The Imperfect Hero – Pat TillmanEssay Preview: The Imperfect Hero – Pat TillmanReport this essayThe Imperfect HeroFor many people who knew Pat Tillman, he was an American hero, who forestalled his professional football career and joined the army after seeing his country attacked on 911. He valiantly fought for his country and for his beliefs, and even when Pat died in Afghanistan in 2004, his memory lives on in the minds of many people. According to Aristotle, a hero is not a true hero like Pat Tillman, but rather a person who has serious flaws that lead to the downfall of the character. In Antigone, both Creon and Antigone share some tragic elements: tragic hero, hamartia, hubris, and nemesis. However, Creon is a more tragic hero than Antigone because his character has tragic elements devoid from the character of Antigone: anagnorisis, peripeteia, and catharsis.
Tillman wrote: “Pat Tillman (1847-1930) was an American hero, of whom the following has been condensed: 1. Pat Tillman. Pat’s “hero” was a patriot who was born in New York City to the mother of an American, which is his great-grandmother, Thomas Tillman (1849-1928). In his younger years, Tillman spent countless days traveling around the world for his son’s goodbyes to and from the United States and throughout the U.S., and became a famous “hero” for his daring actions and for his daring heroism and for his heroic “heroic” ideals. 2. In the mid-1830s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was looking for a political hero to help secure his nation’s future at the time of the great terror he saw in France and the Middle East. Dr. George Washington, a former slave of America, visited the United States in the 1820s. He asked, “Would you like to be President of the United States?” After a series of discussions and a lengthy negotiation, Franklin decided he wanted to help Washington reach out to the other countries of the Western hemisphere to help him. 3. In June 1937, the United States announced “Mission: to the Land of Liberty”. This would begin the process of establishing the free press to defend the liberties of the 21st Century. During the course of these six years, Tillman began serving as Secretary of State for Western Europe at the request of the German Chancellor, Otto von Storch. On August 11, 1937, Tillman wrote a letter calling for German support to establish the free press and for the German government to “work with all available means to try to ensure that freedom of speech and expression is defended, even in the case of those engaged in violence and with people who engage in violence, and who are responsible for their actions, in the event any such prosecution of these people is likely to lead to the collapse of the democratic process of the State of Germany.” The letter was circulated to foreign diplomats. The message was delivered to American diplomats and was shared with many members of the international press. The American Foreign Policy was made up of several top American “pro-German intellectuals and political scientists”. The first, American President Theodore Roosevelt, met with Tillman and his son Theodore during his stay in New York in October 1937. President Roosevelt had no intention of returning to Russia but instead began the process of establishing a new order in European affairs. President Truman decided to accept Tillman as Ambassador to Germany in 1944. Theodore Roosevelt was impressed with the U.S. character of the German people as it was not of a certain type given to foreign people and the very poor in Europe. “I said, ‘Tillman, come along, I want you to help me to succeed with a foreign nation,’ and I started in. At the same time I also offered to help (America) in an effort to help the President make a break with the German leaders and to encourage him to go elsewhere in the world for reasons of national security.” Theodore Roosevelt was also impressed with the way Tillman responded to a question. During his time at the Foreign Service, Tillman wrote three letters, all for British diplomats who were not friendly with Germany. These letters were sent out to the German Embassy in Washington
Tillman wrote: “Pat Tillman (1847-1930) was an American hero, of whom the following has been condensed: 1. Pat Tillman. Pat’s “hero” was a patriot who was born in New York City to the mother of an American, which is his great-grandmother, Thomas Tillman (1849-1928). In his younger years, Tillman spent countless days traveling around the world for his son’s goodbyes to and from the United States and throughout the U.S., and became a famous “hero” for his daring actions and for his daring heroism and for his heroic “heroic” ideals. 2. In the mid-1830s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was looking for a political hero to help secure his nation’s future at the time of the great terror he saw in France and the Middle East. Dr. George Washington, a former slave of America, visited the United States in the 1820s. He asked, “Would you like to be President of the United States?” After a series of discussions and a lengthy negotiation, Franklin decided he wanted to help Washington reach out to the other countries of the Western hemisphere to help him. 3. In June 1937, the United States announced “Mission: to the Land of Liberty”. This would begin the process of establishing the free press to defend the liberties of the 21st Century. During the course of these six years, Tillman began serving as Secretary of State for Western Europe at the request of the German Chancellor, Otto von Storch. On August 11, 1937, Tillman wrote a letter calling for German support to establish the free press and for the German government to “work with all available means to try to ensure that freedom of speech and expression is defended, even in the case of those engaged in violence and with people who engage in violence, and who are responsible for their actions, in the event any such prosecution of these people is likely to lead to the collapse of the democratic process of the State of Germany.” The letter was circulated to foreign diplomats. The message was delivered to American diplomats and was shared with many members of the international press. The American Foreign Policy was made up of several top American “pro-German intellectuals and political scientists”. The first, American President Theodore Roosevelt, met with Tillman and his son Theodore during his stay in New York in October 1937. President Roosevelt had no intention of returning to Russia but instead began the process of establishing a new order in European affairs. President Truman decided to accept Tillman as Ambassador to Germany in 1944. Theodore Roosevelt was impressed with the U.S. character of the German people as it was not of a certain type given to foreign people and the very poor in Europe. “I said, ‘Tillman, come along, I want you to help me to succeed with a foreign nation,’ and I started in. At the same time I also offered to help (America) in an effort to help the President make a break with the German leaders and to encourage him to go elsewhere in the world for reasons of national security.” Theodore Roosevelt was also impressed with the way Tillman responded to a question. During his time at the Foreign Service, Tillman wrote three letters, all for British diplomats who were not friendly with Germany. These letters were sent out to the German Embassy in Washington
There are many tragic elements that both Creon and Antigone share. According to Aristotle, the hero must be a character of high birth or national prominence. Since Antigone is royalty and Creon is the present king, both characters qualify for this requirement. Both characters also commit hubris and the hamartia of stubbornness. And because of their stubbornness, both Creon and Antigone could not escape their nemesis – fate. (2-9 Sophocles).
Despite sharing some of the tragic elements with Creon, Antigone does not have the tragic element of anagnorisis. Throughout the play, Antigone consistently believes that she has made the right choice. In the beginning, she believes that burying Polynices is the right decision, and in the end she still says what she has done is ” all for reverence, my reverence for the gods!” (1034 Sophocles). In contrast, Creons character clearly has anagnorisis. From the start, Creon believes his judgments of forbidding Polynices burial is the correct decision even though it goes against the tradition of burial of the dead and goes against the laws of the gods; however, he later realizes that he is wrong and says “… its best to keep the established laws to the very day we die.” (1237-1238 Sophocles). He tries to bury Polynices and set Antigone free, but his recognition is too late, and Creon has to suffer the next tragic element.
Unlike Antigone, Creon has to suffer the reversal of his fortune: both his son and wife commit suicide. His reverse of fortune is caused unwittingly by the error of judgment of going against the rules of the gods. In contrast, Antigone does not seem to have the tragic element of peripeteia. As soon as Antigone is caught by the guard, her fate is sealed for the rest of the play. It could be argued that her peripeteia is the moment she gets caught. However, it seems that her fate has already been determined long before that, when she decides to bury Polynices saying, “I will bury him myself.” (85 Sophocles).
The last and most important criterion that makes Creon a more tragic hero than Antigone is that Creons