Scarlet Pimpernel: Being a Good Hero
Like many groceries are needed to feed a family, many requirements are needed in being a successful hero. To be a great hero, one needs a good disguise, money, courage, intelligence, loyal followers, and needs to be able to keep secrets. If one does not have any of those, then one’s plan of becoming a hero will be crushed like a falling building. In the Scarlet Pimpernel, Percy, who is the Scarlet Pimpernel, has all of the listed requirements of being a hero. Having a disguise is a major requirement. To be a hero, one must have a disguise to keep their real identity hidden from the public. Percy uses many disguises throughout the book Scarlet Pimpernel. One of those is acting stupid to everybody, so they would not expect anything big from him. Then, to be able to help people escape from the guillotine, which chops people’s heads off, Percy dresses up as an old lady, so that no one knows it is him. Then, towards the end of the book, Percy dresses up as a Jew, so that Chavelin, a worker for the government, couldn’t find him. Marguerite, Percy’s wife, finds out about Percy’s disguise as the Jew, when he yells, “Damn” (Orczy,2002,p.204) in a good, solid, absolute British voice that she could not mistaken for someone else. But a good hero also needs money to be able to succeed. A good successful hero needs money to afford the requirements of a hero. First, one needs money for transportation, like when Percy needed a carriage. Then, one needs money for costumes for dress disguises, like when Percy was disguised as an old lady and a Jew. Next, one needs helpers to carry out one’s plans. Finally, one needs money for bribes. Heroes can bribe people to keep secrets and to do other parts of the hero’s plan for them. A hero also needs courage to do the job. To be a hero, one needs to have courage. Percy has a lot of courage as the Scarlet Pimpernel. First, the Scarlet Pimpernel is known for saving aristocrats from the guillotine. One must have courage