"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."
~Joseph Campbell
Campbell has done a lot of research on heroes, legends, and quests, the stuff that the Arthurian Legends are made of. We also have talked about rescuers in the Holocaust unit. What reactions do you have to this quote?
As a side note, I chose the picture at the top because it is a photograph of the Holocaust survivor who spoke to us last semester at Vanderbilt. This photo was taken the day she left on a ship for the United States to her new adoptive family (her aunt and uncle). Her name is Frances Cutler, and her parents put her in an orphanage in Paris to save her. Her mother was murdered in Auschwitz and her father died as a French resistance fighter. I don't think I need to make the connection for you between this quote and this picture. I will say that, though Frances is certainly a hero for telling her story to student groups around the country, I cannot imagine being in a situation where the best scenario for my child to live is for me to have to give her up and leave her with strangers.
Lit Terms 2
5 years ago
4 comments:
My reactions to this quote is honor, envy, and gratitude to any hero around the United States, and for the case of the little girl Frances, around the world. A hero is one that gives themselves to something bigger than their being, in that process they also drop everything that they hold near and dear to them to fight one's particular cause, it grows on them, and in my thought, it becomes a passion. In this act of heroic honor these peoples are in my mind set on a higher standard than other people who just watch and wait for a scapegoat. This is why I feel these feelings, and why my reaction is so positive that the men and women who develop passion to a cause that is worth fighting for, and become a hero while doing it.
P.S. Two thumbs up on the sections title.. (:
-chuckDZ
A totally agree with that quote. A hero can be an everyday person or someone who puts their life on the line for others. I really admire people who think of others instead of themselves. If there were not people like that then we might not have some of the freedom we have today. I also think everyone can be a hero. In a ordinary day you can always do something nice and heroic for someone.
-Jessica Davenport (:
I totally think that Frances is a hero, and not only Frances, but her parents too. It is a great sacrifice to give up your child in order to say them. We always bring up the point of why people would move to the ghettos, and why people would get on the trains to go to death camps. And one reason mentioned is because people just wanted to believe none of it was happening. They just assumed that it would all get better. But Frances parents were more responsible than those people. They didn't just hope that things would get better. They realized what was happening, and took action. They saved their child when they could have refused to believe anything was happening. The responsibility and great sacrifice that Frances parents made, makes them a hero in my opinion. And for France to not feel sorry for herself, move on, and tell her story to students; shows great courage. I think that would make her parents very proud of her.
Robert Parr
I agree with the quote. A hero is someon who has given their life up. Even if they didn't literally die and completely loose their life to something, they could have given their life through devotion. Some dedicate their life to something. Which means that they stop living for themselves and live for something bigger and more important. As for the little girl Frances, I would say that she is a hero, because she has dedicated her life to teaching other people about what happened during the Holocaust. She has also dedicated her life to telling her story. So for that reason, I would say that she is indeed a hero.
Whitney Stephenson
4th period :)
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