Varian Fry

The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference. Henry Miller This quote, by Henry Miller, is an example of the kind of determination my hero, Varian Fry, needed to have in order to pursue his accomplishment. Varian Fry, like many heroes, was no ordinary man who stands in the shadows waiting for someone else to do something, he was the one to take action and be proactive. When he saw an unlawful act, he wanted to help which is the difference between an ordinary man and a hero.

Varian Fry sought out to help the people who were being affected by the Nazi government. This was Hitler's military group that was killing thousands of Jews, gays, gypsies and handicapped all throughout Germany, Poland, Russia, France and other surrounding countries. Hitler's main goal was to wipe out all Jews on the planet and pretty much to dictate the world. When Germany invaded France in the year 1940, the French were being threatened by the Nazi. Varian Fry became aware of this and wanted to help out the people (mostly writers, musicians, philosophers etc.) in the Southern part of France. Since these people didn't have any money, they couldn't escape out of France so they needed someone like Varian Fry in order to help them out. He arrived off the boat into France with 3,000 dollars and a goal that he was determined to complete. He spent a year in France, getting there in August of 1940 and rounding up all the people in South France that needed to escape, but couldn't. People all around the world knew what was happening in Europe but instead turned a blind eye because the government was so threatening to anyone to who tried to help innocent people. His determination and willpower to risk his life in order to help people he didn't even know is what makes him such a hero and makes him stand out among the rest. He also had to be extremely smart because he was going up against the German military that was after him ever since he landed in France. His intelligence was a key factor in helping him in order to complete his goal.

For a lot of heroes, it's sometimes the time period is what makes their accomplishment so heroic. Varian Fry definitely was in a tough time period in order to do what he was doing. The holocaust was a difficult time for anyone to stand up against the government in Europe because the government was so powerful and was giving very little rights to anyone. Since Varian Fry had been living and growing up during this time and always hearing about war, he got inspired by his grandfather who he spent many summers with. His grandfather was also a very caring person like his grandson and he even created the children aid program. As he grew older, he started to follow in his grandfather's footsteps of getting a good education by going to Harvard University and studying about classics (Literature). Later into the war is when he started to notice the destruction going on in France, and wanted to help. The road wasn't easy though, and he encountered many obstacles. For one, he didn't have a lot of money so it was harder for him to get all the supplies he needed in order to get the people out of France. He also encountered the problem of the Vichy government (South France) always having their eye on him and he had to be smart to outwit them and continue on in his journey. He also had an issue with the people he was rescuing in that some of them were handicapped or disabled and had a hard time getting them out of the country.

Besides all the conflicts, Varian Fry was able to accomplish something great for a lot of people, and that was freedom. He was able to make a lot of people's lives a whole lot better than if they had stayed in France. Without doing so, a lot of people would have probably lost their lives because the government were already threatening them before Varian got to them. Our society believes what the Nazi government did to a lot of people in Europe was, and is, absolutely wrong. If this sort of thing happened today, it would be quickly stopped by people like Varian Fry, the true heroes setting out to help people who can't help themselves.

Varian Fry inspires me to want to do good in the world because he helped so many innocent lives and that isn't something an ordinary person can say they achieved. His determination, intelligence and kindness inspires me to look out for people who are suffering and try to help them. Like the beginning quote said, a hero is someone who takes action and that is exactly what Varian Fry did in a time of need.