Maughn Gregory
Review of How to be a Hero by Florence Parry Heide (San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2016).
Being a “nice boy,” living in a “nice house” with “nice parents and lots of toys” ought to be “enough for anyone,” the narrator of this intriguing, off-beat story tells us. “对吉迪恩来说，这还不够。 吉迪恩[…]想成为英雄。 You know, a hero, with his name on the front page of the newspaper. That sort of thing.” Gideon’s bedroom walls are covered with colorful drawings in which he appears climbing a tower, climbing a beanstalk, fighting a dragon in chainmail, and flying through the air wearing a red cape that resembles the red towel he ties around his neck while menacing teddy bears with a wooden sword.
胃肠道
However, convinced he has figured out how to be a hero, Gideon ventures into town—red cape in place—where he “paid attention” and “kept his eyes open” for the right opportunity. And here the story turns comically satirical: because Gideon looks for “someone who was sleeping or someone with unusually long hair, or [a] glass slipper or any beans,” he misses chances to be of real help to people around him: a man whose dog has run off, a girl whose cat has climbed a tree but is too afraid to climb back down, an elderly woman about to cross a busy street, and a very young boy in tears who seems to be lost. These situations are not mentioned by our narrator but portrayed in the illustrations, so that spotting one prompts the reader to look for more, and suddenly appreciate the irony of Gideon’s misplaced attention.
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“So how does anyone get to be a hero, anyway?” If fame is not sufficient is it at least necessary? Does heroism come in different kinds, like the kind that comes from extraordinary ability, from disciplined accomplishment, and from accidental celebrity? Is a person who does something heroic only or partly for the sake of celebrity any less a hero? In our contemporary world of influencers, internet memes, political rallies, and viral videos, have ambition and charisma become another kind of heroism? (The back cover of the book depicts Gideon as Napoleon.)
The book’s jacket suggests that Florence Parry Heide (author) and Chuck Groenink (illustrator) “explore how we choose our idols in a witty story that leaves the real nature of heroism for the reader to choose.” And so it does. Many amateur online reviewers of the book recommend that it be discussed between adults and children, especially because they worry that its irony will be lost on its young audience. Matthews, who convincingly laid that worry to rest, would nevertheless applaud that recommendation—for the benefit of adults as much as of children.
Reference:
Matthews, Gareth B. (2005) Children, Irony and Philosophy. Theory and Research in Education 3(1): 81-95.