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How Is Courage Shown In Saving Private Ryan

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Movies have been used as a medium to convey messages for nearly as long as they have existed. I personally love movies, from films with complex narratives to action thrillers, they all have a place in my heart. One of my favorites to date is “Saving Private Ryan”. The film is a World War II action/drama that not only touches on the inhumanity of war but on the humanity of the soldiers as well. It is the tale of a group of ordinary people risking their lives to ensure that a mother gets to see her only remaining son again. “Saving Private Ryan” shows us the brutal realities of war and the courage of the men who chose to fight in it. It shows us that taking part in a war does not only require courage but moral courage as well, the ability to do what is right. These features are staples of American society and I believe that Steven Spielberg depicted them brilliantly in his renowned motion picture. …show more content…

In the film, Corporal Upham is a soldier that has seldom seen the battlefield, despite this, he is thrust into the bloodiest days in the Western European Theater thus far. Throughout the movie, Upham is plagued with fear, therefore rendering him useless to his squad. In being this way, he allows a number of his squad mates to perish, consequently making him detested by those that remain. Nearing the end of the movie, he casts his fear aside in order save what remains of his brothers in arms by flanking an advancing German force. Throughout the film, Upham developed from a character with absolutely zero courage to a man with enough of it to put his life on the line. “Saving Private Ryan” is a motion picture that portrays courage in its rawest form -- being able to risk one's own life. Instances of this courage construct the entirety of the movie, making it one of the most realistic war films to

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