Anne-girl's Blog: Must Heroes Be Heroic?

Hello! I was reading Anne-girl's blog last week, and she posted a series of questions for her followers to answer. I answered them on my own but decided not to post any of my answers except my answer to Question #10.

Question #10. And lastly what do you think are three most important elements to being a hero?

     To my delight and surprise, my answer to question #10 sparked its own post as Anne-girl responded to it.
     Essentially, she and I had two different definitions of the word "hero".
     I considered a hero to be someone who did something heroic, someone who saved the day. The boy who defeats the evil tyrant and the boy who overcomes his own fear of heights to save a trapped victim are both heroes. The man of integrity and good morals who stands up for the oppressed and the worthless gang member who repents and makes the ultimate sacrifice for someone are both heroes. The nice old man who walked out the door, planted a little garden by himself, and walked back inside is not a hero (unless there is more to the story). So I looked at the question and thought, "What makes the difference between people saying 'he/she is a hero' or not?"
     Anne-girl was using the word "hero" to mean "hero of the story" (essentially, protagonist).
     So, the cool thing was that she was planning to write a post on whether the "hero of the story" actually had to be "heroic". My comment with my answer to question 10 was the perfect springboard for such a post, and you can read it at Must Heroes Be Heroic? Enjoy!

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