Courage And Selflessness In Divergent, By Veronica Roth

As the Former First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt stated, “People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.” Author of the nonfiction book Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand, shows Louis Zamperini is bravery. Louie proved that Roosevelt’s statement in his case was true. Whether in the Olympics, a fight, or serving his country Louie maintained a brave face demonstrating his true character to the world.

Everything was normal until one event happened. After that, everything changed! All because of a single cigarette. It slowly dropped to the ground. It caught on fire and bam!

Our world suffers with many issues such as racism, sexism, hate and prejudice, and society needs people that are strong enough to take a stand. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, courage is displayed in several different forms, especially through three courageous characters. Lee introduces the concept of honorable courage through Mrs. Dubose, a woman who demonstrates that real courage comes from within. Another brave character in the novel is Tom Robinson. He shows everyone how difficult it is for a black man to be both honest and kind no matter the situation. The most courageous person would be Atticus Finch. Atticus is an important character that fits into his own definition of what "real courage" is and demonstrates it in numerous ways throughout the novel, as he goes against most people’s beliefs in order to do what he believes is morally right. Through these three brave characters, Lee tries to reshape people's stereotypical view of courage.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, one of Atticus Finch’s most significant qualities, courage, impacts the story. Throughout the book, Harper Lee portrays courage as doing something out of your comfort zone, for the greater good or a good cause. The first example shows how Atticus’s quality of courage impacts the story. Atticus is sitting in front of the jail cell where Tom Robinson, the African-American man he is defending, is being kept. When Mr. Cunningham and the rest of his followers confront Atticus, he stays strong, keeps his ground and doesn’t let anything happen to Tom. The interaction starts with Mr. Cunningham approaching Atticus, “He in there, Mr. Finch? He is, and he’s asleep. Don’t wake him up. In obedience to my father. There followed what I later realized was a sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation: the men talked in near-whispers. You know what we want. Get Aside from the door, Mr. Finch. You can turn around and go home, Walter. Heck Tate’s around somewhere.”(171-172) Atticus stops Mr. Cunningham and his men from harming Tom before his trial. It took courage to stand up to men who are usually cordial with him resulting in Tom not being killed and allowing the trial to continue. In the second example, it shows how Atticus’s actions reflect what how Harper Lee believes courage looks like in everybody. Atticus is brought to a tough decision in whether or whether not to defend Tom Robinson. When Scout asks him about the case and why he decided

Ordinary courage is a book that tells the story of an ordinary man who is inlisted in the continental army in the revolutionary war. Joseph Plumb Martin is the young man fighting in this war, at the time he entered he was just a mere 16 year old kid but by the time his time in the continental army was up he became a man. This is a first person memoir of what it was like for a regular person living in a war zone, and dealing with the everyday fears of food shortage, low morale, and danger of attack. This is something that many people in todays world could not handle because even some of the old guys in the

There are two different types of courage, physical and moral. Physical courage is facing fear using force or other physical means, while moral courage is defending what is right, even in the face of popular opinion. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, moral courage is a significant theme. Atticus Finch teaches his children, Jem and Scout, the importance of moral courage. Throughout the novel each character discovers courage in their unique experiences. By the end of the story, Jem and Scout’s idea of courage shifts and they learn the importance of moral bravery. Atticus, Jem, and Scout all learn or demonstrate the meaning of moral courage throughout the novel.

Courage can be defined in different ways as shown by Anne Sexton’s “Courage” poem and Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. Sexton would say courage comes in small acts and in these small acts of courage are what teaches people how to find the strength within themselves to accept things the way they are. Atticus Finch, one of the main characters in the novel, would argue that courage is perseverance and fighting till the end even though the battle may have already been lost. This novel takes place around the 1930s, and is told through the eyes of Scout Finch. From her, one might learn about her father, Atticus Finch, an attorney who hopelessly aims to prove the innocence of a black man wrongly accused of rape. Both definitions of courage can be found in three characters in the novel; Atticus’ determination to help Robinson, Scout’s ability to conceal her emotions, and Mrs. Dubose’s perseverance to fight till the end.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. '” <Brainyquote.com> Throughout the novel the Hubermanns demonstrate tremendous courage. Like what Eleanor Roosevelt says, the Hubermanns really did look fear right in the face. One example of this is, they allowed a Jew to hide in their home, going directly against the law and belief of Nazi Germany despite the harsh consequences that could be waiting for them (Zusak 173). The family all cared for the Jews, and put their

What is courage? Is courage saving a man from an avalanche? Is it standing against the crowd? Falling in love? Courage can be defined as many things. It could be as simple as wearing unusual, risking the chance of being judged by those around you. Harper Lee forthrightly establishes how gallantry can be displayed by many different types of people in the compelling book To Kill a Mockingbird. Despite many characters, such as Mayella and Scout showing courage, Atticus Finch is by far the most dauntless.

When an individual experiences separation from loved ones what role does emotional courage have on keeping one's sanity. In the short story On the Rainy River by Tim O’Brien this idea is discussed deeply. From when he got his draft notice, to deciding to leave his family and considered dodging his draft, and then ultimately deciding to go to war. All of these actions from O’Brien are great examples of what role emotional courage plays.

The Kite Runner is a powerful book contrasting selfishness and selflessness. The book follows the life of Amir, a character who experiences guilt and tragedy throughout his life. While growing up in Kabul, Amir witnesses the imperfect and prejudice society in his country. Within an imperfect society, there are many who are self-invested, and among those, there are those who are selfless. Characters Amir and Hassan possess selfish and selfless traits. The traits that these characters possess are influenced by fear, victimization, and loyalty, ultimately leading them to inaction and action.

Courage is strength. Courage is honesty. Courage is standing one’s ground no matter what. Courage is standing up for others. In Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem Finch, along with their father Atticus, live in Maycomb County, a small, mainly racist town in Alabama during the Great Depression. The Finch family’s neighbor, Mrs. Dubose, and Atticus display acts of personal courage in the story. Specifically, Mrs. Dubose displays courage in her honesty and strength, and Atticus displays courage in his responses to racism based threats and keeping others safe.

Courage is about people confronting situations or accepting challenges in spite of the potential failure. Courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, and bravery. This idea of courage is a prominent theme in Harper Lee’s in To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel deals with two children- -Jem and Scout-- coming of age in a racist environment. Their father Atticus defends a local African American. All characters learn lessons about courage and racism. In this in mind, it is important to examine how courage is examined through the characters of Jem, Atticus, Boo.

Tris is brave, selfless, and fearless. She is a well-developed character with conflicting

The ending of all stories are about what the characters gain, whether it’s just a lesson, resurrection, or a winning. In The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Theseus and the Minotaur, the protagonists struggled to reach salvation and glory. Katniss and Peeta became “Victors” of the 74th Hunger games and as a token of respect for their participation, they got “income from Capitol, special status in their districts, victor’s village” (The Hunger Games Wikia). Their bravery and heroism in the games granted them to live past the games even though they went through pain to receive glory and life. The reward for winning the games was well deserved but they had to deal with the pain, like the Minotaur had to deal with the fact that King Minos threw