All Summer In a Day by Ray Bradbury Analysis Essay

“Courage is the most important virtue of all virtues because, without courage, you can’t practice any other consistently,” said Maya Angelou, an influential writer. This quote sums up why courage is so vital; if no one had courage, then no one would be able to face their fears and be a moral person. Many overlook the fact that courage is not always easy. It can lead to failure, loss, and sacrifice.  In All Summer In a Day by Ray Bradbury, where a little girl living on Venus has the courage to dream that the sun will come out again, she sacrifices everything. She pushes away her fears and never stops dreaming about the sun even when she gets bullied by the other children. Although consequences can come from having courage, failing to have courage has its consequences too. In Ambush by Tim O’Brien, he tells a story of when he failed to show courage and it led to years of regret. A story with someone the opposite of the man in Ambush is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Ender is courageous but ends up sacrificing his childhood, reputation, and innocence to become a hero. Courage, a value twisted by society in tales of it leading to happy endings, is not as perfect as it is depicted to be; rather it takes selflessness, leading most people to push it away, creating a deficit of courage in our world today.

The view of courage people have nowadays is corrupt, distorted by years of hearing tales about damsels in distress and the hero overcoming the villain. It is never that easy to have courage. This is reflected in the story All Summer In a Day. "I think the sun is a flower. That blooms for just one hour,” was the main character, Margot’s poem, read softly to a room full of jeering classmates. “‘Aw, you didn’t write that!’ protested one of the boys, William. ‘I did,’ said Margot, ‘I did’” (Bradbury). Margot’s only joy in life was the hope that the sun would come again; leading her to stand up for herself when she wrote a poem she was proud of. Naturally, Margot was meek and quiet, but when she had something to believe in she did not sway. She was locked in a closet for it and missed her only chance to see the sun. Courage is not always ideal. For Margot it led to infinite sorrow and pain; although, it was worse for the children who left her locked in the closet. The children who followed along and bullied her ended up looking like “someone had driven them, like so many stakes, into the floor,” and could not even “meet each other’s glances. Their faces were solemn and pale," (Bradbury). The consequences of running away are much worse than even the worst consequences to courage. They did what was comfortable rather than right. The children in this story showcase what goes on in the present day; people wanting to be brave but instead doing what is familiar, fleeing the situation. William (the bully) gained a victory over Margot since the other kids did not have courage. Without courage, everything goes awry.

The downfall of courage is much better than the downfall of cowardice.  Being afraid and making a rash decision can only lead to more problems. An example of someone letting their fears take over them is in the short story Ambush by Tim O’Brien. He tells the story of when he was fighting in a war and a man walked into the ambush site they were at. Without even thinking O’Brien pulled out a grenade and threw it for the reason that “it was entirely automatic,” (O’Brien). A life was in his hands and he ended it out of fear. He also said that he did not think the man was his enemy or even dangerous, yet he did it anyway. For him, like most others in the world, fear was so deeply ingrained into his life that it was his first response to danger. O’Brien’s panicked reaction led him to a lifetime of guilt. After years had passed, “in the ordinary hours of life” he didn’t normally think about it. But sometimes he said he would still think about how “it was not a matter of live or die. There was no real peril. Almost certainly the man would have passed by. And it will always be that way” (O’Brien). O’Brien’s instinct was barely even a decision yet it changed his whole life. Just being able to write that down must have taken so much courage. Having the audacity to write about his wrongdoings and know he was wrong was what he did to make up for his mistake. Although at the time he was in the ambush he did not show courage, he did his best to make up for it by warning others to not make the same mistake and giving his perspective. But even though he shared his story, he will always regret what he did. Regret is what happens when a chance for courage is left behind.

Often, true courage is rare to be seen, owing to the fact it takes guts. It takes someone willing to give up everything for what they believe in. A particularly great example of someone with true courage is Ender from Ender’s Game. “I don't want to go,’ said Ender, ‘but I will,” is what Ender told Graff as he accepted his invitation to battle school. Ender exhibits courage because he sacrificed everything. He did not want to fight but gave his whole life up since he was told he had a miniscule chance of being the one to save Earth. True courage was shown when took the opportunity he was given and went for it even though he was questioning his decision. Instead of letting fear take hold of his judgement, he thought practically and ended up saving his planet, although at a cost greater than just sacrificing his time. He knew courage would come at a cost but not to the point where he was “ordering pilots to go in and die,” and not know. Ender was so empathetic, the only way that he could have won against the buggers was if he did not know he was fighting. And although some may say that his actions were immoral, his courage to do what was right had good intentions. He gave up everything he had and everything he was. That is true courage. Although heroes may look victorious, courage takes sacrifice.