The Greatest Man in the World by James Thurber proves that great things are not always accomplish by great people. In his time Thurber was known as a humorist, and this story gives its readers plenty of laughs. Jack Smurch was consider to be a hero in the eyes of American citizens, at the time a hero was seen as a modest man but Jack was the exact opposite. Thurber give Jack a realistic personality, where at the time others so called heroes sacrifice their true self for public admiration.
Jack Smurch was a strong individual in the story, instead of hiding the true reason for why he risked his life to accomplish such a feat, he bluntly said it was for big money. At the time American citizens believed that in order to be a hero you need to be a great man in all aspect of your life, and because Smurch was not, the press polish his image and they give a false indication of who Jack Smurch really was.
The stereotypical mindset of a hero was a very modest person despite their accomplishment, Jack Pal Smurch acknowledge his accomplishment on public and thus was murder for not being the stereotypical hero at that time. By giving Jack Smurch such realistic personalities, James Thurber, shows how American were very close-minded and refuse the idea of someone doing heroic deeds with the motivation of money.
Killing Jack Pal Smurch, was the only way for the press to keep the definition of hero pure in the mind of American citizens, if they would have kept Jack Pal Smurch in the eyes of the public, the public would have seen that Jack Smurch did not meet their definition of a hero.