ISSUE 122求狠批，急！！！

danhan1991UID: 2864707

The best way to understand the character of a society is to examine the character of the men and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its role models.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.
16：57
The speaker claims that the supreme approach to comprehend the character of a society is to examine the character of its heroes and role models. It is indeed often true that the character of a society’s heroes and models can reflect the character of the society. However, it is not the best way to understand a society.

Admittedly, societies make heroes, while heroes shape the societies. When it comes to a society, its heroes and role models will come to our minds immediately since the character of heroes or heroines reflect, at least from a unique perspective, mainstream values and moralities that a society worship. For example, India’s Mahatma Gandhi held nonviolence and noncooperation movements and his heroic deeds moved and encouraged thousands of people to struggle for liberation from the rule of English, which reflected the society’s aspiration for the integrity of the country. America’s Thomas Alva Edison have forever been remembered and memorized for his various inventions in science during the Industrial Revolution. A society whose members pay homage to Edison is likely to encourage the creation and innovation and to emphasize the importance of technology and science. Hungary’s president Pal Schmitt, the former Olympic golden medalist, are respected by his country’s people since he not only devoted himself to his country but also overcame significant obstacles of an athlete. The society Pal Schmitt belonging to is probably the one stressing the eternal fortitude and strength. Therefore, heroes and heroines a society respects may be a mirror for the mainstream ideology and practices.


However, by broadening this assertion to the extent that heroes and heroines are the best source of studying the character of a society, the author draws too hastily a conclusion. Sometimes heroes are more like symbols representing people’s ideals than real ones. The medium ignore the hero’s personal flaws and exaggerate his merits. Such luminary as Thomas Alva Edison once denigrated another famous scientist Nikola Tesla who invented alternating current for the reason that Tesla’s inventions threatened his business. The arbiter Edison’s jealousness and smear to Tesla trapped the great genius’ whole life in poverty. And another role model Pal Schmitt who mentioned above was also charged of plagiarism and stripped of his doctorate. Only particular parts of the heroes and role models’ characters can shape the society so that just examining the character of the men and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its role models cannot guarantee the integrity and truth of the society’s characters.

What’s more, a society’s characters are so complicated containing different fields like the religion, the regime and its people. Pakistani Islamic religion features its society. The largest country with communist regime distinguishes Chinese society. Japanese’s chauvinism in the world war characterized Japanese society. Therefore, focusing on the heroes and role models in a society to learn the society’s characters is incomplete.

In summary, according to discussion above, we can safely draw the conclusion that the author is fundamentally right in pointing out one way to learn the character of society. However, this assertion is exaggerated and somewhat one-sided in ignoring other methods like the regime, the religious and so on.