Essay: Defining a Hero Through Sacrifice, Strength, and Purpose

This essay explores the concept of a hero through the lens of various narratives and perspectives. It begins by analyzing Ernesto Quinonez's "Bodega Dreams," examining how characters like Bodega, Chino, and Sapo embody a twisted form of heroism by rising above unfavorable circumstances, though often through morally questionable means. The essay then contrasts this with Crazy Courage Villanueva's depiction of a hero as someone who offers kindness and support. Furthermore, it delves into John Hope Franklin's personal experiences with discrimination, portraying him as a hero who overcame hate through wisdom and resilience. Finally, the essay reflects on the traditional definition of a hero as someone who sacrifices for the greater good, citing examples like Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi, while also acknowledging modern-day heroes who inspire through their achievements and resilience. The essay concludes that a hero is one who gives their life for a greater purpose, finds strength in adversity, and sacrifices for the welfare of others.

Running head: what is a hero? 1
What is a Hero?
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Author Note
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what is a hero? 2
What is a Hero?
Bodega Dreams.
According to Ernesto Quinonez, a hero is someone who rises above the environment that
isn’t favorable and draws power from the circumstances and situations affecting them in order to
make a successful life from the ills in a society. However, that’s just the definition of a hero from
characters such as Julio, otherwise known as Chino, Sapo, and their drug lord boss Bodega. In
Bodega’s eyes, he is a hero as he is a person who grew in a city where there are so many junkies,
shootouts, holdups and babies falling out of windows, and yet he built a powerful enterprise for
himself and also managed to advance on the drug trade. He built detox centers for the junkies to
recuperate and get rehabilitated. He fuels a social anomaly but also creates a solution for it. He
creates a situation where he is needed so as to provide a solution and be seen as a powerful
human being and force of nature. Hence, he likens himself to Joe Kennedy the rum runner. He
cripples the El Barrio residents by using the drug money to make them loyal to him. His heroism
is that which he has created himself. The likes of Chino and Sapo can only attest to his might
through working for him and building up on ranks as time goes by. Bodega’s dream of a better
Spanish Harlem rubs off on Chino who seeks opportunities to be Bodega’s and his true love Vera
love-story-hero, in a bid to gain an apartment for himself and his pregnant wife Blanca. He
sacrifices his relationship for a better future for himself and his wife. Because of selfish Bodega,
his dreams were short-lived as he was backstabbed along everyone else (Casey 213).
Crazy Courage
Villanueva characterizes her hero as Michael. Though not a specific party, she describes
the character as one that strikes at her through his/ her kindness with words at their meeting. She
describes of the gentleness and strength that the character has. She describes the character as one
that is available to her in her activities from poetry class to fiction class. Though not real Michael

what is a hero? 3
represents a hero for Villanueva. She sees him/her as hero who is subtle despite gender and one
that is compassionate as he is dependable (Villanueva 1).
The train from hate
John Hope Franklin who experienced discrimination in the Midwest state develop his
classical pieces “From Slavery to Freedom” and “A history of African Americans” amongst
others like “The Train from Hate”. He gives a splendid account of his life experiences in a
unique way from his other stories. In his view, John was his own hero. He made his life better
where misery was the defining reality. Being a young African America, he faced a lot of
discrimination but he didn’t let it define him. He took on wisdom from his mother and overcame
the hate with light. He makes sure to ensure that all his readers can relate to his life by giving
detailed accounts of his childhood discrimination experiences. Using his childhood, he creates
this hero that rose from a period of so much suffering for the average African American, to
influence his future through views and moral perception. He describes hatred as uncalled for and
how such feelings defined him positively. The train isn’t the vessel of hate but the media of
travel where the act of discrimination took place. His mother advises him of hate being too
difficult of a feeling to bear. His train travel with his mother and the discrimination they faced,
helps him want different and thus alter his perception towards a brighter future for not only him
and his mother, but other African Americans as well (James 5).
Reflection: Who Is A Hero
The Oxford dictionary defines a hero as a person that gives himself by often putting his
life in great danger to serve a greater good for others. One can’t help but remember the great
hero, Nelson Mandela. In a country where human rights were so oppressed, Nelson had a dream
that his people would be liberated from the rule of the white men. He had a dream that his

what is a hero? 4
country would gain independence from the colonialists who brought the country to an apartheid
era, that saw many die and suffer in misery. For the dream of freedom and independence, he
fought for his people’s rights, was jailed and almost lost his life while in imprisonment.
However, for situations such as these, there are always opponents who want to go with the flow
and not be on the “losing end” as they usually think. A hero such as Nelson focuses on the
greater good and human purpose. Such acts were every deed of Mother Teresa and Mahatma
Gandhi. They absolutely refused to live passively but made bold moves to go against the grain
for the majority to benefit. They overlooked their great fear in order to serve other people. For
them, there was no form of monetary compensation that they expected in return (Subramanian).
However, there is the modern-day hero and heroes. They include film stars, athletes,
artists and chronic illness survivors who defy the odd to live and get recognition and money at
the same time. They become the source of courage and strength for others. A hero becomes the
person depended on when there is trouble and more to that, he is dependable in bailing out his
friends and other strangers from bad or helpless situations like helping an old lady cross the
street, donating money towards an uneducated persons college or school tuition, and more acts of
kindness that one takes up without expecting any sort of compensation. Anyone can be a hero in
their own lives or that of others. Just as Ronaldo is seen as a football hero, a child may consider
his parents as a hero for always being there when he needed them and protecting him from harm
(Till 2).
Conclusion
Therefore, a hero is one that gives away his life for a greater purpose, finds strength to
push through difficult situations, and sacrifices for others’ welfare and happiness.
References

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Casey, Maud. "Bad Influencia." 12 March 2000. New York Times. Document. 19 July 2018.
Franklin, John Hope. The Train from Hate. n.d.
James, Missy., Merickel, P. Allan. "John Franklin's The Train from Hate." Reading Literature
and Writing Argument (2002): 168-169. Document.
Quinonez, Ernesto. BODEGA DREAMS. New York: Vintage Comtemporaries, 2000. Book.
Subramanian, Ananth. "Who is a real life hero? What makes a person a hero (in life)?" 4 July
2017. Quora. Document. 19 July 2018.
Till, Dennis. "What defines a hero? Are all heroes heroic?" 2011. The Guardian. Document. 19
July 2018.
Villanueva, Luz Alma. Crazy Courage. Poems by Alma Luz Villanueva. California, 1996. Poem.