How Does Rat Kiley Show Courage

In Notes we learn that Speaking Of Courage was written at the request of Norman Bowker, as directly stated on p. 149, “Speaking of Courage was written in 1975 at the suggestion of Norman Bowker.” As the quote continues we see how within three years of the story being written, Bowker hangs himself; on p.149, “…who later hanged himself in the locker room of a YMCA in his hometown of Centeral, Iowa.” The reason that Bowker takes his life, is because over the years he begins find life hopeless, and it all goes back to Kiowa and failing to pull him from the

A second major character in this book is Norman Bowker he displays how the war can damage a soldier long after the war is over. During the war, Bowker is a quiet and humble person. What he carries inside himself as he tries to survive during and after the war is regret and guilt. When Bowker first reached the Vietnam War he had a plan and he believed that medals and service awards is what marks a soldier as courageous. He also wants to win as many medals as he possible could because his father expects him to, and he wants to make his father proud.

In O'Brien's chapter "Speaking of Courage", from the novel "The Things They Carried", tension between outward conformity and inward questioning is shown throughout the chapter. In the text the audience is exposed to a post-war insight into the life of a young Vietnam Veteran Norman Bowker and his many struggles. With himself he brings home countless amounts of experiences, memories, and thoughts that place him in a setting abstract from what he remembered as "home." Constantly attempting to determine whether his actions were courageous or cowardly; O'Brien not only places tension on the character's distinction between what took place and the reality experience but also on himself as a character.

This courage, or rather the opposite, is demonstrated in Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried, in particular the chapter entitled “On the Rainy River”. In the summer of 1968, O’Brien was drafted to perform military service in the Vietnam War. He, like many others, thought that this conflict was very unjust and he didn’t really understand what the United States was trying to accomplish. Unfortunately for O’Brien, he felt that if he did not go and perform the service like he intended that not only his family, but also his entire hometown would look at him as if he were a coward. In response, he states “I was a coward. I went to war.” (61). In the traditional sense, the

If bravery is doing something notwithstanding being scared, then anyone can dispute that Ernest Junger, apart from his politics and whether or not he supports Nazi Germany, was a courageous man. Nevertheless, regardless of how dignified the reason may be, ultimately the mind has to discover a way to handle all the carnage that he describes. You can either pretend it wasn't happening as his fellow soldiers were doing, or you

“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” (112). Courage is a potent theme in the book To Kill a MockingBird by Harper Lee. Although it may have different meanings to different people, in the book, Harper Lee has suggested that courage may not always involve violence of fear.

Courage is the ability to do something in the face of pain, grief or fear. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus serves as an example of true courage to the town when he shoots the sick dog Tim Johnson, defends Tom Robinson in his legal troubles and allows Mr. Ewell spit in his face.

Explaining what he once heard to be from Plato, O’Brien uttered that proper courage came from wisdom and nothing else. For one to be a true sublime human being, they must demonstrate wisdom, justice, temperance, and lastly courage. As for a man without wisdom cannot be courageous, something a man without courage cannot contain any of the other three virtues (wisdom, justice, or even temperance). To Plato, wisdom is simply not just knowing what is right and what must be done, but following through with it. Courage, portrayed so perfectly by Tim O’Brien, is “the endurance of the soul in spite of fear” (140). The act of bravery is a battle within itself. Bravery is not about acting upon one’s desires, but instead setting them aside and putting the needs of the people around them first. It is about humbling yourself to your best ability, no matter how much fear one may obtain. There are people who simply just do not understand what is right due to their lack of intelligence, states O’Brien. Then there are so many men who might know what is right, however, they have too much fear to build up the courage to fight for it. As fear so often overtakes one’s whole self without even true recognition, courage is acting against that (136). All throughout the war, soldiers are constantly faced with fear as fear tends to come hand in hand with death.

Depending on the person, the idea of courage has many different meanings. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird's, the definition of courage is “when you know 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” (149). The novels definition explains that one needs to do the right thing even if one doesn’t win.

“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 you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” (Lee 149).

Towards the end we see again how O’Brien bashes himself because he killed a young man, he believes that war is made up of acts of brutality and cowardice. O’Brien continually bashes himself for his acts of “cowardice,” or at least that is how he views these actions. There are also other acts in which courage or at least the thought of coming off as a brave more solid put the men into scary situations. Lemons behavior is a perfect example of this because he was known for his fear of the dentist, and he fainted even before the army dentist examined him. For Lemon to get over his embarrassment he got a perfectly good tooth removed, this is viewed as not an act of courage but an act of cowardice. At first, courage is played out to be something fundamental and severe for a person to have and everyone at home views the soldiers that went off to fight like heroes. However, in Vietnam, the idea of courage becomes almost laughable. They all fear everything, any little noise any sudden movements, any tiny bit of pain and even incest and diseases.

Courage is defined as "the quality of mind or spirit enabling one to meet danger or opposition with fearlessness." According to Atticus Finch, one of the main characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, "Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what." (pg.121). Harper Lee clearly portrays the theme of courage in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. One likes to think of a hero, as strong, brave, and meeting all challenges head on. All the characters in this book have a different view as to what courage

Courage is the ability to stand up for ones beliefs and ethics that the Army has been bestowed on them, despite the danger they may face on duty. Courage which is the result of training and discipline is the kind upon which the control of men in battle is based. With such courage, the man when facing

As far as morally courageous individuals the shame of compromising morals might feel worse than punishments and social rejections (170). Moral courage once said by William Ian Miller is a, “lonely courage”, moral courage is far different from physical courage where there’s support around you such as in battle moral courage is simply an individual on their own (171). One example people may see as moral courage was the decision President Truman made to bomb both Nagasaki and Hiroshima in World War II. His decision wasn’t necessarily the most popular amongst everyone, but Truman did what he thought was right to end the war (175). Another example of moral courage would be when a soldier refuses to go to Iraq or Afghanistan he might have moral courage in his own eyes for doing what he believes in, however others may not see it the same believing that he might just lack physical courage (Olsthoorn

Personal Courage: it takes Personal Courage physically to get up, get ready, and be where the soldier needs to be. It takes Personal Courage morally to do the right thing, just like