"Everything I Ever Needed To Know, I Learned In Kindergarten."

On the first day of kindergarten, you are taught cutesy, little sayings about the meaning of life: “Be yourself! Treat others the way you want to be treated! Stand out! Use your imagination! Dream your biggest! Reach for the stars!” These sappy sayings seem trivial yet as we mature and look back on our elementary days we can’t help but to reminisce and realize that these sayings are nearly impossible to live in our conformed society. On the first day of middle school, these cutesy little sayings go out the window and we begin “fitting in.” We lose ourselves because if we stand out we are immediately ridiculed for not fitting in. We blame society for robbing us of our individuality and creativity and ironically we are doing it to ourselves. We are society. Society is us. We judge others just as much as they judge us. But can we help it? That is the way we are trained. We are trained to outcast others who are different than us. We are afraid of standing out because if we do we won’t “fit in” with the “in crowd.” This is evident in “The Stranger” by Albert Camus. Mersault in this novel represents a threat to society. This threat is someone who truly stands out because he does not conform, lie, cheat or go out of his way to please others. These features scare society and he is condemned to death solely for being different from society. He is deemed as abnormal, not human-like and hollow. In reality he is none of these adjectives. He is simply a man who defies the norm. He is a man who truly is courageous for standing out in the crowd. He doesn’t fear isolation, judgment and resentment. He is living his life in the manner which pleases him and doesn’t compare it to society’s definition of life. Mersault is the most courageous nonfiction character I have encountered simply because he conformed to society. He believes in those sappy kindergarten sayings even if they result in isolation and judgment from society. He is living a true life because he is an authentic version of himself, not a manufactured version of society.

Courage in Sonia

Sonia is an absolutely amazing, inspiring and courageous character in “Crime and Punishment.” In the 1800’s she rises up against sexism and prejudice to provide for her family while solidifying her faith in God despite the limits within her impoverished surroundings. Sonia remains a symbol of integrity, honesty and faithfulness to herself and the one’s she cares for on a daily basis. Sonia is the most extraordinary character because of her selflessness and willingness to sacrifice herself for the well-being of others. This is what makes her courageous. Her courage is evident in her sacrifice as a prostitute to provide for her broken family. Her courage is evident in her faithfulness to God. Her courage is evident in her loyalty to Raskolnikov when no one else helped him. She is the epitome of extraordinary. It is because of her courage that she pursues Raskolnikov to confess. It is because of her courage that she is able to survive as an impoverished prostitute while the rich and disloyal die. Her courage directs her to Siberia to remain loyal to Raskolnikov and be a link for him and his family in St. Petersburg while he did not love her. She leads Raskolnikov to redemption through Christ. She saves his life while leading him to human connection instead of isolation. Her character astonishes me and leads me to believe that she is the model of courage. She is willing to sacrifice everything for the greater being and that requires courage. I claim that courage lacks in today’s society because we are not willing to sacrifice like Sonia. We are not willing to put truly everything on the line for our families, friends or acquaintances. Society does not encourage isolation and we are discouraged to sacrifice our surroundings for the greater good. If today’s society wants courage, we need to embody Sonia.

Courage in Cordeila

'Which of you shall we say doth love us most?'
King Lear

Cordelia in "King Lear" represents the greatest amount of courage out of all of the characters. Even as the youngest character, she leads by example by her honesty and courage as she boldly tells her father she cannot quantify her love for him "I cannot heave my heart into my mouth". She then accepts her banishment. Cordelia is the only character that stays true to herself throughout the text. Her sisters are two faced, her father goes insane and the rest of the characters follow in their destructive paths by changing their identities and following the madness. Cordelia's courage is in direct correlation with my Big Blog Question because she is an individual. She does not conform herself to the pressures around her. She does not emulate any other person. Being true to yourself is the greatest example of courage. Shakespeare created Cordelia in this manner to be a sense of stability throughout the chaotic tragedy of Lear. With all of the madness and confusion throughout the text, Cordelia is a sense of relief and stability. Shakespeare formed her to be courageous because without courage, she would have fallen down the path to madness as well.

The Courage in Oedipus

“Courage,in the final analysis, is nothing but an affirmative answer to the shocks ofexistence.” ~Kurt Goldstein

Life happens. Events happen in your life that you have no control over. However it’s not those events that define you, it’s how you react to them that ultimately transforms you into the person you were always destined to be. Life happened to Oedipus. The “stuff” he couldn’t control was killing his father and marrying his mother because it is impossible to escape fate. I would argue that Oedipus had the most courage out of every character in Greek tragedy, Oedipus, because his courage outweighs his hubris.

Because Oedipus acts drastically, get gets drastic results. His hubris consists of anger, irrational actions, disrespect, pride and ignorance. However it is his courage that ultimately defines him over all of his hubris. He had the courage to attempt to escape fate by running away from his “dad.” He had the courage to answer the sphinx’s riddle. He had the courage to lead Thebes. Even in his downfall, he had the courage to bring justice by banishing himself from the kingdom: “And then he will leave Thebes, self-exiled, in order that the curse which he himself pronounced may depart from the house” (1243). He also blinds himself so he couldn’t see the destruction he had unknowingly caused “If I had eyes, I do not know how I could bear the sight of my father, when I came to the house of Death…” (1320). This proves that it was fate that determined Oedipus’ impact, not his original intentions: “For I am sick in my own being, sick in my origin” (1346). Although his fate had predetermined his course in life, his courageous character is what ultimately defines Oedipus in the final moment.

Is there courage in today's society?

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Alone. Individual. Unique. Single. Inimitable. These are the words that haunt people in today’s society. Today’s society deems these words as weird, unusual and abstract. People are conditioned to believe that being alone is abnormal. People ignore that fact that in solitude, there is power and beauty. It is this view of life that eliminates courage; this extinguishes the confidence to walk alone. Few people truly have courage. Few people are comfortable with walking alone. Walking alone and courage are directly proportional. In order to make a difference in the world, you must have courage to walk alone. 

Throughout history, people who changed the world and made a difference were the ones who chose the road less taken. Abraham Lincoln put the country on the line in order to abolish slavery. He had the courage to defy the norm and walk in a different direction. Alice Paul had the courage to walk alone as she fought for women’s rights. Martin Luther King Jr. had the courage to take on the world as he passionately fought for equal rights. These are the people who changed our world. These are the people who were not afraid to go against everything holding them back. Courage is what changes the world when society deems solitude as “weird.” If the world is going to be changed, people need to go against society’s abnormal "definition" of normal.

Hedda Gabler defined courage. She went against the sexist pressures of her time. Henrick Ibsen portrays her in the play “Hedda Gabler” as a strong, independent, smart woman who changes the manner in which society views her. Hedda defies the limits of her sex. She leaves the comfort of her aristocratic family to take on the risks of a new life. She defines courage because she took the road less traveled in order to change the way she lived her life. 

Plato, once said, "courage is knowing what not to fear."  This philosopher explains that courage should not fear solitude. In order to make a difference in this crazy world, one must speak up and be heard. A single voice is louder than a crowd's. It takes courage to speak up and let your voice be heard. So take the road less traveled, embrace the power in solitude and have the courage to change the world.