Part II: Heroes from history and fiction
The other day, while reading throughThe Lord of the Rings for the who-knows-how-manyth time I realized that one of my favorite fictional heroes very closely resembles one of my favorite heroes from American history...and I realize this may be of no interest to anyone other than my brother-in-law who also likes Tolkien and American history, but it's my blog so I'll ponder boring/geeky things if I want to.
Anyway, my second favorite "hero" character in LOTR has always been Faramir, the compassionate, scholarly captain of Gondor. I'm talking about the original Tolkien version, not the daddy-pleasing-at-the-cost-of-my-nobility movie version (also known as "Filmamir" or "Far-from-the-book-amir"). I like this character because, unlike some of the other "warrior" characters, he is known and loved by all not just for his military prowess but also for his compassionate nature and nobility. He is a tender-hearted scholar who is willing and able to risk his life in defending what is right.
The other hero of mine that came to mind was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a Union officer in the American Civil War (or "War Between the States" if you prefer). He was a real life "Faramir" (or I suppose Faramir is a fictional version of him). I've already written a bit about him here so I won't repeat too much...in a nut shell, he was a college professor of "natural and revealed religion" who joined the Union army (against the wishes of his college) because he believed it was the right thing to do, fought in 20+ engagements (most famously defending the Union left flank on Little Round Top at the battle of Gettysburg) and was highly regarded for both his courage and compassion ("General, you have the soul of the lion and the heart of a woman" -General Sickel to General Chamberlain).
I guess we sometimes pick as our heroes those who have some of the same characteristics as us and who respond in adverse situations how we hope we would have the courage to respond...or is that just me?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Heroes: Part 2
Posted by Joel at 10:43 AM
Labels: Civil War, Faramir, Gettysburg, Heroes, Joshua Chamberlain, Lord of the Rings, LOTR, Tolkien
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2 comments:
I think our heroes do have some of qualities or interests, but I think our heroes show us who we imagine ourselves to be, or who we want to be.
For instance, one of my heroes is Indiana Jones: he's brilliant, adventurous, knows obscure languages, AND has a cool hat. He also gets to teach.
Obviously, we share similar interests, but he is the ultimate version of everything I want to be. However, if I ever had a chance to use a bullwhip, I'd probably kill myself with it on accident.
Exactly! "Similar interests" is a good way to put it.
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