Honor the true person, not who you want them to be

By idolizing those whom we honor, we do a disservice both to them and to ourselves....We fail to recognize that we could go and do likewise.
--Charles V. Willie

Growing up, whenever I started a new relationship, my mom would always ask me if there was anything I would change about the guy. Of course my answer was always yes…sorry guys, but you’re not perfect, no one is. She would reply by saying that I should break up with him because I shouldn’t have to change someone to like them. Comparing this to the above epigraph, I see many similarities. We, as American citizens have heard many wonderful stories about Helen Keller and the wonderful things she has done. The only reason we believe she is so great is because history books and their writers have chosen to change her background to make her more perfect. Since they aren’t in a “relationship” with her, they feel that they can make any “adjustments” needed to give her the façade of perfection. By doing this, people see her as this angelic figure only doing great things for the nation. We look up to her greatness and feel that we could never measure up. Historians have done the same thing with Woodrow Wilson. They make him look like this great guy, when in reality, he was racist and only did good things by accident.

This epigraph completely summarizes what Loewen was trying to say. Everything that historians have made us believe about these great people forces into our minds the fact that we can never be as great as them. In all truths, we can do better than these “heroes.” Keller and Wilson probably weren’t passionate about as many things as people today that go unnoticed by society. By putting them in the limelight, others feel discouraged as if their cause isn’t good enough.

I agree wholeheartedly with the epigraph and Loewen’s arguments. I too believe that when we idolize someone, we take them out of reality and make them take the characteristics of perfection. This completely defeats the purpose of having someone be your “hero” because you should think of them as being heroic for who they really are, not who you want to make them.