Larger Than Life
PHILIP TOSHIO SUDO
Phil Sudo was a Japanese American musician, black-belt martial artist, and
author of four books, including Zen Guitar and Zen 24/7. After working as a
journalist in New York, Sudo spent twelve years in Japan studying Zen, a branch
of Buddhism that focuses on individual potential to achieve enlightenment, and
five years on the island of Maui writing and raising a family. Sudo died of
stomach cancer in June 2002. The following essay, written while Sudo was
managing editor of Scholastic, provides a definition of the word hero and argues
that we can learn much about the values of a society from its heroes.
BEFORE YOU READ
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THINK about your own heroes. That is, think about the men and women you look up to as
heroes. Do you admire these people because they are attractive, famous, or wealthy? Or do
you look up to them because they have performed some greater good, not for themselves
but for humanity?
EXAMINE the title “Larger Than Life.” What does this title suggest about Sudo’s view of
heroes? Examine also Sudo’s first paragraph and subheadings. What do these elements of
the essay suggest about Sudo’s definition of a hero?
WRITE a journal entry listing some living men and women whom you consider to be heroes.
AS YOU READ
Underline Sudo’s definitions of hero.
The word “hero” comes from the Greek word heros, meaning to protect or to serve. Originally,
the term applied only to mythical figures—gods or semidivine beings, such as Hercules and
Perseus, who excelled in battle and embodied such values as courage and loyalty. The ancient
Greeks developed an entire tradition of literature around such heroes; in classic epics like the
Iliad and the Odyssey, Home Spun tales of the brave Odysseus and other warriors, whose
adventure were first passed down orralym, then later through the written word.
The notion of heroes was not unique to the West. Other early societies, such as China
and India, developed similar traditions, around heores such as Kuan Ti and the epics like the
Mahabharata.
Over time, historians began to look upon real people as heroes—Simon Bolivar, Sun Yatsen, George Washington—larger-than life individuals who founded countries or dedicated their
lives to liberation. These were the rare men and women who embodied, as one historian wrote,
“the perfect expression of the ideal of a ground, in whom all human virtues unite.”
Learning the tales of these greats helps forge values and a cultural identity. When you
read the story of George Washington cutting down a cherry tree and saying, “I cannot tell a lie,”
you learn the value of honesty in American society. In Japan, when schoolchildren read the tale
of the 47 Ronin, a band of samurai who stick together through years of hardships to avenge
their master’s death, they learn the value of loyalty and group togetherness…
In this country, some educators believe our heroes are too one-sided. U.S. history
books, they say, are filled with the accomplishments of white Europeans males to the exclusion
of women and minorities.
In fact, many Americans today are beginning to question the very definition of a “hero.”
These days, we bestow the honor mainly on sports figures, movie stars, musicians, and
comedians. “The word ‘hero’ is a debased word,” says Michael Lesy, a professor at Hampshire
College in Amherst, Mass., and the author of the…book Rescues. It has become confused with
“celebrity,” “role model,” and “idol,” he says…
WHAT MAKES A HERO?
But if there is argument over what constitutes a “hero,” few among us fail to admire
heroic acts. Thwarting a robbery, rescuing a drowning man, pulling a child from a burning
house—these are all unquestionable acts of heroism. And while the brave souls who perform
them many never become famous or reap rewards, they are certainly heroes.
In fact, the one trait of heroes that transcends all cultural boundaries, Lesy says, is the
willingness to risk one’s life for the good of others. “It’s not an American trait, it’s not Japanese,
it’s not Iraqi, it’s the bottom-line of the human species,” he says.
Consider the words of Nelson Mandela: “I have cherished the idea of a democratic and
free society. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But it needs to be, it is an ideal
for which I am prepared to die.”
And these words from slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.: “If a man hasn’t
found something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
POTENTIAL WITHIN US ALL
We hail these men as heroes because their courage gives us strength, their ideals give us vision,
and their spirit enlarges our own. But keep in mind that, extraordinary as these heroes may be
seen, they are still human beings like you and me. And as such, they demonstrate that within all
of us, there is a potential to become heroes ourselves.
Look around you at your friends, your family, and your school. Is there someone among
them that you’d call a hero? Probably so.
Now take a look in the mirror. What do you see?
What do you want to see?
AFTER YOU READ
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THINK about the last section of Sudo’s reading, subtitled “Potential Within Us All.” Do you
see a potential hero when you look in the mirror? How do you think you could become
more heroic? Would you have to save someone’s life to become a hero, or could you
perform heroic acts and make heroic decisions in your daily life?
EXAMINE closely the last section of Sudo’s reading, noting particularly his statement that
we all have “the potential to become heroes ourselves.” Although Sudo didn’t ever call
himself a hero, many of his friends who observed his brave yearlong battle against cancer
did consider his actions to be heroic. To get a sense of Sudo’s courageous personal struggle
and his unselfish values, read sections of his online “Cancer Journal.” (See “Related
Websites” on the Interactions site.) You might be especially interested in Sudo’s journal
entry for January 15, 2002, in which he describes some “vital lives” who inspired him in his
fight against cancer: Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday Sudo was commemorating;
Beatles guitarist George Harrison, who also died of stomach cancer; and Captain Francis J.
Callahan, a thirty-year veteran of the New York Fire Department who died at that World
Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
EXAMINE also the passages defining a hero that you underlined as you read Sudo’s essay.
According to Sudo, what qualities make a hero? How does a heroic individual become
“larger than life”? Is there more than one road to heroism? Are our heroes “too one-sided,”
excluding too many women and minority figures?
WRITE an essay giving your own definition of hero. Before you write your definition, review
the list of heroes that you wrote before reading the selection. What qualities do these
people have in common? How is your definition similar to or different from Sudo’s
definition?