Heroes and perfection

Yesterday was Jane Austen's birthday. For all those of us out there who identify as Janeites, this is a cause for much rejoicing.

Unfortunately, I think it should also be a cause for some soul-searching.

Rebecca wrote a great piece the other day about our high expectations for men. One of the ways I think we do this is by comparing the young men we see around us to our favorite Romantic* heroes. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone say, "If only there were more guys like ______." Jane Austen's heroes are definitely favorites for this kind of wish especially, for some strange reason, Mr. Darcy.

You're probably wondering why I think that's strange. Well, I know he was played by Colin Firth in the miniseries. However, if you read the novel closely, you suddenly realize that for much of the story, he's not all that nice a character. He insults Elizabeth multiple times including while proposing to her, breaks her sister's heart, and is generally fairly proud and somewhat annoying.

Which is to say he's human. Sure, he's not the really rotten character we might think he is at certain points. He's not guilty of cheating Wickham out of his inheritance. On the other hand, he himself admits that he has great faults. Even at the end of the novel Elizabeth notes that "he had yet to learn to be laught at" (Chapter XVI). The strength of Darcy is not that he's a perfect character but precisely that he's not perfect. He, like Elizabeth, has to recognize his own faults and begin to change before their story can reach a happy resolution. We can certainly love Mr. Darcy. But if we love him, we should love him as another human being who struggles along and we should recognize that making him into a pinnacle of perfection does a disservice to ourselves, to the young men around us, and to Austen's story.



*For you literature types out there, yes Romantic is deliberately capitalized.

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The Unsung Heroes

We hear alot about heroes today.
Those who give their life for this country.
Those who risk their life everyday for justice.
Those who come together for a common cause, to save someone else.

But in the midst of these wonderful heroes, there lies another hero.
You won't find him in the pages of the front news.
He isn't interviewed by CNN and Fox.
People don't normally notice him. He's just there, everyday, doing what he does.

This hero is an Unsung Hero.

This hero is the man who breaks his back day after day, hour after hour, eeking out a living for his wife and children, so they will be taken care of.

This hero is man who comes home exahusted from working all day, yet gets down on the floor to romp with his 2 year-old.

This hero is the stranger who chooses chilvary in a world where it is barely known and appreciated, and opens the door for the woman behind him.

This hero is the man who cries out to God every night for wisdom and strength in leading and protecting his family, wondering how in the world he can give answers to life's question to his children, when he himself is still asking.

This hero is the man who doesn't give up, no matter how hard things are.

This hero is the man who does what is right, simply because it is right to do.

This hero is among us, everyday. Few people thank him for what he does. But few could survive without him.

Of course there are many, many female heroes in this world too. I certainly do not mean to take away from their heroicness.

I fear though, that too often we forget the men around us, who are trying to do right. Trying to be the men we want them to be.

So to all of them, I say thank you. For proving that true men DO exist. For giving us hope that there is still old-fashioned chilvary in in this world. For not giving up, though there seems little purpose in continuing.

Gentlemen, I salute you.

-Miss Deb

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