The life, unfortunately, does not always resemble a happy kingdom where people live in peace and harmony. One day it brings you an ocean of happiness and glory, the other day it throws you to the dark abyss of poverty and solitude. In spite of all life’s ordeals, the person should never give up and show courage in overcoming everyday difficulties. Only the bravest and most ingenious ones, who are capable of learning on their own mistakes, will definitely attain success in the adventurous life journey. The courage is surely the most important trait of character which not only strengthens people’s temper and builds up their personality but also helps to find the right path among hundreds of others complicated roads.
The theme of extraordinary courage and how it helps characters in times of struggles and the most distressing moments of life is clearly presented in many well-known literary works. The embodiment of exactly such true bravery can be found, for example, in Homer’s Odyssey, Vālmīki’s The Ramayana, Hesse’s Siddhartha and famous Anglo-Saxon poem of an unknown author Beowulf. All protagonists of those stories managed to get over different obstacles and pursue their object till the very end. Of course, the feeling of fear was present in each of those bold spirits, but they resolutely decided to hide it in depth of heart and prefer to act anyway.
The meaning of courage is not only grounded on the accomplishment of the deed, but in the purity of motives, values and motivations behind it. The person who is brave enough and at the same time fully conscientious for the purpose of his action, will be able to forget about the fear and pursue the path of achievements he verily desires to accomplish. Every character of four proposed literary works was able to form their courage and keep it till the very end of their long ordeals. The purpose and final results of their daring actions were in fact really beneficial and worthy of notice.
The leading character of Homer’s most celebrated and widely read poem Odyssey, Odysseus, had to face many trials when he was coming back home after many years of war in Troy. He was a true hero and should uphold that reputation and status despite all great dangers that were reserved for him. Though Odysseus had some shortcoming, the character was able to win readers’ sympathy and respect due to his incredible courage and wisdom throughout various ordeals he faced.
In all his trials, Odysseus, first of all, thought of the way to save his family and men and only then about his own salvation. It was extremely difficult to leave Ithaca on the day of his son’s birth. However, the duty to defend his native land was more important than all family relations, so Odysseus could not betray his country. He had to go across the world and over to Troy to fight a war against the Trojans anyway (Homer, 1996). Not everyone could perform such feat and choose responsibility for the homeland instead of the happiness of being with their family. Odysseus has though been strong enough to do it, because he knew in his heart that one day he would return.
At one more point in the poem, that remarkable characteristic of the character’s courage was clearly demonstrated. When Odysseus and his men washed up on the island of Circe, the powerful witch turned his crew into animals. The protagonist had a chance to escape and returned to Ithaca safe and sound. However, he refused to leave his friends in need and decided to hazard his life in order to rescue others. In return for Odysseus’s exceptional boldness, cunning wit and willingness to sacrifice himself for the sake of other people, the character finally managed to return to his devoted wife Penelope and their son, Telemachus (Finkelberg, 1995).
Another example of a true courage is personified in the character of Rama from Vālmīki’s book, The Ramayana. Rama is a real hero who is capable of taking smart decisions any under extreme circumstances. This virtuous, wise, and powerful prince of Ayohya knew how to combine compassion, justice, self-forgetfulness, loyalty and provided a sample of wisdom for common daily life. Though king Dasaratha did not believe in his own son and considered him “a stripling person who will be useless against the terrible forces”, the sage Viswamithra knew that Rama was going to become a very courageous person and a true hero of their kingdom (Narayan, 1972). When he decided to set off for a rather perilous journey, only Rama could become his only appropriate companion. The sage was sure that the prince would protect him from the evil creatures that possessed enormous power of destruction, which they could meet on their way.
No matter what dangers waited for the protagonist, he did not give up and tried to secure his ultimate object. Even when evil demon Ravana kidnapped beautiful Sita, Rama was determined to defeat his adversary and win back Sita. The character proved that a true hero should not only possess the sense of justice and courage, but be sympathetic and considerate to other’s grief. Finally, Rama became a perfect ruler of his kingdom who did not make distinctions between human beings and manifested the same thoughtfulness for everyone, no matter was it a young prince or a poor peasant.
The courage was the starting point of the warrior culture that underlay the Anglo-Saxon story of Beowulf. In this epic, all true warriors displayed a completely fatalistic attitude towards life and apathy to death. They used to experience every hardship without fear or favor and believed that each deed would surely be renowned, as well as their honor and good reputation would be glorified long after their death.
The protagonist of the story, Beowulf, is depicted as a hero with extreme strength and courage. His first and foremost mission was to help those in desperate need and ultimately sacrifice his own life in achieving this purpose. The best evidence of Beowulf's extraordinary boldness was found in the character's fight against the dragon (Anderson, 2004). This episode, in fact, demonstrated a lot of Beowulf's heroic characteristics. It was notorious that only great men could kill dragons, even if it meant the loss of one's life.
The fact that Beowulf made up his mind to fight against hideous creatures of Grendle, his mother and a dragon, established him as a hero. He was not afraid to put his life at risk and sacrificed himself, so others could live. Though Beowulf lost his life in the end, the hero managed to accomplish his cherished object. In all three battles the character did not endeavor to obtain some glory, good reputation nor riches, but he simply fought for the sake of those who could not fight for themselves. Thus, by helping the Danes Beowulf once more displayed the great integrity and became a hero that would never be forgotten. Even his death was heroic. It encouraged his men to believe in their own strength and courage, as well as motivated them to reach new heights (Amodio, 1995).
The last but not least character that was distinguished by its courage is the protagonist of the story of Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha. The author presented here slightly different kind of courage than readers used to perceive. It was not the courage of overcoming some challenge or performing heroic deed. Siddhartha, however, manifested the extreme boldness in achieving another important purpose. The man was determined to find the happiness of his inner self and reach the enlightenment he truly desired. Since the only possible solution to free oneself and find answers to all questions was to leave his family and go where life took him, Siddhartha was ready to face various challenges along the way and was not going to give up at the very beginning of his journey.
Though the character was quivering in the heart, he preferred not to show his fear and just blindly pursued his goal. No matter if he liked it or not, Siddhartha used to do it anyway, reluctantly or pleasingly. The character's dedication to attain his object was just inconceivable. Siddhartha sacrificed his youth and refused from all life's pleasures in order to discover the path that could lead to true enlightenment (Hesse, 1971). He was also courageous enough to ask his father's permission to leave with a group of Samanas, though the chances of getting positive answer were extremely little. Finally, people who could practice their religion with the same dedication, enthusiasm, and courage as Siddhartha, definitely deserved to be exalted.
In conclusion, the characters of four proposed literary works actually demonstrated remarkable courage and were able to face all the danger with self-control, confidence, and determination. Each of them was trying to reach slightly different goal and proved that no matter how impossible the final purpose might seem at first sight, humans due to their unlimited power are capable of doing any things.
References
Amodio, Mark C. (1995). Affective Criticism, Oral Poetics, and Beowulf’s Fight with the Dragon. Oral Tradition, 10(5), 54-90.
Anderson, Sarah M., ed. (2004). Beowulf. Trans. by Alan Sullivan and Timothy Murphy. Longman Cultural Editions. London; New York: Pearson Longman.
Finkelberg, M. (1995). Odysseus and the genus "hero", Greece and Rome, 42 (2), 1-14.
Hesse, Hermann (1971). Trans. Hilda Rosner. Siddhartha. Bantam Books, 32 (5), 18-22.
Homer. (1996). Trans. Robert Fagles. The Odyssey. New York: Penguin Group.
Narayan, R.K. (1972). The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic. New York: A Penguin book, 37(3), 110–118.
