Archetype

1.Often in fiction, there is a heroic figure, or archetype. Discuss the characteristics of an archetype, using specific examples from literature, TV shows and/or films.

What makes a hero a hero; An archetype or role model that all can look up to?  In any sense, what is a hero?  Is it someone you can always depend on?

Archetype "Hero"

There have always been the "Classic" heroes.  You know, the ones you find that star in television series and comic books, such as superman, batman and wonder woman.  (And you already know where I stand with Spider Man.) But, are those truly an accurate portrayal of what a hero should be?  Those directors lead us to believe that heroes are people "of fiction" who walk around in tights and preform good deeds out of their own free will.  Yet, that is not so.  Look around you, their are plenty of people that qualify for heroic material rate in your own hometown.  People need to open their eyes and realise that you don't need to have x-ray vision or fly to be hero for someone.  You just need to have a good head about your shoulders to spot them out. 

Like I said before, you probably already know someone who displays heroic characteristics, maybe not within the person themselves, but in the actions they do for others.  Take for example, your local neighborhood firefighters.  They put the lives of others ahead of their own.  When they jump into the inferno of a flaming Building.  A good portion of the people on the team are volunteers, as well!  This may be an extreme of the example given above, but it certainly is an act of heroism.  Though, it does not have to be as obvious as this.  Believe it or not, you can find a hero in the most cowardly of people. 

Do you not love or have ever loved your parents?  Do you not respect them in all they do for you?  A good man, now departed once said "Honor thy mother and thy father."  If you haven't already done so, then you'd best do it today!  Take a moment to stop and think about all the things that your parents have done for you.  They raised you from the time you were born.  They fed you, cleaned you, changed all of your dirty diapers, and just when they think you've had enough, you do it all over again!  Whine and cry, sleep and poop, you've worn your parents to the break of total exhaustion!  You have probably taken several years off their life from all of the work you have put them through.  When they begin to contemplate putting you up for adoption, you finally tucker-out and fall asleep.  What a relief!  They could of best left you outside to live with the stray cats, but no, they walk you through your first years of life, raising you into adulthood.  Does that not qualify as a an act of heroism? I would hope so!

There is another problem that arises when deciding what makes a true hero, and that is: "Once a hero, always a hero?"  Hmm... Let me see. Let's say, on Tuesday, Boris Swatsningson, your topical "everyday Joe" preforms "mouth to mouth" on a drowning boy while on summer vacation at his favourite campground.  The child lives to see another day, and in gratitude for having saved her son's life, the mother decides to take her story to the town's newspaper and have an article written-up about this fine man.  The town hosts a party for the man in celebration of his heroic success in saving the child; everything is looking up for Boris. 
{Now, I want you to keep in mind your thoughts on Boris and his actions of the present. Do you think of him as a hero?} 
It is now Friday, the parties are over and the news about the man in who saved a drowning boy's life is beginning to wane, soon everyone will forget that the whole thing ever happened as it slips into the back of their mind.  Now that Boris' life is beginning to return to normal, and everything is slowing to its usual pace, Boris is becoming board.  His life is dull, so he goes out in search for more action.  In a desperate attempt to lighten his mood, Boris gets drunk, steals a police car and robs a bank, all in one night.  Now it is Saturday morning, and where do find Boris?  No, not at a banquet party, not parading around town with his head held high, we find Boris at none of those events.  Instead, there he sits, locked away in a jail cell with no one to sulk with over his life's mistakes but him self. 
{Having compared with what you thought about Boris on last Tuesday, to what you thought about now, have your views on Boris changed? Do you think that the boy thinks of Boris as a hero, as someone that he can look-up to?  How about you? ...}
I believe that heroes are only a thing to beheld by the moment.  A person can only be portrayed as being heroic for the exact second that he/she preforms his/her heroic act.  If they can't continue to uphold their heroic status, then they must revert to being a "normal" human being once again. 

Looking at this, I think that a hero, by definition, should be "a person that acts upon a particular instance using their instinct or through sheer and unbound courage to do a good dead and react to it in the appropriate manner to the given task that they must overcome."  It can be smaller yet; the little things that you say or do can add-up and have such an impact on your life and the lives of others around you.  Sometimes being a hero can just mean knowing the right thing to say to brighten someones day.  Anyone can be a hero.