Bravery You're walking down the street, coming home from school, and all of a sudden you hear a shrill voice calling "Help! Help!" You run toward the voice and when you run about a block up the street you smell smoke. You look up and see a house totally engulfed in flames. You see a woman on the lawn of the burning building crying, "Help! Help! My baby's inside!"

"Inside the burning building?" you ask. The woman nods her head up and down. You tell her not to worry, that you'll save her baby. You run inside. Heat surrounds you. Your eyes sting and you can hardly breathe with all of the smoke, but you keep progressing because you know that you've got to save that baby.

You make your way up the stairs, flames jumping at you from everywhere. You hear a young, high-pitched voice crying. You look around and see the baby to your right in a play pen crying its heart out. You grab the baby and you're about to walk downstairs when you see that the entrance to the stairway is blocked by a wall of flame. You run away from the stairs and search for another way out. You realize that you'll have to jump out a window. You eventually find one. You're hesitant, but you think that a two story fall shouldn't be too bad. Besides, you've got to get the baby and yourself out of this burning inferno. You take a running start and leap out of the window. When you land, the wind is knocked out of you. As you get up, a news van that came to film the fire decides they should get the story of the baby's rescue. You appear on the news and become a hero in your neighborhood.

Then you wake up.

You've been daydreaming. Dreaming that you were a great hero who accomplished an amazing feat; a Champion who has completed what most others would fear to have done. Most everyone longs for an opportunity to prove how courageous they are. They long to receive fame and glory for their heroic accomplishments. There are examples of this everywhere, in short stories such as, "The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," written by Ambrose Bierce; examples in real life, such as the circumstances that Corrie Ten Boom experienced; and examples in plays such as "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe.

Short stories can prove to have perfect examples of people longing to show their bravery. In Bierce's short story, which takes place during the Civil War, the main character, Payton Farquhar, is unable to participate in the Civil War and longs to prove that he is as brave as the soldiers in the Southern army. When an opportunity to be courageous arises, Farquhar quickly acts to prove how brave he is. He sets out to burn down the Owl Creek Bridge to hinder the Northern armies’ trade routes. When the Northern army found out, they hung Farquhar. Farquhar risked his life to appear brave to others.

People long to prove their bravery in real life as well. Cornelia ten Boom was a middle aged woman who lived in Holland during the Holocaust. Corrie, as her family and friends called her, helped save the lives of many Jewish lives during the Holocaust by hiding them from German officers and caring for them while they continued on long, hard journeys. When German officers suspected Corrie of hiding Jewish people, they took her to jail. Even though they never found any Jewish people in her home; they were hidden in a secret room. Corrie remained very brave in jail while she stayed in a bare dirty cell where the guards yelled at and taunted her.

Drama may prove to have perfect examples of people trying to be brave as well. In the play "The Tell Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe there is a perfect example of a murderer trying to be brave. At the beginning of the play the murderer, who happens to be the narrator, tells how he went about murdering a man with an "evil vulture eye." He insists that he was really only destroying the eye, that he only killed the man to rid himself of the dreaded gaping eyeball that had been haunting him. So, the way that I see it is that the narrator is trying to convince himself that he was brave enough to finally rid himself of the haunting eye that he may have been genuinely afraid of.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word brave? Do you think about a superhero, or maybe a soldier that fights for our country? Bravery is the ability to face danger, fear or pain. Bravery is the quality of a person who displays courage and fearlessness in the face of danger. Such qualities show splendor and magnificence in a person. Fear and terror sometimes hinder the determination someone can show. Overcoming this fear is what portrays bravery.

The boldest of individuals is the one who abides by his or her conscience. In Night the main character Ellie Weisel whom is also the author went through a dreadful struggle in a concentration camp. Through all the hardships, he obeyed his conscience and never abandoned his dad and he also managed to maintain his faith. In To Kill a Mocking bird by Harper Lee a different type of bravery is shown, Scout and Jem have to face a town that thinks their father is doing the wrong thing by defending a black man.

Ellie's struggle with his faith is a main conflict in Night. At the beginning of the book, Ellie's faith in God is absolute. When Ellie was asked why he prays to god he was startled and he responded by saying "Why do I live? Why do I breathe?" But this faith is stunned by his knowledge of the Holocaust. The Holocaust shows the selfishness, and wickedness of which everybody, not only the Nazis are capable of doing. After realizing this Ellie starts to get Impression that god might not exist or he is just really cruel. It may seem that Ellie's faith no longer exist but throughout the book Ellie continues to ask questions which actually prove his commitment to God. Ellie was very changed by his experience in the holocaust but he still managed to keep his faith.

Several times Ellie witnesses a son take advantage of his father in order to save themselves. For ex. Ellie viewed a fight for food on train to Buchenwald in which a son beat his father to death. All the betrayals between fathers and sons that take place have one thing in common and that is only caring about yourself. In order to save themselves, these sons sacrifice their fathers. Ellie would never seriously consider killing his father; he depends on his father for support and various other things. When Ellie and his father were forced to run to Gleiwitz Ellie says “My father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me from allowing myself to die.

Ellie and his father's relationship prove that Ellie doesn't only care about himself but the people around him to. Ellie is brave by not leaving his father behind and listening to his conscience.

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Atticus shows a tremendous amount of heroism when he decides to defend Tom Robinson. Judge Taylor approached Atticus for the case because he knew he was the man for the job, it was Atticus's choice to either accept or deny the judges request. He accepted it, he put every bit of energy he had left in his body towards that court case, to defend a man who is at the way bottom of the social hierarchy. He knew he probably wouldn't win but there was a slight chance he could. Atticus Finch was the only man that could keep the jury contemplating the outcome of the case for the time he did. All though things didn’t work out the way he planned he could say with no shame that he put every morsel of time and effort he had into that case.

Scout and Jem are brave in so many different ways; they have to face a town that thinks their father is doing the wrong thing and referring to him as a “nigger lover. Scout at first whenever approached with the idea that her father was committing an appalling act by defending Tom Robinson she was quick to result to fighting. Jem on the other hand went through the day ignoring what people were saying to him but eventually it got very hard so one day in a fit of rage he tore up Ms. Dubose flower bed. It was very tough for the children to endure all the criticism that was directed towards their father; they saw people pointing and talking about them behind their back wherever they went. Eventually the children learned to avert their attention from the racist people and go on with their life. Until one day Bob Ewell put the children's lives at jeopardy to save his reputation, only to be killed by Arthur Rradley.

Harper Lee illustrates the theme of courage in the book To Kill A Mockingbird. The book takes place in a southern town in Alabama. Most of the townspeople are racist in their views against black people. The story is narrated in first person by a young girl nick-named Scout. Her father, Atticus Finch, plays an important part in the story by defending a black person in court. This novel presents two children growing up in a biased community, often discriminated themselves, because of their father's views. Lee portrays courage in the characters of Atticus Finch, Mrs. Dubose and Boo Radley.

It takes courage for Atticus Finch to go against people's beliefs in order to do what he believes was morally right. The racist views of the town are against Atticus defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, and Atticus is often discriminated against for not agreeing with them. His children, Scout and Jem, also feel the hatred of others against them because of what their father's beliefs are. "But Mrs. Dubose held us: "'Not only a Finch waiting tables, but one in the courthouse lawing for niggers' ... 'Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for.'" Although Atticus is criticized for what he decides is right, he bravely ignores the disapprobation.

Mrs. Dubose is courageous because she recognizes she has a flaw and that she has to help fix it to make it go away. She is addicted to Morphine and makes a goal to die free from her weakness. She goes through a withdrawal period that is difficult to survive. "Her head moved slowly from side to side. From time to time she would open her mouth wide, and I could see her tongue undulate faintly. Cords of saliva would collect on her lips; she would draw them in, than open her mouth again. Her mouth seemed to have a private existence of its own." She finishes her goal before she dies, although she dies almost right after she becomes free. It takes a great amount of self-confidence to be able to recognize that one has a flaw and even more to do something about it.

Boo Radley is a reclusive person, due to being shunned the society and it takes courage for him to come out of his house, even to save Scout's life. Even after he saves her life, he is scared, although he does not run away once he knows she is safe. "When I pointed to him his palms slipped slightly, leaving greasy sweat streaks on the wall, and he hooked his thumbs in his belt. A strange spasm shook him, as if he heard fingernails scrape a slate, but as I gazed at him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor's image blurred with my sudden tears. 'Hey, Boo,' I said." He is courageous when he is needed, although he does not like being around other people in society.

Harper Lee shows bravery in all three of these characters to help portray the theme of courage in the book. Lee is addressing historic racial issues so that we do not forget what our past is, making sure we do not make the same mistakes we made before.

Chapter 1

The truest challenge to anyone's courage is the Radley place. Dill made a bet with Jem that challenged Jem's courage. Rather than look like a coward, Jem took the bet to touch the Radley house although he was really scared to do it. He couldn't allow Dill and Scout to think him a coward because his courage was a source of pride.

Chapter 2

When Scout popped out of the tire, there was no time for courage. She realized she was in the Radley yard and Jem was screaming at her to get out of there. Although she was afraid, the most disconcerting aspect of the event was that someone inside the Radley house was laughing. When Jem accused her of turning into a girl because she ran so fast that she forgot the tire, she didn't tell him what she'd heard' although that would have more than made up for her forgetful and hasty escape from the Radley yard. She didn't even explain to Jem and Dill that that was the reason she didn't want to play the morbid Boo Radley game any more. She just let them go on thinking she was a chicken.

Chapter 6

Curiosity finally got the better of Dill and Jem, and it created in them the courage to sneak up to the Radley house to peer in the windows until they got caught and had to run away.

Curiosity wasn't the only thing that bred courage. Because Jem didn't want to disappoint Atticus, he was forced to go back to the Radley place to retrieve his pants so that he wouldn't have to explain where he'd lost them. Although he knew it was dangerous and he was scared to go, Jem went to the Radley place because the courage to go there was easier to summon than the courage to face Atticus and tell him that Jem had flat-out disobeyed him.

Chapter 10

Atticus showed his children that he was a courageous man when he stepped into the street to face down a rabid dog. Although he didn't consider the act particularly courageous and was completely uninterested in proving anything to his children, Jem and Scout were proud of, and impressed by, his courage in such a precarious situation. But shooting something wasn't really Atticus' idea of courage. He viewed courage on a more intellectual level, as a moral thing, not as something that can be proved with a weapon.

Chapter 11

Scout wasn't really sure what got into Jem to make him so bold as to destroy Mrs. Dubose's camellias when it was a well-known rumor that she was armed with a Confederate pistol at all times. Although Jem was familiar with the rumor, his rage pushed him beyond caring that he might be hurt or get into trouble because Mrs. Dubose had bad-mouthed Atticus, and Jem just couldn't take it. His fury made him bold enough to wreak havoc in her yard with little regard for the consequences.

Atticus uses Mrs. Dubose as an example of true courage to show Jem that courage isn't a man with a gun, but someone who fights for what's right whether he or she wins or not.

Chapter 15

Atticus went to the jailhouse to protect Tom Robinson from the mob he knew was coming for him. Although he was alone against several men, Atticus held his ground until his children showed up. Only then did Atticus seem truly afraid because they were in danger. He'd expected to get roughed up a little in the struggle to protect Tom Robinson, but he never imagined that his children would be in the way. That's when his courage failed him, but Scout's complete innocence saved them all.

Chapter 23

Atticus was unaffected by Bob Ewell's threat because he didn't believe the man would make good on it. He refused to fight or arm himself against Ewell although Jem and Scout requested it. He believed that once Ewell had threatened him in public, he'd satisfied his vengeance. Unfortunately Atticus was wrong.

Chapter 30

Heck Tate finally stepped out of the shadows and did the right thing. He hadn't been able to do it in the Tom Robinson case, but this time he refused to lay down and let an injustice occur. Although he had to lie to protect Boo Radley, he knew that keeping his role in Bob Ewell's death a secret was the right thing to do, and he did it.