![]() ![]() This is because, according to Becker, it is based on narcissism, the child’s need for self-esteem, the drive to be distinguished. ![]() ![]() ![]() Fundamentally, heroism is one of the only acts which reaches down into our human nature and brings it to life. The world is a theatre of heroism where the actor tries to gain a feeling of unshakable meaningfulness, a notion of his own cosmic uniqueness. The notion of the hero is the central mode of being in the world. “…each cultural system is a dramatization of earthly heroics each system cuts out roles for performances of various degrees of heroism: from the “high” heroism of a Churchill, a Mao, or a Buddha to the “low” heroism of the coal miner, the peasant, the simple priest the plain, every day, earthy heroism wrought by gnarled working hands guiding a family through hunger and disease.” It allows us to transcend time and the fleeting nature of life. Through heroism, we deny death and our own impermanence. Ernest Becker on the Notion of Heroism Michel-Martin Drolling, The Wrath of Achilles, 1810, via Portland Art Museum.īecker makes an astonishing claim: all cultures and societies are symbolic fields, structures of roles and behavior which serve as the background on top of which our inherent need for heroism can unfold. ![]()
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