Jonathan Gonzalez Angela Mora English 1A
3 May 2015
Heroes are Humble
When you use the word hero, what comes to mind is superman with his red cape flying to the nearest civilian in need of help. Tim O’Brien illustrates heroes in his novel, “The Things they carried” but under a much different light. The honest and ideal definition of a hero is someone that you can look up to for doing humble acts for the right reasons with a little bit of courage sprinkled in there. There are plenty of heroes in this book if you sway away from the main char- acters and focus on the less visited, more mysterious characters. With this technique I realized that the heroes are placed on the outskirts of the novel for a reason. The reason for this was to give a hint…show more content… The VC soldier that Tim O’Brien killed with a grenade. He does not have a name but he does have a detailed his- tory revolving on courageous and humble acts that places him on top of the list of heroes. He is undeniable the hero of his family. He does not revolve around the war when he is being de- scribed by O’Brien. The VC soldier is a hero by doing the most courageous acts you could pos- sibly do. Not letting anyone bring you down for what you want to achieve. “ At night, lying on his mat, he could not picture himself doing the brave things his father had done, or his uncles, or the heroes of the stories” (125). The young vietnamese soldier had a dream to become a math- ematician and teach at a school. He was picked on for being studious in elementary but he pur- sued his career in college. This is important because it shows the dedication to what a hero should have because he would have one day been the hero for his…show more content… The water buffalo in this book is a symbol of the characteristics a hero should have. The water buffalo did not scream when he was being shot at by Rat Kiley. In relation, a hero does not boast of the brave acts he has done when the topic comes up. The water buffalo peacefully took the gunshots. “All the while the baby buffalo was silent, or almost silent, just a light bubbling sound where the nose had been. It lay very still. Nothing moved expect the eyes, which were enormous, the pupils shiny black and dumb” (79). Heroes allow for harsh treatment because when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Heroes are tough in better ways and most of the time they do not give themselves enough credit. Meaning that only the strong will prevail and become someone to look up to. Never would I have thought to compare the water buffalo to a hero but this book has enlightened the ways that I think a true hero should be. It does not have to be a human. A hero could be a dog or a cat or a water buffalo. The only thing that matters is that they do the right