Monsters with Meaning

          The monsters in literature that stick with us through the decades are not the ones that come purely from imagination. The monsters that we write, about think about, and make movies about most are either the monsters that we create or the monsters we become. We are afraid of the part of ourselves that is most like the monsters we fear.  One example that supports this idea would be Medusa. Medusa is a monster we fear because she represents the part of ourselves that is vain and jealousy.

              Medusa is from a Greek myth, in this myth she was the most wanted woman (for her beauty) in all of Greece. She was beautiful enough to be Poseidon’s girlfriend. In the myth Poseidon took Medusa to Athena’s temple (which was very disrespectful) where they were just playing around and having a good time. Athena found out and was furious, she stormed into her temple and screamed at Poseidon and Medusa, and for punishment she turned medusa into a hideous monster with snakes for Hair and eye’s that when ever someone looked at her they would turn to stone.  

             The point I’m trying to make is that sometimes beauty can be a curse. Medusa was so beautiful she turned ugly on the inside as well as on the outside. she used her beauty to gain favor with the gods and men. I don’t think she really knew what to do because all of the sudden she was without beauty and people didn’t treat her the same. She realized that because she wasn’t beautiful people treated her with contempt and scorn, her heart was hardened and she purposely lashed out at people and killed them.  She stopped caring about consequences

              Beauty can really change a person. I’ve observed that most men and women that are really attractive on the outside are really stuck up and mean and they tend to treat people as if they’re better than them. There have been interesting study’s in economic journals that say people who are more attractive get paid more than the average person, and attractive attorneys will most likely win a case. I think that we treat beautiful people differently, say we all want to be friends with them and guys go “goo goo ga ga” over attractive girls so the attractive girls and guys grow up thinking that they’re really special and expect special treatment because of their beauty. Beauty can be a curse!

Real Heroes

  

          There are many people that I think are heroes. My definition of hero’s might be different than most people. I picture a hero as an ordinary person that faced extremely difficult situations in his or her life but made the best of it and positively influenced the lives of others. Some examples of my hero’s are: Mother Teresa, Roger Bannister, Martin Luther king Jr., Florence nightingale, Joseph smith Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, and Joan of arc. These people are extraordinary and a person can learn valuable lessons from each of their lives, but the person I’d like to write about today is Roger Bannister.

              Roger Bannister was the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. In Roger’s time no one could break the 'four minute mile barrier', they thought it was physically impossible and if anyone tried they would die in the process (their body would just give out).  Finally a coach came to Roger and told him that he thought it was possible to break the four minute mile barrier and that Roger was the one to do it.  Roger was flattered and told the coach he’d try. After months of practicing Roger finally did it by running the mile in 3:59.4. 

             People were completely shocked, and because of Roger’s example a few months later someone else broke the four minute barrier then someone else broke it, and now people all over the word consistently run a mile in UNDER four minutes.  Roger taught us that it doesn’t matter if something seems impossible “We Really can do it” if we believe and work hard.

             My dad is one of my hero’s, and he encourages us to memorize quotes as a family.  The first quote we memorized is by Gordon B. Hinckley and just happens to fit perfectly in this essay (I’m reciting this from memory “Thank You Daddy!!!”). “The great accomplishments of the world are not reached by extraordinary individuals but by common souls that work in an extraordinary way.” This quote means that amazing people like Mother Teresa, Roger Bannister, Martin Luther king Jr., Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, and etc became who they were because they each had a plan or vision for their life, a vision they believed in, and they worked tirelessly until they reached it!

            I truly believe a hero lies in each one of us.  A hero who can do amazing things, solve impossible problems, help others through heart break, and most importantly is childlike enough to believe he or she can really do what seems impossible. Maybe, the best hero of all is the one to teach us all to let our inner hero out. Let it out!!!

           WE CAN DO IT!!!