The Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman is a story about Hsun-ching's journey to America so he may find an old Buddhist scripture and bring it back to his adopted father in China. Hsun-ching is accompanied by Colonel Sun, an immortal who spent his early life as a soldier, he was essential in assisting Hsun-ching on his journey to America and retrieving the sutra. Although The Laughing Sutra portrays Hsun-ching as the hero because he brought his master the final sutra, I think that Colonel Sun is the real hero because he saved Hsun-ching's life on many occasions, he was critical to safely travel through China and Hong Kong, and he was essential to recover the sutra in order for Wei-ching to finally be able to read it.
             A hero can be defined as a person who performs acts without expecting anything in return. Hero may also be defined as "a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability." (Webster) A hero is also a person who is willing to sacrifice his or her own life for the greater good. Colonel Sun is the hero in this novel because he was committed to helping Hsun-ching at all costs. "But the only reason I am here and not closer to the boat is that I assumed you wanted to get the sutra, at all costs. And I promised to help you." (241) Colonel Sun gave his word to Hsun-ching, and stood by it throughout the journey, he was willing to have to hurt or possibly kill someone or risk being caught by the police in order to allow Hsun-ching to bring the sutra back to China.
             Colonel Sun demonstrated his heroism on many occasions throughout the story. First when he saved Hsun-ching from his demise by catching him when he was thrown off the waterfall. "Someone tried to kill this boy today, I happened to be nearby, so I was able to save him." (13) This was heroic because the Colonel did not know who the boy was, and would receive nothing for saving his life except knowing the fac...