reading...

Protagonists are regarded as extraordinary people. They share certain characteristics and aim at a particular goal. Oedipus is the main character in Oedipus the king. His downfall comes through his pursuit of knowledge. He is seen as a classic hero through his fatal flaw. His endless determination can be referred to his tragic flaw. Hamlet is the main character in the play. All the actions in the play focus on him. Winston is the main character identified by the readers. He is innocent but surrounded by people of bad character. This paper seeks to establish the goals of three Continue reading...

A hero/heroism refers to a unique person with the ability of bridging the gap between humans and the divine. A hero/heroism often personifies values that create a society and posses trend of common characteristics. Such a person may or may not potent unusual circumstances of birth, lives a normal life with other people, may possess supernatural will or strength. They often lead a quest to the completing of a particular issue they are passionate about in the society. Their peculiarity is often defined the resilience and focus they put forward against all odds in order to accomplish the mission Continue reading...

Book Review: Realistic Visionary A Portrait of George Washington

Introduction
Realistic Visionary: A Portrait of George Washington by Peter Henriques tries to explain the first president of the United States of America as a person and not a symbol as most books have done. It is because it focusses on both his public and private life. The author looks at the reputation of George Washington as he tries to merge them with the facts about him. The book describes the first president as a war hero who is very serious and uptight. It means that the book explains the character of the president and relates it with the Continue reading...

The Theme of Captain America

Captain America revolves around the events of World War II and the emergence of a super-hero who is later assigned with the heavy responsibility of saving the world. Steve Rogers, the super hero, does not, however, gain his superiority and abilities under normal circumstances, but rather he is the subject of a scientific experiment to create super soldiers. Across Europe, the Nazi forces are anxiously seeking to enhance its power through the discovery of better weapons and energy believed to be hidden within a castle in Norway in the form of Tesseract. The extreme enmity and fear between the Continue reading...

Zachary Taylor was born on 25th November 1784 at Barboursville, Virginia. Being born from parents who were ordinary plantation owners, life was not easy for him and had to struggle to rise through the ranks. The many acres of land owned by his family in Kentucky were prosperous with cotton. Millions of black slaves worked as workers in his father’s lands. Taylor realized his dream of being a militia earlier in life and was committed to achieving that dream all through his childhood (Lamb, p.37). In 1808, his dream of serving in the military began materializing when he Continue reading...

Expressed in Macbeth

Myths and legends are part of our common collective unconscious; they provide us with ways to process the feelings and aspirations we have as individuals to better ourselves and be rewarded for our hard work and moral goodness. There is also a psychoanalytical portrait to this sense of myth as well, as Freudian concepts of dreams and human fantasies of the unconscious combine with Jungian archetypes to create models of human behavior that we wish to emulate and look up to. No matter the story, be it Jesus or Holden Caulfield or Luke Skywalker, myths often operate on a Continue reading...

Oedipus Rex is an astounding and great Sophoclean play which portrays a tragic hero in a unique way. The play was composed during the ancient Greece time when Sophocles took advantage of the using character flaws in the drama. He gave Oedipus the role of a tragic hero to ensure that he captured the attention of the audience. Sophocles’ play was outstanding because the play-watchers felt to be part of it and experienced a catharsis of reactions. At the beginning of the play, Sophocles gives Oedipus a decidedly recognized character with a high sense of intelligence. Oedipus is portrayed Continue reading...

Things Fall Apart was written by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and was published in 1958. The title foreshadows the tragedy in the novel. Achebe borrows the title from W B Yeats’ poem The Second Coming: ‘Things fall apart and the center cannot hold’. The phrase things fall apart is used to show the images of more general chaos that follows in the novel. The second phrase is a kind of declaration that “the centre cannot hold,” It is relevant to Achebe’s novel as the traditional structure of the society is challenged by the coming of missionaries and the Continue reading...

(Insert Instructor)
(Insert Course)
(Insert Date)
Horwitz, Tony. Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War. 2012.
Years before the American Civil War (1861-1865), African Americans were considered property to the whites as per the slavery institution present at the time. Slavery in the northern states was however not the same as that in the southern states as the latter was vast with cotton plantations that depended on the free labor availed by black slaves. Therefore, the difference solely lay in the economic functions of the two states with the north adjusting to the newly Continue reading...

Following APA Guidelines

Kingdom of Heaven, directed by Ridley Scott, served against its title as an anti-religion humanist piece. The moral of the film was that being human and showing humanity was greater and more powerful than religion. Kingdom of Heaven used a traditional storyline, showing a believing hero, or in this case, a Christian. He is easy to sympathize with and gives the film a religious undertone. However, after Balian, the hero, begins to see the world through the bloodshed of the crusades, he begins to understand that religion is not doing anything good for humankind and rejects is former views Continue reading...

Introduction

Ostwalt has focused his studies on the interconnection between film and religion, especially the concept of Armageddon which is about the end of the world. Different movies portray Armageddon in different ways depending on the type of movie; be it a horror, comedy or children’s movie. However, in his studies, he reveals that most of the movies produced focus on forces of evil, which attempt to end the world and the good forces which fight the evil in an attempt to save the world from eternal destruction. His theory is inclined toward End-of-World battles which involve the two Continue reading...

Every individual has two lives, the life we live, and the life we live after that. Nobody is perfect, but if one works hard enough, he/she can stay away from failure. The Natural is a novel written by Bernard Malamud. It is Bernard Malamud’s first novel that initially received mixed reactions, but afterwards, it was regarded as an outstanding piece of literature. It is a story about Roy Hobbs who, after making mistakes in his life, he returns the bribery money and is left with self-hatred for mistakes he has done. Hobbs was a baseball player who aspired Continue reading...

Classics "Greek Mythology"

Part One
- Simonides
- A subject on Greek Mythology would be interested in Simonides as he is a Greek lyric poet who was involved in the distinction of the different famous personalities of his time. He uses fanciful elements that had real influence on the enlightenment of the Greek literature towards the classical era.
- “Psychopompus”
- This word is identified to refer to the guider of souls. In Greek mythology, Hermes is considered the psychopompos who leads the bodies of the dead to the state of stability as he hands them over to Charon.
- “culture hero”
Continue reading...

In the Greek play Antigone, there exist great conflicts between religious/moral laws vs. state/human law. The rebel (stubborn Antigone) and Creon the king, fully represent the conflicts that lie within the laws. Antigone believes that the god’s decrees accompanied by his family chores in taking care of his two brothers had a great importance than any other written laws and decrees by man. She dares to ignore all the written laws including the ones passed by the mighty Ruler of Thebes. She ignores the fact that the powerful King is her uncle and leaves no chance to bow Continue reading...

Synopsis of wit

Wit begins with Vivian speaking to the audience. She is a patient at a major research hospital and has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer (Edson 3). She treats her sickness with the same impartiality as she would research. Before she was hospitalized, she was professor Bearing. She played the role of scholar and teacher specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne. In her play, Margaret takes the audience through the many achievements of professor Bearing by illuminating on the past and the present achievements. Vivian takes the audience through what happens to her when she is treated with Continue reading...

Introduction

Becoming a hero requires competence in what an individual attempts to do. One may lose the title of a hero simply because of their failure to accomplish the right things appropriately as desirable. A hero should develop the courage to face the difficulties presented by certain situations in their life. Based on the two stories in question, the characters fail to become heroes because they are defeated and do not face the situations, as they should. The paper focuses on proving that young Goodman brown and George Orwell fail to become heroes since they do not courageously face the Continue reading...

Introduction

According to Jowett & O’Donnell (1), propaganda is a method of communication which tries to elicit a response that propagates the desired intention of the propagandist. The art of propaganda has been studied in an array of multidisciplinary researches in the fields of journalism, sociology, history, political science and psychology. To study the art of propaganda as history means examining propagandist practices as distinct events and the resultant events as likely effects of propaganda. Nazi films were predominantly propagandist in that they aimed at influencing attitudes on life in a given context, and in terms of particular people and Continue reading...

Since Telemachus was the only prince that was left in the palace after his father left for the Trojan War, he had to take responsibility as a man of the palace. When his father Odyssey did not return to Ithaca after the war, many people, including the queen herself assumed that he was dead. Many suitors flooded the palace to try and win the queen, this angered him but he had nothing he could do since he was a young and helpless boy. However, Telemachus matures from a young and inexperienced boy to a man who can take up Continue reading...

What it means to be a hero during the time of the knights, what it meant to the populace, the knights, and the lords
A hero is someone who is always courageous to face danger and save the day. He’s someone who is ready to sacrifice oneself for the sake of the others. Weakness does not feature anywhere in his character as a person. He may be weak in body muscular, but he has a heart of a lion and ready to deal and tackle with anything that poses a threat to humanity.
Heroes are super men in Continue reading...

Arthur Mills is a famous author who has capability to attract the peculiar feelings of the every reader who enjoys reading books and wish to feel author’s illustration power. The play Death of a Salesman written by Arthur Miller in the Aristotelian sense is a classic tragedy. It brings empty capitalism’s promises, the American dreams materialistic version and a sense of capitalism critique. It is a tragic play written by Arthur Miller. It is commonly known as the first tragedy of Modern American society. It is based on the foundations, values and moral principles of the American Continue reading...

A discussion with reference to Gordon Gekko’s “Greed Is Good” speech from the 1987 hollywood flick-Wall Street

The oft misquoted, misunderstood and misjudged “GreedIs Good” speech by Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 hollywood movie, Wall Street, produced a gargantuan stir in “that malfunctioning corporation called the USA.” The speech came in at a time when America was traversing a road of sweeping socio-economic changes, trade scandals and prosecutions were daily scoops for news and the real world stock market suffered a setback. As such it was impossible to ignore the repercussions of the powerfully-writ dialogue stuffed into the mouth of Gekko (with its obvious pun), the half-brother of a Machiavelli perhaps. The Continue reading...

According to Albert Camus in his work The Myth of Sisyphus, man is engaged in a futile search for meaning, as the world itself is completely devoid of significant and universal truths. He compares life to the myth of Sisyphus, the Greek figure who was doomed to roll a boulder up a mountain, only to never reach the top. Instead of giving up and embracing oblivion, however, Camus believes that "The struggle itselfis enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy" (Camus 1955, PAGE). Sisyphus becomes the embodiment of Camus’ absurd hero – a man who attempts Continue reading...

Martin Scorsese filmed Taxi Driver in 1976. It became a cult movie. The question that comes to mind while watching this film is the purpose of life in a big city. We have to ask ourselves what does a person have to do in a civilize urban society in order to be fulfilled. In this movie there is a strong sense of loneliness which the main character, Travis, constantly feels. The audience wonders how the whole story is bound to end. There are two possible outcomes: a happy ending and a tragedy.
Travis rides around at night because he Continue reading...

“The Story Of Yingying” is a commemorated Chuanqi written during the Tang Dynasty as a narrative about the hapless affair between the young scholar Zhang Sheng and his cousin Cui Yingying, who is also the Tang court’s chief minister’s daughter. Zhang Sheng immediately falls in love with Cui Yingying when h meets her, even though he is snubs him off when he enters her room, and is also disapprovingly scolds him for his actions (Owen 149). Despite eventually falling in love, Zhang has to depart to Chang’an in pursuit of his civil service examination. Ultimately, the Continue reading...

The aim of this essay is to present you with a theatrical analysis of the play ‘Death of a Salesman’, written by Arthur Miller in 1949. This analysis will present you with the look of a hypothetical producer. Therefore, it will focus on the summary of the play, the world it represents and the wider cultural background within which it was first produced. Finally, it will emphasize on all the details concerning a production set nowadays. The essay will give the overall look of the hypothetical producer, focusing on the aspects which are to be taken into consideration in Continue reading...

Thesis: Based on Aristotle’s definition of not only a tragic hero but also of tragedy, Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice could rightly be described as a tragedy due to the main character’s lack of knowledge as well as due to the play’s depiction of a community and adherence to tragic guidelines.
- Othello as a Tragic Hero
- Noble and Admirable Characteristics
- Common, Human Elements
- The Issue of Race in Separating Othello from Other Characters
- Othello’s Tragic Flaw or Mistake
- Adherence to Greek Tradition
- Presence of the Masses
Continue reading...

CC
SK
LU
Thesis Statement- This paper presents Milton’s trip to Italy and his book Paradise Lost. The paper will highlight Milton’s evocations of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the fall and expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Finally, the paper will highlight the similarities between Milton’s re-creation and the art pieces, which represent Adam and Eve and the events. Finally, the paper will indicate the images, which were close to Milton’s imagination. The scenario presented by the idea of paradise lost highlights Milton's attempt to understand the story.
During his trip to Continue reading...

Essay

English

One of the most unique works of English literature is a fairy tale allegory "Animal Farm» by George Orwell. The story of “Animal farm” is very simple and dramatic. The action of this story occurs at the farm “Manor”, the owners of which are Mr. and Mrs. Jones. The animals here, as in any fairy tale, endowed with human qualities. All exposition begins with that the old leader (Meyer) tells the other animals his dream, in which all people disappeared from the earth and the world is ruled only by animals, there is no oppression and all are Continue reading...

Philosopher Kierkegaard was enthusiastic about his philosophical work and linked it to his own challenges with faith. His scholarly work contributes immense knowledge to modern Christianity. As one of the few Christian apologists in recent times, his best modern philosophical ideology is the notion of the teleological suspension of the ethical.

What is a teleological suspension of the ethical?

Teleology refers to ‘belief in’ and the study of ‘ultimate causes’ in nature. Teleology is usually associated with religious philosophy and more specifically Christianity. As such, the teleological suspension of the ethical according to Kierkegaard is the act of abandoning the sound religious beliefs to pursue the ‘ultimate Continue reading...

The archetypal hero’s journey has taken many forms throughout history; in contemporary film, it often requires the main characters to step outside their cynical, grounded physical worlds and enter new realms of imagination. In the case of two classic films from the 1990s, Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King and the Wachowski Brothers’ The Matrix , three archetypes of the hero’s journey(the hero, the mentor, and the monster) are found, contextualizing these modern science fiction and fantasy films as modern hero’s journeys. The three characters from each of these films that fit these archetypes are adapted Continue reading...

John Ford’s 1956 film The Searchers is commonly understood to be one of the finest Westerns of all time; much of that is due to John Ford’s gorgeous cinematography, but the lion’s share of the film’s appeal rests on the captivating nature of John Wayne’s character Ethan Edwards. The dubious nature of Ethan Edwards’ heroism is at the heart of the film - a mysterious stranger who rides into town after a long absence, Ethan’s behavior and attitudes change the other characters around him in an irrevocable fashion. Because of his dry, easy Continue reading...

In his article «Capitalism and Heroism in Taxi Driver», published in 2013, Matthew J. Ianucci explores the distorted inner world and perception of Travis Bickle, the Vietnam War veteran, who, due to his sleep disorder, is working as a cab driver at night time. Obsessed with the idea to be a vigilant and recognized hero of society, he, ironically, is an outcast, striving to certify his masculinity through violent and reckless actions. In his article Ianucci comes to the conclusion that violence has never been and will never be the answer to the major social and economic problems that Continue reading...

Since ancient times, heroic motives have been often depicted and represented in poems. It is a never-ending topic that brings up eternal questions of loyalty, dedication and moral. It is interesting how we find the reflection of love in most of the heroic poems. It may be the love to the land or country, maybe the love to the woman, as well.
In both, “The Knight’s Tale” and The Iliad we find heroic ideas that certainly have something in common. Speaking of the first story it is important to say, that Theseus is the first hero shown, demonstrating Continue reading...

Introduction

The literature and art of a given era often portray the beliefs and views of the societies. Homer’s poems, the Odyssey and Iliad, as well as an epic poem from Mesopotamia, the Epic of Gilgamesh, give the historians and scholars a notion how the ancient Greeks lived their day-to-day lives. By the reader reading the three poems, he/she will be in a position to experience Homer’s three thousand years old society. Admired through the ages by many as the ultimate epic, Homer’s Odyssey, along with its companion piece of work, the Iliad, was accepted by the Continue reading...

I must confess I have no personal hero, no man whom I could call that. But in this essay, I would like to write about who is a "hero of our time."

"Hero of our time - who is he?"

The word "hero" can be understood in different ways. On the one hand, it is - an event participant, on the other - is a special individual who stands out from the crowd with an outstanding quality of personality.
In Russian literature has known Lermontov's novel “Hero of Our Time." Lermontov said that "Pechorin - have title of the work," no matter what it was. It's no Continue reading...

These two speeches are the most memorable speeches given. They might seem different but as I read through the two speeches they sounded similar, despite the fact that they were given two thousand years apart. The similarities are featured in length, content and in the situations whereby the two speeches are given. In Pericles' speech appreciation of the ancestors, the people who died for the country, the survivors, and their families served as the purpose for his speech. The speech also reminded the readers and the listeners of the benefits of having democracy as well as the goodness of Continue reading...

Introduction

Whalter White, Steve McGarrett, Gregory House and many others are amongst the most favorite fictional anti-heroes from the television series shown in today’s 21st century. They are not heroes because they do not possess the traditional heroic characteristics like perfection, brilliance, strength, etc but they are not villains either because they are not evil, immoral and diabolical. Anti-heroes first look like very wicked, uncaring, selfish or immoral but as their stories progresses, viewers get to learn how twisted their personalities are and what are the reasons behind it. They seem to purse adverse actions but their hearts are Continue reading...

The two protagonists of Homer’s Iliad and Shakespeare’s Coriolanus present similar sentiments. All three of them were great leaders of men and valiant fighters. It is unfortunate that these men were dragged into situations from where there could be no escape as they were, and had to live up to their heroic statures. There was a huge burden placed on them by their respective followers during war that they paid no heed to the consequence they would face when they faced off with their enemy. Therefore, there is no doubt that all the three of them; Hector, Continue reading...