Robinson Crusoe and Prospero were both castaways.
Both survived and created their own universe. Yet the shipmates of
Robinson Crusoe all died, and the enemies of Prospero, shipwrecked
were at the total mercy of him- only he saved them; but he was not
obliged. Not everyone survives; it is not even a question of
heroism. Heroism is a subjective concept, it is function of
favourable circumstances. Think of the person who does not want to
be a hero in this conventional way- he does not want to fight back.
The legendary Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’ says in
a poem, "Forgiveness suits that snake who is dangerous and
poisonous, not that snake who does not have teeth to bite and poison
to kill". The Bible asks its followers to forgive, if not
forget. But the protagonist of the award winning Mahesh Bhatt film Sarangsh
has a different concept of heroism. When he tells his wife about his
plans of suicide, she accuses him of cowardice, of running away from
life. He says, "Do you think killing oneself is so easy? It
takes guts to kill oneself." Running away from life may be
termed cowardice, but what would you call that spirit which welcomes
Death? (See: Epitaph)
This poem does not seek any definition of bravery
for its redemption. The protagonist is not fighting anything,
because he does not want to, because all that he fought for is now
gone. So what is the reason of fighting? If this is heroism, then it
is.
Compare: Losing
everything, The tear left a
trail, Termination and
When loss pains
no more
