Courage

            People each have their own definition of courage. Authors will portray their idea of courage through their writing. Stephen Crane, the author of The Red Badge of Courage, displays his idea of what it means to be courageous through his character of Henry. The author of Moby Dick, Herman Melville, displays his belief of what courage is with his characters of Captain Ahab and Starbuck. Tim O'Brien, the author of The Things They Carried, shows his idea with himself as an example. I believe that courage is facing your fears, and going ahead and doing what you need to accomplish goal. The piece of writing that best fits my definition is The Things They Carried.
             In the Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane believes that courage is facing your fears and acknowledging your faults to yourself. In his book, Henry faces his first combat situation, and conquers his first fear by firing the first shot of the fight. As the battle proceeds, Henry "suddenly lost control of himself, and forgot to look at a menacing fate." He became like a machine, firing continuously. This was followed a by anger. He ignores the possibility of death, and continues to fight. Later in the story, he runs away form the battle, and does not feel reconciled until he acknowledges his faults. He then returns to the battle and fights viciously. My definition matches Crane's in some aspects, like facing your fears, but I do not agree with that you have to acknowledge your faults to be courageous. Henry runs away from the battle, because he is afraid. When he faces his fear of death, and conquers it, he returns to the battle. He does not actually acknowledge his faults to anyone else. He was struck on the head by a soldier, and his company thought he was shot in the head. He did not dispute what they said, and I think of that as a cowardly act. If he felt sure of himself, he would have said what truly happened. He does, however, reconcile his running away by picking up the flag.