How To Be Courageous

The art of survival is something that is not easily learned. For some, however, it is something that comes from a natural desire to be defiant and rebellious. In the novel Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, protagonist Louie Zamperini fights for survival through a number of trials that are presented to him. His life takes him from being a troubled child, to an Olympic runner, to a bomber lost at sea, to POW in some of the worst camps Japan could conjure. Louie not only survives these trials, he stands up and goes directly against the normality and ease of submission and faces his adversity head on. Throughout the novel, Louie shows that his ability to survive stems from his natural urge to rebel and defy anything that he deems too controlling in his life.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill. This quote defines what it is to be courageous, to be courageous is to persevere even if you know you will fail. This kind of courage is the courage which both Harold Crick in Stranger Than Fiction and Jean Louise “Scout” Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. In Stranger Than Fiction, an IRS agent, Harold Crick, with a monotonous life learns that you must not only survive, but you must truly live. This lesson is taught through a series of events that lead to his breaking out of his shell and truly living his life. The events are preliminarily put into action through Harold hearing the voice of the author of a book about his life. In To Kill A Mockingbird, a tomboyish six-year-old, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, discovers the true meaning of camaraderie and bravery. Her friendships are strong but her definition of courage is flawed. In the end, she realizes a great truth, that to really know someone, you have to imagine yourself in their shoes. Courage is important to these two characters, as they both discover what it really means to be brave and what the true definition of courage is. Courage is not always outspoken, sometimes courage is knowing that you will fail, but trying and failing anyway and then accepting your failure.

Louie Zamperini is a very inspiring character. From a troublemaker thief to a record breaker to a hero he turned himself around. It’s not about the mistakes you make in life its what you do about them and that was the biggest takeaway from this book.

Watanabe, who’s nicknamed is “The Bird” beats Louie daily with his fists, a kendo stick or even his belt. The Bird would often starve the prisoners, humiliate, and use them for slave labor. When the allies finally defeat Japan Louie and the camp members are recused and the Bird disappears and goes into hiding to avoid being punished as a war

Throughout history, there have been countless times whenre individuals have courageously fought for change and societal justice. For instance, Gandhi helped India gain their independence, even though the circumstances were extremely risky for him, and could have led to his arrest or even death. However, he continued to persevere through it all, and was able to accomplish great things for his country. Another example is Malala Yousafzai, who promoted the education of girls in her country. Despite the clear threat of the Taliban, she continued to fight hard for her cause. Courage can be defined in many different ways, such as the ability to persevere and accomplish something in a frightening or risky situation. Examples of courage can be seen all around the world. Without courageous people, society would not have been able to improve. Being courageous is difficult, and requires an abundance of dedication and perseverance. It also includes remaining strong, despite the challenges that may occur along the way.

He always will take charge of the situation and discovers ways to resolve problems. For example, when Louie, Mac and Phil were on the life raft after the plane crash, “There were two gashes on Phil’s forehead, spurting blood. Louie ran his fingers down Phil’s throat until he felt a pulse, the carotid artery, then put Mac’s hand on it and told him to press down. He pulled off his top shirt and T-shirt and pulled Phil’s shirts off as well... He folded Phil’s shirt, pressed it into the wounds, then tied the other T-shirts around his head” (104).

On the forty seventh day the two surviving men were found by the Japanese. Their discovery initiated what seemed to be an endless transition from POW (prisoner of war) camps. Throughout the years in the camps Louie was starved, beaten, and humiliated almost as often as he would breathe. His faith and his hope saved Louie from his demise in one of the filthy and horrific concentration camp . "Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen" states Hillenbrand, and unlike most of the other POWs Louie miraculously maintained his dignity (or at least as much as one could maintain in times like

Louie is an Olympic runner who was brought into war, and was never the same. Louie was a drunk and a criminal when he was 6. Eventually, he decided to change and became a track runner. After he was in the olympics, he went to war. In the novel, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie is Resourceful and rebellious.

Louie Zamperini was in the war against japan. He fought his hardest and got through it. Louie was a brave soul. He knew right from wrong and tried to live the most honest life possible. He isn't one to turn his back on his friends, family, or country. When he was stuck on a raft for close to a month he stayed strong, beat a record and got through it. He never once broke down or anything. That's how strong he is. Incidents and events in unbroken that show that louie i brave, loyal, and determined.

One of Louie's dominant traits of Louie is rebellious Louie was planning an escape at the prison camp omori “Louie was thinking with garret a way to escape,” (page 85#) This shows that he is rebellious enough to escape although he didn't try because they would have been executed . Louie was daring enough to go into an officer's office and steal a map to help them escape “Louie had taken the map from the offices,” (Page,71) Louie was never caught for these daring actions that he carried out against the guards. To survive you can't always play by the rules as Louie did in this situation, “Louie left the benjo moving naturally as he could with ten pounds of rice in his pajamas,” (Page,205) This quote shows that he is rebellious enough to steal food from the guard. From stealing

keep surviving. From the Olympics to being lost at sea to being captured by Japan, Louie does

Courage is important when someone really is in a really bad situation. Throughout the book Drums,Girls and Dangerous Pie, by Jordan Sonnenblick many of the characters emphasized courage for Jeffery. Although Jeffery had a terrible and illness Steven, Jeffery (himself) and their parents still emphasized courage.

The movie, Courageous is a faith-based movie that offers as a testament to what a strong Christian family should look like. One of the overarching themes of the movie was that a family that relied on the Lord throughout the good times, and the bad, is able to withstand the hardest trials of life. In the Bible in the book Matthew 7:24-29, Matthew is using an analogy, stating that a person who heeds the word of the Lord and follows His ways is like a wise man who builds his house on rock. Regardless of the storms that came, or the trials it was faced, the house stood firm. Matthew then states that a person who hears the word of the Lord, and chooses to not follow God is an unwise man who builds his house on the sand. When the storms hit the house built on sand, it quickly crumbled with a “large crash.” In the Courageous, the Mitchel family suffered the loss of their beloved daughter and sister.

While we are enjoying our peaceful lives in China, there are still some teenagers struggling in their lives. Mrs. G, a new, passionate teacher in Wilson High School. Where most students were gang members, were facing a lot troubles. They were gang members and they judged people by their skin color at the first sight they saw somebody. They were taught to cheat, to lie, or even to kill just in case to protect the people of their own races. Lots of barriers were built by misunderstood and racism. But they were never been taught to forgive. Are they not willingly to do so, or they are afraid to do so. They might be afraid to find out the world are not as terrify as they considered. They are lacking of courage to know the truth. To do something that you thought you would never do sounds ridiculous. Just like the student who never thought they could graduate nor even go to college. But with Mrs. G’s help they all made a miracle. This is also a triumph in education area. How the things have changed? How are those hopeless students all becoming the pride of their families? It is a mystery known by anyone that Mrs. G had got them running on the right way.

“I learned that courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear (Psychology Today)” Mandela 's quote implies that true courage comes from allowing oneself to be vulnerable and face fear. In his facing the fear, he overcomes it and becomes courageous. When considering strength, courage, and vulnerability, in some ways they are all related as they all have a relation to fear. “A common misconception is that a sign a strength is hiding one 's true feelings (prompt two)”, when in fact, showing one 's vulnerabilities is an act of courage because showing fear requires strength. Showing vulnerability requires an admission of fear of being attacked, as it also exposes personal aspects of an individual.