"The Greatest Man in the World"

I just finished reading "The Greatest Man in the World" a short story by James Thurber. I don't know much about the guy, but I think I might try to learn more about him soon. Apparently from the brief biography the preceded this story he had a penchant for comedic writings, and this short story certainly gave me plenty of laughs. It is the story of a man who flew all the way around the world without stopping once (in the era of Lindbergh when this was considered a feat). After this daring adventure he was heralded as a hero, but to the surprise to the press and politicians of his day he had few heroic qualities about him. He was rude, a former criminal, a womanizer, greedy, disrespectful to authority, and just a bad sport overall. He disrespected all pilots who had flown before him and ridiculed two Frenchmen who had recently died attempting to cross the Atlantic by plane. The press decided to hide him from the public and continue championing him as the greatest man in the world while he recovered from the physical beating he got from the two weeks in the air without sleep. When he was ready for the public, he first had a party thrown for him in a highrise in New York. After disrespecting the whole of the party and failing to recognize the President of the United States, he went to the window to shout out his greatness to the world. Sadly, one of the party's patrons decided (with the President's inaudible permission) to push the man out of the window, thus ending the question of how to maintain his hero status. The funeral was lavish and the "hero" (who was disliked by most in his hometown and by his family) was celebrated and mourned by the public.

The story was written in a very comic and fun way. Usually the role of the press or politicians is of the villian in literature, but in this case they were merely disguising the truth to protect the public from this brash personality. In the end, I was dissappointed that the world didn't get to see their "hero" for what he was. I wanted the lie to be exposed so that all could know that great achievement isn't always the result of great character, but I suppose this ending was more realistic for the setting. The heroes of the early 1900's could never do wrong. Whether it be the American soldiers in the World Wars or the view of the "perfect" family that existed in that time. Americans tended to hide their bad sides and always praise those who succeeded. I guess my hope is that those who read this story now will realize that we all have a little bit of "The Greatest Man in the World" in them, and that we all shouldn't necessarily be pushed out of the window because of it.