Courage Essay, Research Paper

Courage

by Will McDonald

Courage. Sounds kind of neat, doesn’t it? Webster’s New Collegiate Unabridged Dictionary defines courage… but that doesn’t matter. To me, courage is having the power to stand up to something you fear, when you know you have to do it. Trying to make yourself a better person against all odds could be considered courage. Courage could be doing what is right for the group even when you are scared. Anyway you define courge, one thing remains the same: it is inside all of us.

In the timeless classic To Kill a Mockingbird , Mrs. Dubose is an old, mean lady who apears not to like anything in life anymore. Upon further reading, we find that she is a morphine addict. Now, this alone doesn’t make her courageous. Far from it – it makes her a junkie! But she knows that she has a problem. That is the first step in any twelve-step program, and it is the first thing needed for true courage, also. When she decides to break her habit slowly and surely, day by day, before she dies, that begins to show courage. When she proceeds with this plan, and successfully completes it with the help of a twelve year old boy, she fits my definition of courage.

Another example of courage is the lion from The Wizard of Oz. Obviously, the fact that he was a cowardly lion showed that he was lacking bravery, at least in the usual sense. That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t courageous, though. Doing what was right while making a personal sacrifice, or having a personal danger present is courage in my books. When he was most scared, he went ahead to help his friends.

Courage isn’t something that we can hold or touch, but it is very real. It is not an everyday thing, but it plays a part in every person’s life. From daring rescues to taking a chance in school, courage helps give us variety and excitement in our lives. If you feel rrapped, needy, or scared, just remember that courage is inside us all.