Is it a god or a prophet? No, it is possibly just an ordinary person who has no superpowers at all. An individual must not have a crown to be a true hero. Virtue may not be required, for a person to be labeled a hero, according to some people. Others describe a hero as an object of acute admiration and commitment. Usually, all one just needs to be is at the right place at the right time, in order to emerge a hero in this world. The English language allows any person to be labeled a hero as long as the word hero is used in the right circumstances.
Hard Rock, a character in Etheridge Knight's poem, is a hero due to his bizarre deeds, his followers and his status. The status of Hard Rock stands far above his colleague prisoners. The prisoners place Hard Rock, their hero, on a plinth of admiration. Knight describes how Hard Rock's admirers cover themselves in a cloak of their idols past adventures inside the walls of prison (15). While Hard Rock was neither moral nor decent, he ordered respect from his colleagues. His accomplishments were discussed and revered even while he was away from such discussions (Knight 125). After Hard Rock had come back from his lobotomy, his equal prisoners observed, in anticipation of his next move (13). These prisoners sought for the old, memorable, traits in their champion while admiring him. These traits become apparent irrespective of the age of the person.
An additional aspect of Hard Rock's years is the following that he obtained. Hard Rock's supremacy was recognized in the entire the prison. Knight describes him as a man who could not condone disrespect (1). Hard Rock's exceptional power, his utter terror, went ahead of him, and it was perceived like a sensation. Several people, remote to prison, have emerged to be quite infamous in their efforts to control the world, and in the course have cumulated a vast amount of this awful power. Such leaders develop into heroes to most people, and some people can die for the leaders they adore. A leader like Adolf Hitler could make an audience mesmerized, arouse the troops and make normal people do extraordinarily, wicked things. Since some leaders obtain strong reputations, people beneath them follow them, naturally.
The escalation, from the support of followers, lifts the hero to famous heights. Their hero develops into a god-man, one who almost has superhuman traits. The reputation of the new icon protects him, since it is like a bulletproof barricade that cannot allow him to be touched. The apparently omnipotent ruler is a champion to those fanatic cohorts.
The most critical aspect that separated Hard Rock from the normal prisoners was his capability to perform some extraordinary things. Hard Rock did not have magic powers, but he had the skill to do things that most people were unable to do. Knight describes him as a “doer of things” (34). The striking hero seemed to achieve many things, since he alone could do such things. His undertakings were awesomely superior to his group, which made them revere him.
Hard Rock tackled obstacles, rather than just looking at them. A hero ensures that things are done, since he understands that somebody must do them. An individual may examine Hard Rock and refuse to label him as a hero due to his unethical behaviors. I do not agree with them considering that people examine heroism in dissimilar ways. It is apparent that people esteem their heroes regardless of beliefs that the hero may hold. The United States experienced a vast loss after the fall of the World Trade Center Towers, in 2001. Those who spearheaded the attack wee regarded as heroes by terrorist leaders. A different example is Goliath, who led the Philistine's against the Israelites. Can we argue that both Goliath and David were heroes during this battlefield? According to the Philistines, the gigantic Goliath was their defender while David was the feeble leader of their Israel enemies. Views transformed after one of the two leaders fell. The Israelites acquired a new hero, as the Philistines escaped in shame. In this case, David emerged the beautiful one because he did not lose his head. People obtain the title of a hero due to their followers, status, or due to an extra ordinary action that they did.
The fact that a person is a saint or a sinner does not count when it comes to obtaining the title of a hero. A person just needs to accomplish something that no one else has ever attempted or thought. The Society has a structurally, right manner of doing and saying things. Nevertheless, society cannot stripe the label of hero from an individual, depending on the character of that person. Again, a one person's hero might seem like a scoundrel to another person. People get the ideas that they admire, in a person, and leave what is of less interest to them.
Works Cited
Knight, Etheridge. "Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane." Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Eds. Missy James and Alan P. Merickel. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002.
