First & Last Name
Professor Martin
World Lit
27 December 2006
Heroic Mistakes this essay was written when page-length requirements were shorter
	What makes a person a hero? The answer varies from person to person and hero to hero. There are countless people, who consider the police and firemen heroes; children all think their parents are heroes at some point in their lives. People who face adversity and overcome it to achieve great things are called heroes. A teacher that gives the gift of reading to a child is a hero. An average person who commits a brave act is called a hero. Many sports figures are heroes to millions, they have a talent and those of us not gifted, are in awe of their abilities. Once given the title hero, a person is lifted to a higher place than the rest of us, we have impossible expectations of our hero, given the simple fact that the hero, like all of us, is a human being with flaws and like any human capable of mistakes. Kevin Boon explains the hero as “a figure that spans western literature, from Gilgamesh to Tyler Durden of Fight Club. It is the oldest and most prevalent of all character types, dating from antiquity and remaining to this day” (Boon 301). Pete Rose was one of the all-time greatest baseball players in history, Wikipedia states “Baseball-Reference.com rates Rose eleventh among all hitters all-time for Hall of Fame worthiness, with a score of 313 (100 is accepted as a good Hall of Fame candidate). His rating is the second-highest among those not already in the Hall of Fame,” yet Rose is not in the hall of fame because he bet on baseball while he was a manager for the Cincinnati Reds. This act resulted in Rose’s firing and an agreement between then baseball commisioner, Peter Ueberroth, and Rose for a lifetime ban from baseball. Rose was and still is considered a hero in the sport of baseball, he accomplished great things as a player, and one human mistake has caused him an enormous amount of suffering. Literature, like sports, is filled with heroes and in the fictional world of literature, the hero can be perfect. However, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight written by an unknown author our hero is not perfect, he is a man and he behaves like a man. Does this make him less of a hero, like Rose, can one mistake be his downfall? Or do we expect too much of our heroes, whether they be fiction or real. Heroes are men who achieve great things, yet we must not forget they are men first and heroes second. 
As George J. Engelhardt states in his article The Predicament of Gawain “by universal repute he was the perfect knight…his virtue was reputed to be whole, whithout gap or inconsistance” (218). The very nature of Gawain’s integrity forces him to confront the Green Knight in Arthur’s place. This confrontation sets up our comparison to sports just as a sports team has team colors we are introduced to the Green Knight by way of the colors he wears. Green and gold are the colors of the opposing team. And as the Green Knight challenges the court he taunts them, much as team members will taunt each other before a game, “For measured against mine, their might is puny. And so I call in the court for a Christmas game” (I.282,283) The Green Knight even calls the confrontation a game. Gawain does confront the knight, and it would seem, wins the game. He is given the ax and Arthur tells him “’Now, sir hang up your ax, that has hewn enough’” “and over the high dais it was hung on the wall that men in amazement might on it look” (II.476 – 478) Just as our baseball heroes have a place for their trophies for fans to see, Gawain has placed his trophy for all to see. 
Gawain has made a promise to the Green Knight to meet him one year later, Gawain sets out at the appointed time to meet his opponent for the re-match. As he sets out his own words exemplify the same attitudes many players feel when facing their own competetions “’Why should I tarry?’” “And smiled with tranquil eye; “’In destinies sad or merry true men can but try” (II. 562 – 565). Indeed, most people labeled as heroes would agree with Gawain that all they did was try and in trying they accomplished a heroic deed. During his journey to the Green Chapel, he comes to Bercilak’s castle and spends the holiday time with the gracious host, during this visit we are given examples of Gawain’s heroic nature in his virtuous renunciation of the lady’s advances. Gawain has promised Bercilak that he will be given whatever gifts Gawain receives in return for the spoils of  Bercilak’s hunt. During this game Gawain receives a girdle from the queen, and does not reveal this to Bercilak. Many scholars will point out as Richard Trask explains in his article Sir Gawain’s Unhappy Fault  Gawain “passes unsuccesfully through the major tests [and] is guilty of a significant fault (Trask 1). But is it a fault to save one’s own life? Gawain has proven to be a hero in all of his actions up to this point. Like Rose, he has gone above what most men would do in pursuit of his heroic goal. No one will argue Pete Rose accomplished outstanding feats as a baseball player. Before he gambled, he was one of the most celebrated players in history, likewise Gawain takes a gamble in not revelaing the gift of the girdle. Both men will suffer for the risk they take. 
Gawain’s suffering comes at his own remorse for not living up to the expectations of a knight, as Engelhardt claims “the moral of the poem is not that man should keep his word…it is the moral of a poet who has become long familiar with the very heart of life” (Engelhardt 224). The very heart of life is that all heroes are capable of mistakes. Does this make them less heroic? Gawain had two choices, he could accept the girdle and stay chivalrous as a knight should, or he could tell Barcilak of the girdle and break a vow to a lady. Either choice will be considered a fault in the character of our hero. Furthermore, does the fact that Pete Rose bet on baseball change the facts of his stats, does it take away from the fact that Pete Rose and Ty Cobbs were the only two players in history to have achieved a 4,000 hit career?  Heroes are put on pedastools, they have achieved celebrity in simply doing what they love, or what they are paid to do. We, the fans and the readers, are responsible for holding these people up to impossible standards. Critics will say they let us down, that Gawain broke a knightly vow of honesty when he did not fulfill his end of the game with Barcilak, the critics of Rose say he committed a crime and is not worthy of the hall of fame. While both men broke the rules they still have done wonderful things that most cannot do. Heroes, as Boon stated have been around since Gilgamesh, they will continue to be a part of our society within our literature and sport teams possibly forever. Jennifer Warner wrote an article titled “Do We Need Another Sports Hero” in her article she interviewed a number of psychologists who agree we need heroes, it gives us something to hold onto and identify with.  Yet we must remember that our heroes are people, and when they make mistakes it does mean they are no longer heroes.  Warner interviewed Angie Hobbs, a professor of philosophy at the University of Warwick in England who said “We talk about competition and winning, but sometimes the athlete can inspire more by losing with great courage, grace, and endurance. When you see an athlete completing their task despite huge odds, even if they're not actually a winner, that can be hugely inspirational, and that's a lesson one can transfer to other avenues in life." We must take the good with the bad when it comes to our heroes, Gawain was heroic from beginning to end, he was without fault in the eyes of those who knew him, and one mistake does not change his overall character. Pete Rose should not have bet on baseball and he has suffered for his mistake, if he had been convicted he would have already served his time in prison, yet he continues to be punished for his mistake in the refusal of the MLB to allow him entry into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Both of these men are heroes, not only in the feats they accomplished but also in the heroic way they faced their mistakes and continue to live as best they can. This is all any of us can hope to do, whether we achieve greatness or live the average life; when we make mistakes, which we will, we can learn from Rose and Gawain to face adversity like a hero.

Works Cited MLA requirements have changed since this essay was written

Boon, Kevin Alexander. “Heroes, Metanarratives, and the Paradox of Masculinity in 

Contemporary Western Culture.” Journal of Men's Studies. 13.3 (Spring 2005): 301-312.

Ebsco Host. Collin County Community College Library. Plano, TX. 27 

Nov 2006 <http://web.ebscohost.com>. 

Engelhardt, George J. “The Predicament of Gawain.” Modern Language Quarterly. 16.3 

(September 1955): 218-226. Literary Reference Center. Ebsco Host. Collin County 

Community College Library. Plano, TX. 27 Nov 2006 <http://web.ebscohost.com>. 

"Pete Rose." Wikipedia. 1 Dec 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Rose>.

Trask, Richard M. “Sir Gawain’s Unhappy Fault.” Studies in Short Fiction. Winter79, Vol. 16 

Issue 1, p1, 9p. Literary Reference Center. Ebsco Host. Collin County Community 

College Library. Plano, TX. 27 Nov 2006. <http://web.ebscohost.com>. 
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. 
Lawall, Sarah. New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 2002: 225-529.
Warner, Jennifer. “Do We Need Another Sports Hero?” Psychology of Sports. 1 Dec. 2006 

<http://www.psychologyofsports.com/guest/webmd.htm>.