Close Cultured

On a broad scale, Things Fall Apart began spiraling downhill when the white people began entering villages. Two separate cultures with such drastic differences will not blend together like a melting pot, but fight for dominance.  This is because though fundamental morals are still the same, exceptions to those morals are different. An example of this is when Aneto is hung in Things Fall Apart because he killed a man whom he was disputing with. The Africans believed that sometimes murder was necessary in certain disagreements or for sacrifices, but the white men believed that they should only kill as punishment of a murderer. On a smaller scale, the book was doomed from the start. Okonkwo was so close minded and unwilling to at least contemplate views that differed from his- his stubbornness foreshadowed his suicide. He was so sickened by the moral code and ways of the other culture that killing himself was the only escape. He exemplified the fact that the morals we are raised with cannot be easily broken, even if challenged.

Hero

Malala Yousafzai is an activist for female education. In her home of Swat Valley, the Taliban would prevent girls from attending school. Malala recognized that education is not a privilege, but a right to every human being. She began writing a blog under a pseudonym for BBC, but would eventually be in interviews and a documentary. Plato would say that she "left the cave". Her beliefs were dangerous though, leading to her being shot in the face on October 9, 2012, yet she still treks on. I could write pages about how much I admire Malala and that I wish I could be even half of the person she is. She's MY idea of a hero.
The official definition for hero courtesy of dictionary.com is "a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal". So ultimately, it is objective to the person/society.  However, there is a common denominator between all heroes. Each stand up for what they believe in, as corny as that sounds.
With that said, Malala is a hero. Grendel and Beowulf are not heroes.
Beowulf is a very static and flat character. All we learn about him in Beowulf is that he is good at killing and he's quite barbaric. We don't know his inner feelings or aspirations. He isn't a hero if he doesn't particularly stand for anything. Grendel is a hypocrite. He scorns humans for rewriting history... But in writing his story, he is imitating the Shaper that he despises so much.

Actions DON'T Speak Louder Than Words?

"Do as I say, not as I do" is something we have ALL heard our parent say. Naturally, they want their kids to be better than themselves and achieve bigger things. So when my mom hounds me about college applications (though I have many already done) I don't think "Oh, she has never even been to college, all she has is a high school diploma''.  I think "Wow, she loves me SO much".
Is it okay when an author does this?
Not in a loving gesture to a close friend or family member, but in a philosophical set of rules for millions of readers? A small movement among libertarians?
Ayn Rand has written several books that contain objectivist principals, The Fountainhead being the focus in this post. Two of many tenets of Rand's Objectivism are that the purpose of one's life should be to pursue their OWN happiness- and tying in with that, laissez-faire capitalism is the only social/economic system that embodies these individual rights. This is shown in The Fountainhead through Roark, he could be a dictionary definition of selfishness. Even though he may have had his reasons, let's face it, he truly is only interested in his self. Society means nothing to him, opinions and criticisms mean nothing. He destroyed Corlandt homes, not to lash out at society, but to quell a pain within himself. Even when he fell in love with Dominique, he still wouldn't be with her till it was in his favor, he would not make any sacrifices for her.
Rand wrote these principals, expressed them in her book, but does not live by them. This is where do as I say, not as I do becomes hypocrisy. Who you love is considered an extension of yourself. The man she loved and married, Frank O' Conner, sacrificed his acting career, dealt with her affair with Nathaniel Branden, and invested himself in her interest. He did not pursue his own happiness, but hers. The extension of her being clashed with her own beliefs. Or were they even her beliefs? She, herself, defied Objectivism when diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly Social Security and Medicare which are not present in a laissez-faire economy are acceptable. Even if she wasn't a hypocrite, it proves how weak her beliefs were. It she truly believed in Objectivism, the thought of death would not have made her sway.