Films like Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Lord of the Rings, and books like Beowulf, The Odyssey, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn all have “heroes”. The protagonists of these pieces of literature all have similar traits. Beowulf puts himself in danger when he chooses to fight Grendel, and though he may have other reasons for doing it, this selfless act will save the Danes from endless attacks from this beast. Huck saved Jim by deciding to hide him from the southerners who would enslave and torture him even when Huck would be severely punished for this crime and all of society at the time told him that blacks were less than equals. Luke is a perfect example of someone who could have sat at home and never chose to become Jedi or the on the empire. He was born on a desolate planet where he would have never been noticed. Other protagonists also showed similar characteristics or actions.
The reason they can be considered heroes is because of their actions and the fact that all of them put their life in some kind of jeopardy to help others. These characters could have just stayed home and blended in. They would have probably never been bothered, but they chose to rise up and fight against what they knew was wrong and help others despite the danger. A hero is any courageous person that despite possible dangers to his or her well-being, rises up to create positive change against an oppressing force.
Clearly that definition includes woman. At no point are woman excluded from being heroes or heroine, but in the case of most famous literature it seems that too often heroes are portrayed as males. This is because of the time period that most of the literature was written or produced. These were times where the women of society were seen as less than men and just meant to be obedient. The time had put stereotypes on women like: they were meant in the kitchen, they took care of the children, or they were the damsels in distress. These stereotypes were carried over into the literature which didn’t allow women to be the one who stood out and fought for change. But just because the times sexist view of the world doesn’t mean that a women can’t conduct themselves in a heroic manner.
But what is heroic conduct. One major aspect is how they put others before themselves, and they are willing to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others. A hero must also conquer evil and not fall to its level. Like in the case of Star Wars, Luke can be considered the protagonist hero that conquers evil, but Anakin falls short of this title because in the end he can’t help but to turn to the dark side and become the very evil he fought to defeat.
Heroes like Luke are what create change. That is there purpose in the world. When a way of life has become obsolete or a ruler has become power hungry, someone always rises up from the oppressed people and overthrows the evil force. Large empires are all toppled at one point, and there is always a hero who rises up to defeat them. We may not always no their name but every movement starts with one idea from one person who was killed for his beliefs or survived long enough to see them achieved. The world needs these people because a world without heroes is a world without change and a world without change is a world that never evolves from its primitive state to the height of its history.
Bertolt Brecht once said, “Unhappy the land that needs heroes”, because a land that needs heroes has some evil to be defeated. Heroes rise up to right wrongs and change society for the better. A nation that needs no heroes is perfect. But in truth I a land with no need for heroes will never exist because there always changes to be made.
