Sacrifice in Heroism Essay Example

Although heroes usually wear capes, showing sacrifice is what everyone should picture when they hear the word hero. Picture sacrifice when thinking of heroes because sacrifice is the ultimate form of heroism. Not only do heroes not wear capes, heroes are everyday people risking what they have for what is right.

Heroism is being brave while overcoming challenges, as well as sacrificing what you have. In the poem "A Man" by Nina Cassian, a man loses his arm. This poem shows the man realizing what he can not do anymore but without worry. Although, in the end, it is a good thing. "And where the arm had been torn away a wing grew." (Cassian 75) He shows bravery and sacrifice because he overcame losing his arm without any doubt. Another example of sacrifice is in the article "Soldier Home After Losing His Leg in Afghanistan" by Gale Fiege. This article explains a story of a man that loses his leg while driving over a bomb in Afghanistan. The article explains what he was feeling during physical therapy and the outcome that came with it. Physical therapy was a rough journey for him, "The rehabilitation was rigorous and I pushed it, building back my muscles and learning to use the prosthetic leg." (Fiege 79) He sacrificed his time and effort to get back to 100%. When he was strong enough to walk again, he won the Purple Heart award for overcoming a challenge that came to him in war. This article shows heroism because the man never gave up and overcame an ambitious challenge. Harriet Tubman is another example. Harriet was the woman that saved the majority of slaves from plantations through the underground railroad. The underground railroad was a network of secret tunnels and safe houses underground. Harriet showed bravery by risking her life and saving others by leading them through the underground railroad to freedom. All three of these examples showed heroism because they all sacrificed what they had to help out a bigger problem.

Heroism is about standing for what you believe in. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln was an avid antislavery supporter. Being the president, Lincoln was exposed to lots of slavery and protests about slavery. Lincoln decided to take a stand and put it to an end. Lincoln helped pass the 13th amendment in 1864, ending slavery in America. Lincoln made bright lives for those in the future. "The light of his brightening prospects flashes cheeringly to-day athwart the gloom occasioned by his death..." (Gurley 89). This means that Lincoln impacted people for many years to come. Lincoln showed sacrifice by going against the ways of America and doing what he sought right. On the other hand, Frederick Douglass was a former slave. In 1855 Douglass escaped his plantation and settled in Massachusetts. Douglass published an antislavery newspaper to open the minds of slave owners. Douglass was appointed by Lincoln himself to be his adviser during the Civil War. Later, Douglass was raised to a position in the U.S. government, which was never achieved before by an African American. This played a big role in the African American community, still affecting lives to this day. "...but with the lives grown out of his life, the lives fleshing his dream of the beautiful, needful thing.” (Hayden 95) Douglass took a stride towards freedom and he crossed the finish line by not backing down on his beliefs.

Heroism is caring about others over yourself. In my personal life, my parents have shown the most heroism. Almost every single day my parents sacrifice what they have for me. Let it be the food they were going to eat, or maybe they were trying to save money but purchased something I wanted to make me happy. No matter how their day has been, whatever I need my parents are there for me. This exemplifies heroism because they give up what they worked for and let go of what they have so I can be happy. A piece of literature that I have read that shows heroism can be found in Harry Potter: The Sorcerer's Stone. In this book, the three main protagonists, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, are stopped in their path by an oversized board of Wizard's Chest. In the middle of the game, the three get stuck in a situation where the only way to win is through sacrifice. They need to sacrifice Ron's piece, the Knight. Ron realizes what he needs to do and tells his friends that he needs to sacrifice himself. The others beg him not to, but he says, "Harry, it's you who has to go on. I know it. Not me. Not Hermione. You." and proceeds to sacrifice his Knight to let Harry get a checkmate on the King and win the game. This shows heroism because Ron sacrifices himself for the greater good to save his friends and others. My third example of heroism is two YouTubers named Mark Rober and Mr Beast. Instead of focusing on their careers, these two individuals started a funding program called TeamSeas. TeamSeas was designed to take the trash out of the ocean. They made this foundation for poorer countries that do not have the option of recycling, which leads to oceans overflowing with garbage. Every dollar donated to TeamSeas would take one pound of trash out of the ocean. Their goal was $30,000,000 donated, but they surpassed that with around $32,000,000 donated. They showed sacrifice because they took time out of their lives for others in need of help.

As a result, all of these examples take sacrifice to overcome. Instead of doing their everyday things, these heroes decided to sacrifice what they had to make their life, and the lives of others better. Wearing a cape or hiding your identity does not make you a hero. The real heroes are people taking time out of their day for whatever seeks need. In conclusion, heroism is not about getting acknowledgement for what you do but sacrificing what you can not get back.