What is Heroism?

Heroism. What is Heroism exactly? Is it a soldier ready to go into battle? A firefighter ready to risk his life for a stranger? Or is it the teachers who work to form young minds? Could they all be examples of heroism?

The answer is simple: of course they are, the only thing that differentiates them from one another is the level of risks they take. Although they are drastically different fields, they all help with something or someone in a beneficial way. Heroism is anybody who is willing to give up their own time to help with the big or little things. They don’t have to risk their life in order to qualify, they don’t even have to do anything, simply saying a few words to another can be beneficial enough to help someone.

Heroism a term associated with superheroes. We see them as those who will risk their life to save someone or even a city. They seem practically indestructible. Heroes are what shape our image or our ideal characteristics in a human. Which is why most superheroes are always risking their lives, and saving a life. The acts of heroism are considered as an inspiration to others, it takes certain attributes such as courage and selflessness. Which is why superheroes are always putting others ahead instead of them they are willing to fight even though they know their life is on the line. However, there are so many different types of unspoken heroes, just because they aren’t risking their lives by fighting bad villains, they still are able to be a hero, from a soldier going into battle to a single parent providing for their kids to go to college. They each are willing to give up something to improve another's life.

Many have different views of a hero, which means heroism means something else to them as well. A child for example they will say their hero is some fictional character, such as the Hulk or Spiderman, then as they grow up they’ll say their mother, father, or even siblings as their heroes. As we grow and experience more in life, we begin to change the way who or what we believe our heroes are. Heroes are made to motivate us, many are here to help inspire us and lead us towards the person we want to become.

Key points of Heroism are it's voluntary and intentional, it involves some type of personal risk, either physical, social, or in terms of quality of life, and it's done without the need for gain or compensation.

Keeping that in mind, when we find a hero we look up to, why is it when we find a flaw in them it changes our point of view of them. Does it change the fact that they were once our hero? If so why? How do people feel disappointed when their hero is not as perfect as they seem, should being perfect effect heroism? Heroes aren’t a species separate from us, we treat them so differently and when they make mistakes, like everyone else, they get the most hate. Does making one wrong move erase all the good they’ve done in the past?

This is why some don’t have “heroes’ instead they just have someone they look up to. One way to look at it is “heroes” are basically normal humans like us. They are flawed like us and they have their strengths and weaknesses like us. Now that brings us back to the real question: what is heroism? Heroism to me is anyone who does good for anyone or anything.