“Death be not Proud” tells the story of Johnny Gunther’s struggle with a brain tumor that took his life at the mere age of seventeen, told by his father, journalist John Gunther. At the time that this all happened little was known in the world of medicine about brain tumors and how to treat them. For this reason, Johnny had to undergo many procedures that had not been tried before. Yet through it all, he maintained his friendliness and his bravery until the very end.
To me, this a hero. To me a hero is not someone who is able to rise from weakness to strength; but rather a person who is able to rise from strength to weakness and still stay brave. I feel that Johnny Gunther fits this description perfectly. The main three heroic traits that Johnny possesses are bravery, kindness, and dedication.
The first trait Johnny holds that makes him a hero is his bravery. As mentioned before, Johnny underwent many new operations and procedures that doctors didn’t know were 100% safe yet. But Johnny never protested having these procedures performed on him. He also never seemed scared to die or worried the doctors didn’t know what they were doing.
The second trait that I believe made him a hero was his kindness. Throughout the duration of his sickness he always treated his parents and doctors as friendly as possible. For example, there was a night that Johnny refused to call the nurse because he didn’t want her to have to take care of him when he knew she’d be tired. He thanked all the doctors who helped him and he thanked his parents for everything as well. He rarely snapped at anybody and when he did he was quick to apologize. I believe this made him a hero because under the circumstances I can imagine it would be very hard not to lose his temper.
And the third and most important trait was Johnny’s dedication. Despite his brain tumor that was slowly eating away at him and making it harder and harder for him to perform everyday tasks, Johnny still stay dedicated to the hobbies and things he felt passionate about. During the period of his brain tumor he still managed to graduate high school, and apply for Harvard law school. He never let the high probability of his death interfere with his dreams. And I believe this is what made him a true hero. He did not fear death, he just feared running out of time.
Johnny didn’t choose to be a hero. And in the end, he couldn’t fight the tumor and passed away. But what Johnny accomplished was greater than fighting cancer or a brain tumor, he spread hope. He gave hope to the doctors who couldn’t believe how long he’d ought the tumor. He also gave hope to cancer patients everywhere that having cancer doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. You just become aware that the time you have on the world may be shorter than you expected. But this should in no way stop you from doing the things you love. As Johnny did, you have to keep living.
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