John Milton's Short Story 'The Hero'

Words: 624
Pages: 3

THE HERO
A hero can be classified as a plethora of things depending on their traits and qualities. For example, to one person, a hero could be someone who saves lives on a daily basis, like firefighters and policemen. But to another individual, a hero can be known as someone who can be a role model, and has a tremendous amount of courage. In the short story, “The Hero”, the writer’s uncle must go to fight in a war alongside Americans, and the writer’s grandfather seems to be terribly upset about this. Although the uncle was going to go off to war, the train comes to an abrupt stop and the soldiers aboard are told they do not need to fight any longer because the war is now over. This story, although quite short, contains ideas and views of what a true hero genuinely is.
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The writer’s grandfather was the first of his family to actually come to the states. This helps the reader to understand how their family discovered America, and how the writer’s uncle ends up fighting in the war. When the writer’s uncle Milton received his draft notice, Milton’s father was extremely upset. Since they had come from Germany, his father feared that Milton would be fighting against relatives of his. But his younger sister was delighted. She loved the idea of someone she loved being a soldier, and she wore her service pin with pride. This point of the story hints at this idea of a hero. Milton’s little sister looks up to him, making him out to be a role model or “hero”of some sort. As the story continues, Milton makes his way to the train station for his departure. Although his mother is proud of him, she cannot help but