When I talk to people who participated in events from the past, they don't think of themselves as heroic even though history paints them that way. I think because the Silm. reads like a history, the characters seem more removed and thus more heroic.
The way LOTR is told makes it seem more like the reader is part of the unfolding action. We are privvy to the characters' thoughts and feelings as well as witnesses to their actions. The more I find out about "heroes", the more I identify with them. Heroism becomes a part of who I know that person to be rather their single defining trait.
[ January 19, 2003: Message edited by: greyhavener ]
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Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
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