Comparing Heroes

“A &P,” “Rites of Passage,” and “The One Girl at the Boys’ Party” all tell completely different stories. However, each of the stories has the common theme of having a different kind of hero. In “A & P,” the author focuses on standing out from the crowd and sticking up in what a person believes in. The author’s definition of a hero is within someone’s individuality and the ability to go beyond what is expected of you. In “The One Girl at the Boys’ Party,” the author values knowledge. The only little girl in the midst of a group of bustling boys is able to outsmart them all. The girl thinks critically instead of jumping headfirst into the pool the way the boys do, showing that if she were to be in a predicament, she would be better able to handle herself than the boys. In “Rites of Passage,” wisdom is what the author focuses on. It was the boy’s birthday and all his friends were trying to fight each other. He wanted to have fun and found a way to calm everyone down with a simple sentence. Each story has a different trait that is valued. The message from these stories tends to lead to the thought that a hero has no simple definition, but is in the eye of the beholder.