Unsuspecting Hero

Danielle Benedict: Space Trilogy (1)

   

I wanted to write about the “unsuspecting hero.” Many classic tales are about people who are seemingly dragged into adventure. Life does not always give us a choice about where we are being taken or what we will do once we arrive and writers have picked up on that theme. I am not necessarily talking about an underdog, or someone who is unprepared, but quite literally someone who is forced to relocate during a quest or undertaking. A modern day example is when soldiers are deployed to distant countries to fight a war they did not personally start. However, they are still held responsible and must go on that journey.

In Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins could have stayed within Hobbiton his entire life but instead he saw parts of his world he would have never seen otherwise without an inciting incident. If anything is to be gained, risk is necessary. Risk comes in many forms and we are not always the decision makers about the level of risk in our lives. Frodo did not intend to destroy an evil ring of power with little assistance but he did want to restore balance to his world and that is why he volunteered to be part of the Fellowship. His safety was endangered and he lost people he loved but through his travels Frodo developed into a more mature and experienced individual. Tolkien accurately describes the unsuspecting hero when he wrote “home is behind, the world ahead.”

In Out of the Silent Planet, Random met his kidnappers while he was inquiring about a missing local boy. He was acting nobly, trying to return a boy home when he was taken from his. Ransom is drugged, kidnapped, then taken into space. He had no choice in going to another planet, he simply woke up on a space ship. We can be forced into the role of adventurer or even hero. Rarely do people wake up one day and say “I am going to be a hero today.” It is not that easy and the choices we make in order to be perceived as a hero require true sacrifice, pain, or relocation.