Theme of Courage in Literature Essay Example

“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 do good. 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, there is a little girl living on Venus who has the courage to dream that the sun will come out again, leading to sacrifice. 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 the 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 doing what is easy is never the best choice. Hesitating to have courage and making a rash decision to live in fear can only lead to endless issues. Oftentimes, people let their fears take over them, just like Tim O’Brien, author of Ambush. He was fighting in a war when a man walked into the ambush site he was at and without even thinking he 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. His fright led to death. Death for the man he killed and internal death for himself. The consequences of fear greatly outweigh those of courage. From courage may come sacrifice and loss of time, but from fear comes doubt and guilt. Overwhelming, dreadful guilt. If everyone began to decide to have courage, then the pain of guilt would disappear. For O’Brien the guilt never went away because his decision was so impactful. 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). His decision changed his whole life. Just being able to write down his journey also took courage. Having the audacity to write about his wrongdoings; trying to make up for them, was what he did to fix his mistake. People make mistakes, which is human nature, but having the courage to try to fix them is sensational.  O’Brien expressed his regret but will forever be in doubt. 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 that he did not want to wipe out all of the buggers, yet did anyway. His courage led him to being tricked into his original goal, just not the way he wanted it to go. He gave up everything he had and everything he was. That is true courage. Giving up everything for others and being completely selfless.  Heroes may look like they lead the perfect life,  but courage takes sacrifice. 

The virtue that is the key to creating a harmonious society is courage. It is also often sugar-coated, but it is not as commonly shown. True courage is revealed in the books previously discussed; All Summer in a Day, Ambush, and Ender’s Game. In each book there are characters who show courage by sacrificing everything, and others who lack it. Both have consequences, but the characters with courage always have a better outcome. Like in the books, courage is something needed in today’s world because it is the only way to possess other virtues. Courageousness is the confidence to do anything. To face fears or to be kind. To be brave. If only the world began to have people in it with genuine courage, then the future would be much brighter. It would be a future of kindhearted people. Fear would still be present, but people would be able to conquer it. Overall, fear does not have to be a first instinct; rather, courage can be in command.