Between Harrison Bergeron and a&P

Tim Kenda English 102 Short Story attempt 2/28/10 Heroism through and through Choice When people conceptualise of heroes, they often think of muscle bound men in spandex with chimerical powers of flight, strength, or x-ray vision. But in solid life, heroes are often determined based on the sm entirelyest of situations and their expirations.In two of the stories I have chosen (A&P and Harrison Bergeron), the main characters are classified as heroes because of their allow foringness to defy the authoritive forces around them, whether it be the store coach Lengel in A&P or the handicapper General in Harrison Bergeron, as well as their willingness to strike place on their own kinda of adhering to social norms. In Harrison Bergeron, the main character Harrison stands up to a society that attempts to dull his individual qualities by ripping arrive at his physical handicaps and temporarily liberating all of the oppressed people watching the television for a moment.In A&P, the main character stands up to his dreary, Sunday school teaching boss when he feels as though his boss has embarrassed tierce female customers in a grocery store. some(prenominal) Harrison and the fableteller pay the price for their defiance (Harrison gets killed and the shatter retreats his line of merchandise), and it is because of the characters selflessness that the dos appear lordly. both characters fit the definition of a hero, the abolish for his willingness to lose his job over what he deems an inappropriate action by his director, and Harrison for ripping off (literally) the shackles that his society has located on him in a shake to delimitate his individualism.The fact that they performed these actions with no thought towards their own outcome helps outline their true heroic qualities. In the story A&P, the cashier exhibits a heroic choice when he quits his job due to a perceived insult made by his manager to three juvenility ladies. While it first appears t o be a dangerous and rash decision (quitting your job over an apparent slight made by your manager to a girl you do non know), the underlying factors actually make this a genuinely heroic choice.When the cashier quits the A&P, he is not quitting as a direct subject of that wizard insult but quite an he is quitting because he does not want to ca-ca in what he views as a strict and spiritual workplace. After he quits, he looks back and sees Lengel in his place in the slot, checking the sheep through. and then goes on to describe Lengel by saying His face was dark colour and his back stiff, as if hed righteous had an injection of iron. (Updike 529). When he sees Lengel in this state, he realizes that moments onward that had been him.At the end of the story, the cashier becomes a image of the thoughts of legion(predicate) young people during the late mid-fifties and early sixties. He does not want to work in the same dreary place for his self-coloured life. He does not wan t to be unless like his parents and Lengel. And despite that fact that he knows it will be hard, he makes the decision to strike out on his own, and consequently to iron back against what he views as a dreary and depressing reality. That is a hard decision to make, and a heroic bingle as well.As a result of his actions, the cashier in A&P not however airs a heroic gesture, he also becomes a symbol of the change that was taking place in the late fifties and early sixties. Many young people at that point in prison term were get wording away from what their parents were doing and were bravely striking off onto their own paths, just like the hero in our story. The overall theme of the story mirrors the same path, show the drear and the tension and the uncertainty that crept into the American sensible following the start of the cold war and the boyish urge to do something better than what ones parents did.The cashier represents many of Americas younger generation in that aspect . In the story Harrison Bergeron, the main character is a genius and an athlete and is sent to cast out for hesitation of plotting to overthrow the government. (Vonnegut 536). He then breaks out of jail and declares on national television that he is the emperor. flat in our society, these actions would be considered those of a madman or a lunatic. But in his society, Harrisons actions are very heroic.When Harrison rips off his handicaps and declares to the world he is emperor, he represents the idea that individualism and competition are blue-ribbon(prenominal) to similarity and monotony. His actions also represent the destruction of the limitations that society has attempted to place on him just because he was different. Also, the fact that he did this and was then killed makes it even more(prenominal) heroic. This shows us that Harrisons real intent was not to simply take over the world, but rather his intent was to show everyone that they could be different and they could fi ght the limitations imposed on them.The theme of this story is one of oppression and normalcy, and idea that Harrison attempts to destroy. Harrison becomes a symbol of freedom and liberation, showing us as readers that it is possible to break free of social normalcy despite the mayhap grave consequences. In both Harrison Bergeron and A&P the main characters in the story are considered heroic for their willingness to stand up against authority and their ability to commit what they perceive as good actions regardless of the consequences they face. In both stories society is a dull, oppressive place, and the characters fight against the oppression in their own unique ways.And eventually each character suffers a consequence as a result of their actions. But despite these consequences, which in the story were apparent before the characters committed their actions, both characters made their choices based on what they believed was right. This is why the cashier and Harrison are both her oic figures in their stories. working Cited 1. Updike, John. _A&P. Literature and its Writers. Ed. _Ann Charters, Samuel Charters. Bedford/St. Martins, Boston. 2009. 2. Vonnegut, Kurt. _Harrison Bergeron. Literature and its Writers. _Ed. Ann Charters, Samuel Charters. Bedford/St Martins, Boston. 2009.