Courage Issues in The Things They Carried Essay

I believe that there are two types of courage featured in the books and extracts I have read. One type of courage stems from absolute selflessness to help others and is often only truly seen in moments of extreme uncertainty and immediate danger. This type of courage is hard to define and cannot be assessed as they occur randomly and unexpectedly.

This type of courage is hard to define and cannot be assessed as it occurs randomly and unexpectedly.

The other type of courage is concerned more with a physical need to show courage and strength. This can stem from many different places such as a mans pride, or character which forces him to act courageous for the simple fact that people expect him to and to not be courageous would embarrass and emasculate him. This type of courage is about persona and is often obscured by social expectations, ideals and traditional morals.

Whether it is a physical courage, a moral courage or a mental one, it is all relative to the situation and the person. Great people dont always do great things and average people do great things, does that make them courageous? Does a persons job define their ability to show courage or does it simply focus their attention on situations which often require courage.

On the Rainy River suggests that courage is limited and relative. Its comforting to think that as we let little things go by without exerting courage that we are saving it up for when we really need it, as it is finite and should be used wisely. Justified the past while amortizing the future, in itself, this lacks courage as we use courage as an excuse to be cowardly. Within this short story, it almost demonstrates a courage that comes from concern of what his family and community will think of him rather then because he feels patriotic for his country. This intense fear of shame motivates him to accept the draft notice and go to Vietnam. This also is apparent in the relationships between the different soldiers. They each want to be socially accepted by their peers and this often leads them to act in unnecessary dangerous acts to express their audacity amongst fellow comrades.

For example, in The Dentist a kind of courage is expressed that comes from pride and fear of blushing. There is an ideal for soldiers and men to show masculinity and strength at all times which makes them show a false bravado in order to be respected by their companions and the public. Curt Lemon has a perfectly good tooth pulled in this story to try and overcome the shame he feels for fainting with his previous appointment with the dentist. OBrien is showing how the fear of shame is an unavoidable motivation for men to go to war.