On the second page of this story, O’Brien defines courage. What is his definition? Why do you think he defines courage this way? How would you define courage? Give examples.
Tim O’Brien’s thoughts about courage is that “it comes to us in finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by being frugal and stashing it away and letting it earn interest, we steadily increase our moral capital in preparation for that day when the account must be drawn down. It offered hope and grace to the repetitive coward; it justified the past while amortizing the future.” (O’Brien 28)
I believe he defines it this way because of the fact of him being a coward and it gives him hope. He’s hoping it’s courageous to join a war out of cowardness but the fact that it was out of cowardice is the reason he no longer obtains courage. Courage is doing something with no second thoughts and against all odds. For O’Brien, it isn’t.
Courage to me is persisting against all odds. Courage is trying to fight even when expected to lose. It’s a symbol of hope for others. If someone has courage, that basically means that someone has no fear of failure. They will try their best no matter the circumstances. I think courage can be obtained but it’s very hard, to some courageousness comes naturally.
One example of courage is Link from The Legend of Zelda. Link has courage because he always goes straight into danger without any unique abilities except being a good fighter. He was already courageous to begin with because he never fled from a battle, but once he received the Triforce of courage he really didn’t fear anything. I really like this example because it shows how you don’t even need special abilities to try something. Especially courageous because his life is on the line but that never stopped him.
Another example of courage is when all the heroes from The Avengers fought Thanos. They all knew he could easily kill him and they knew he was the strongest thing in the universe yet that didn’t stop them from attempting to stop him. Even though they were expected to lose, and did, that doesn’t mean they didn’t try their best despite all odds. Especially for Captain America because he doesn’t have that many abilities other than strength and speed but he’s one of the only few that got some punches in against him. He didn’t really care that he didn’t stand a chance, he still tried.
One more example of courage is from the video game For Honor. Every hero in that game never fleas from a battle. They fight and die with honor and that’s what courage for me is all about; having no fear of the unknown and trying your best on everything even it that seems impossible. Overall O’Brien and I’s definition of courage is pretty different but I still mostly agree with my point of view but I’ve learned plenty a lot from his.
Video on youtube:
-Spiderman PS4 Be Greater Trailer
-For Honor Trailer Narrow Red Path