Should He Be My Hero?

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2008

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It is a common question that appears as the topic for countless elementary and middle school essays. Children everywhere have pondered this query for generations, coming to different conclusions for various reasons. The simple, though-provoking question that makes students from the fourth through twelfth grades puzzle for hours on end: "Who is your hero and why?" The choices for answering that question are endless. Most often the hero or heroin is someone from popular culture of the present or some fictional character from a favorite book or movie. It is rare, however, to find a student who selects a figure from a religious text to be his or her role model. At first glance, a religious figure makes the perfect example of someone who should be imitated. In the Bible, for example, Joseph son of Jacob makes an impressive figure with his coat of many colors and his "rags to riches" story; however, he faced many trials and he did not always hold up against the pressures of life and human temptations.

He did many things that would deem him worthy of emulation, but he also made mistakes that people reading the Bible should use as an example of what they should not do.

Having many siblings, especially older siblings, is trying. Joseph had to deal with being the eleventh of twelve sons (Genesis 29:32-30:24). Being one of the youngest sons in a society that doles out inheritance based on rank can be a burden in and of itself. Add to this, though, that Joseph was clearly Jacob's favorite (37:3). It comes as no surprise, then, that Jacob's other sons had no great love for their little brother (37:4). To make situations worse, Joseph had no real ally amongst his siblings, having only one full brother who was too young...