What is a Hero?

By: Enrique Cruz

What exactly does make a hero? Could it be someone like Beowulf, who saves king
Hrothgars mead hall from Grendel and Grendels mother? Could it be someone like Martin
Luther King Junior, who was a huge civil rights activist in the U.S.? Both of these men are
heroes; however, one is from the literature of the Anglo-Saxon period, the other is in
contemporary society. Beowulf is a hero for killing evil, thus saving the people as well as
bringing everybody back to Herot. Martin Luther King Junior is a hero, by bringing equality
among blacks and whites, thus creating a safer environment. They both died in their own
struggle, with Beowulf dying to fight the dragon that terrorizes his land, as well as Martin who
dies while still wanting to see the day that blacks and whites would be equal. These are ways of
how these two are heroes.
They both died in their own struggle against something for the great of good. There was a
dragon terrorizing the land, so Beowulf, being the hero that he was, goes on to fight the dragon.
Beowulf dies from receiving a fatal blow to the neck from the dragon, even though the dragon
died too, so did Beowulf. Martin Luther King Junior stood up for what was right, which was to
bring about the Civil Rights Movement for equality. Martin died from a fatal shot that also went
through his neck. The Civil Rights Movement was not a waste of time either, as now in America,
Blacks and Whites are equal. These are just ways of how Beowulf and Martin do compare to
each other.
Beowulf is a hero however by saving the people from evil. Grendel terrorized the mead
hall, Herot, by slaughtering men. Beowulf sails over there, to defeat Grendel, by ripping off his
arm. After Grendel, then comes Grendels mother, who seeks revenge by killing Hrothgars
advisor. Beowulf puts an end to her as well,by cutting off her head with sword made from giants,
which then brings peace about Herot once again. Everyone, because of Beowulf, is able to go
back to Herot, to drink and be merry, without worries of being slaughtered.While Beowulf is a
hero for killing the evil, Martin Luther King is a hero for another deed.
Martin Luther King Junior was a hero, for trying to reform society into making Blacks
and Whites equal. He delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech, which talks about how he
wants to see someday, Blacks walking among Whites, schools no longer segregated. He was a
man that stood up for what was right, because the Constitution says that all men are equal, so he
wanted to see the day where that statement would in fact be true. He was an inspirational man
that made people think about what was going on in their lives, only to have them fix it up, even
after his death. This was how Martin was a hero.
A hero is somebody that helps society. Beowulf contributes to this fact, by helping
Hrothgar defeat the evil so that people may return back to Herot. Martin was a hero, in that he
made people rethink how they were living and changed societys way of life for the better, by
making everyone equal. They are also both similar, in that they both died in their own struggle to
do what was right. These are ways of how both of them are heroes in their own way, during their
own given time period.