Heroes or Villains?

We live life everyday knowing that one day we will eventually die. But the real question is; when you die would you want to be remembered as a hero or a villain? Personally, I would want to be remembered as a hero, and not be associated with the word villain at all. Pirates, on the other hand, probably think they are viewed as heroes but are no where near that. In Under the Black Flag, pirates are described as very prideful people, as well as being thieves and unmerciful, and these are not hero traits. The way I see it is, everything that we do in this life will not go unseen or will not go unpaid for either. And because pirates do so many awful things, they are villains and that their destinies are doomed for destruction and their careers are going to eventually end, and they will end badly.

In Buccaneers and Pirates it mentions that from a young age the author wanted to be a pirate. He wanted to be like Robin Hood, but from the sea. These positive views about pirates were because of movies and plays he had seen before. These forms of media portray pirates to be heroic figures because of their bravery and the different roles they had on their ships; which of course make children want to be a captain or a crew member of a pirate ship.

But in reality, pirates were just violent men who showed no mercy to their victims by hurting them, and eventually killing them or keeping them as slaves. Pirates robbed people of their belongings just because they could and would keep the goods that belonged to their victims. Even when on Privateers, they had a letter of marque and reprisal, which granted them permission to steal belongings, but still they would withheld goods from the King (the one granting permission), knowing it was not right.

In Pirates and Privateers by Cindy Vallar, it is said that the buccaneers were originally hunters who lived on a small island in the Caribbean, but were then run off by the Spanish which made them upset and they began having reckless behavior. They began raiding Spanish towns, and torturing people which made them view cruelty as an art form. L' Ollonais, along with Rock Braziliano, were viewed as the two worst buccaneers in history. They were thirsty for violence and tortured people without remorse. Not once did either of these men do any heroic acts or anything worthy of looking up to. Which explains why they were only successful in their careers for about seven years.

When you live a revengeful life, like both of these buccaneers did, towards the Spaniards, nothing good comes out of it. You hurt innocent people in the process of your revenge and you go down in history being viewed as a villain, which is exactly how I view these men.

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