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Recommended: An essay on courage
Ask yourself the question, what does courage mean to you? Flying through space, Luke Skywalker had to accomplish many tasks. For example: blowing up the Death Star, surviving in the dead of winter on Hoth, training with Yoda, getting his own hand sliced off, and eventually killing the leaders of the empire. We see these task as courageous events that heroes must face in order to earn the respect of everyone. However, after rewatching the original trilogy, I’ve seen that Luke performed all of these miraculous events through his feelings. His desire. His faith in himself. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that courage is not jumping into endless danger. But rather, courage is doing what one believe to be true, regardless of the opinions of those surrounding said person. …show more content…
People may wonder how running away from problems could be considered courage. This is furthered through the narrator's case of running away from war, which is seen as the most courageous service you can provide to your country. But why do we see running away from fear as cowardice? Fear is seen in all shapes and sizes from spiders to heights. In the narrator’s case it was going to war. But why are we afraid to squash that spider and put aside our fears of being humiliated? If we squash that punny spider that is blocking us from making decisions, we will finally be able to make logical choices that are guided by feelings instead of pressure. O’Brien could have easily put an end to that spider that was stopping his from saying enough is enough, but he did not. O’Brien let the spider tell him what to do. He let that spider send him right to war; where O’Brien was haunted by his choice that he
There are many other things that take courage to do including public speaking, standing up for those who are unable to do it themselves, and even getting up on a stage and performing in front of a large crowd. For many, public speaking is extremely hard and can be quite debilitating, and for someone to ignore these fears, be courageous, and speak from the heart to a large crowd can be quite an accomplishment. There are also many courageous men and women in the military that are willing to give their lives for the defense of their nation. Some view this as the ultimate form of courage, and in some cases it is, but what takes more courage, dying for a cause or living to be there to pick up the pieces and clean up the mess? Showing true courage is not always the most popular, glamorous, or easy thing to do. Even something as simple as being a man, who stands up in front of a crowd to read poetry, while dressed like a woman, can be one of the most courageous things of
Mark Twain best described courage when he said that, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear” (Twain). Both in The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Watership Down by Richard Adams, the authors deal with the topic of courage and each share a similar view on it as this quote. Indeed, both authors suggest that courage is not accumulated simply by acts of heroism, but rather by overcoming fears and speaking one’s mind as well. These books are very similar in the way that bravery is displayed through the characters in an uncommon way. Firstly, an example of bravery
An example of courage, as the judgment that something else is more important than fear, is through the character of Kak in B for Buster by Iain Lawrence. In this novel, Kak is characterized as a young, determined boy, desiring to turn himself from a comic book reading boy into a World War II hero. Planning to escape his drunken, abusive father, Kak enlists himself in the Canadian Air Force although he is underage and only sixteen years old. During his first mission, he is becomes frightened of the risk of not coming home alive, but doesn?t show his emotions because of his austere, intrepid crewmen. During this mission, Kak did not have an absence of fear, but he felt that becoming a hero like the ones in his comic book, and accomplishing his dream of fly, was more important than his fear of dying.
Courage: the ability to do something that frightens one, meaning the act of being courageous is not to be deterred by danger. This one word can categorize a person on a whole higher level. Stonewall Jackson exemplified tho word better than anyone else ever could have. For example, at the first battle of Bull Run, while several Confederate units were falling into disorder and panic, their general pointed to Jackson and his men who were withstanding the attack and said "There stands Jackson like a stone wall!" thus urging his men to gather their courage as well and regroup behind Jackson's position. In spring 1862, in Shenandoh Valley, Virginia, Stonewall created the Valley Campaign. In Jackson’s Valley Campaign, he marched
...nd results could be. Atticus Finch defended a black man, even though it put his and his children’s lives in danger; Mrs. Dubose acknowledged her morphine addiction and overcame it, and Boo Radley braved the outdoors to save the Finch children, even though it put his life at risk. Courage is not taking a challenge knowing you will win, it is facing a challenge one knows one will most likely lose and still trying.
Real courage is when you fight for what is right regardless of whether you win or lose. For example, while Jem and Atticus converse about Mrs. Dubose and her fight against morphine addiction, Atticus states, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (112). Courage, as defined by Atticus Finch, doesn’t mean that you have to do something beyond your capabilities and fears, but simply means following through with something you know will not be going in your favor. He demonstrates this in Tom Robinson’s case when even though the prejudice townspeople and jury were not in support of him, he followed his conscience and persevered through the fight. In addition, when Scout, Jem, and Atticus talk about this one-sided case and the prejudices involved, Atticus simply states, "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try and won" (76). The best thin...
He reflects on his cowardice and expresses that there were instances in which he was overwhelmed by fear. He feels dizzy with sorrow, guilt, and regret for parting the country and not enlisting the war. He is troubled by the lack of sleep and the “sickness” that consumes him. The tone deepens the meaning of courage because it allows for a reflection on what could have contributed to the fear and how the character’s courage would ultimately overcome it. The tone of fear supplemented to the importance of O'Brien's decision to escape the Vietnam War; he is acting out of fear. He, “was no soldier… hated dirt… and mosquitoes…..” Tone is created by the character personal emotions towards his life
Courage is not something that we are born with, it is a skill that takes time to learn and only a few are lucky enough to have it. To Kill a Mockingbird is not only about life in a world full of hate, it is about standing up for anyone’s beliefs being brave enough to do it. In this story, Harper Lee says “Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do” (Lee 112). In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates courage through Atticus Finch, Mrs. Dubose, and Arthur Radley.
To be courageous you cannot be deterred by possible outcomes that may involve danger or pain. To be courageous you have to be more than brave you have to be undaunted and have a heart of a lion. Through Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird courage and determination are embedded through the character’s actions. Atticus Finch, a lawyer in Maycomb County, explains to his son Jem, “I wanted him to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see if through no matter what.(Lee 149)” Through this quote Harper Lee is trying to convey that, real courage is more than appearance it is a significant action
“Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.” Courageous people understand the danger that they face when they act how they do. That is what courage is all about. Many historical events occur due to people having the courage to do what they think is right, or because of those who use their courage to do what they want. Having the courage to stand alone in one’s beliefs may be one of the hardest thing a person can do.
Overall, the author showed us the courageous and coward s acts of O’Brien the character. The fact that he was a coward made him do a heroic act. O’Brien made the valiant decision to go to war. It would have been easier and cowardly to jump and swim away from all his fears. However he decided to turn back, and fight for something he did not believe in. Thinking about the consequences of running away makes him a hero. He went to war not because he wanted to fight for his country, but for his own freedom. Either choice he could have made would take some kind of courage to carry out. Going to war required some sort of fearlessness. In other words, running away from the law would have been brave; but going to war was even tougher.
The ability to show courage is very important to be a hero. Courage means the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous, and being able to carry on in spite of danger
To society, participating in war was courageous, but to Tim O’Brien, he considers this to be cowardly. On page 57, he ties courage in with his decision, saying, “I would not be brave. That old image of myself as a hero, as a man of conscience and courage, all that was just a pipe dream.” In comparison, this is ironic to what society thinks of going to war. To Tim O’Brien, he relates courage to his own personal thoughts and beliefs. Since he chose against his morals to go to war, not only is he a coward to himself, but it shows that he also has no courage in himself to do what he believes is right. For him, it takes more courage to believe in himself and his beliefs rather than to surrender and go to war. Consequently, the societal standpoint on war forces two decisions upon those who are against the war. It gives them the choice to either take guilt from society by refusing to go to war, or take guilt in oneself for refuting their own beliefs, to either have courage in yourself, or to give in. From O’Brien’s perspective, he chose to have guilt in himself, because it’s more convenient than taking guilt from
Courage is an important quality that heroes must possess to complete their quests. In the movie ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, Hiccup is the hero who displays courage throughout his quest to settle a conflict peacefully with Drago Bludvist. Courage is a significant factor during the hero’s journey. It is an attribute that contributes to the completion of the hero’s journey while staying true to the hero’s principles. On a hero’s journey, it is because of the hero’s courage that the threshold is crossed. It is because of courage that heroes have the will to descend into the underworld, overcome unimaginable obstacles, and accept any occurrences that result in negative outcomes. Without courage, heroes fail
Muhammad Ali states, “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life”. What Ali is saying is, to be able to grow as a person, being courageous and taking different risks is vital to achieve different goals in life. In today’s society, people need to be more courageous so that they can grow to be better. The word “courage” comes from the Latin root “cor” which means heart. The definition of this word now and what the definition was back then have two completely different meanings. What it meant when the word originally came about meant to speak from the heart; while the word now correlates with gallant or brave. Courage is a pretty broad term depending on what a person thinks it is. Answering questions in the classroom