Read the excerpt from “The Scarlet Ibis.” The lightning was near now, and from fear he walked so close behind me he kept stepping on my heels. The faster I walked, the faster he walked, so I began to run. The rain was coming, roaring through the pines, and then, like a bursting Roman candle, a gum tree ahead of us was shattered by a bolt of lightning. When the deafening peal of thunder had died, and in the moment before the rain arrived, I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind, cry out, “Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!”

in the line from the end of the story "the cask of the amontillado," by edgar allan poe, the narrator has put the last stone on the wall, thus sentencing fortunato to death. just like that montresor associates his feeling of sickness to the humidity of the catacombs, and seems to be glad he has taken revenge on fortunato. however, montresor's last words are "in pace requiescat," which mean "may he rest in peace." as a result, it can be inferred that he hides or does not want to assume his guilt or remorse for killing fortunato in such a horrible way.

throughout the ancient epic of gilgamesh, the protagonist, gilgamesh of course, exhibited many character traits that made him a true epic hero. one great trait that gilgamesh acquires of an epic hero is that he's a courageous and confident leader. in the text enkidu is too afraid to fight, but he's positive that gilgamesh has the ability to triumph against humbaba. gilgamesh tells enkidu to not be afraid and then continues on to remind him of all the victories he's had against similar foe. gilgamesh proves that he's confident by encouraging enkidu and shows he's courageous when enkidu ask gilgamesh to battle humbaba alone because he knows that gilgamesh will reign victorious.

another characteristic that makes gilgamesh an epic hero is that he's brave and takes risks. "dread surged through gilgamesh, terror flooded his muscles, his heart froze, his mouth went dry, his legs shook, his feet were rooted to the ground. / gilgamesh felt his courage return. they charged at humbaba like two wild bulls." when reading the first part of the quote you see that gilgamesh is terrified of humbaba, and realizing that humbaba is the antagonist he's about to battle is taking a big risk. gilgamesh soon shows how brave he is by not letting his fear of humbaba overtake him, instead he went charging into the face of fear and triumphs.