Elements Of Courage In A Worn Path

Great Essays
Courage to Pursue Your Goals Courage is the ability to do something out of your comfort zone that you know is difficult or dangerous. Discoveries, edited by Harold Schechter and Jonna Gormley Semekis, contains many stories written about characters going on a quest. These characters could be on a quest to find their personal call, could be on a journey with many obstacles in their path, or could be on a quest to find a type of treasure. There are many important characteristics that these individuals possess on their quests, such as motivation, determination, honor, and courage. One of the most prevalent characteristics in these stories is courage. Courage is a characteristic that is present in “A Worn Path,” “Through the Tunnel,” “Paul’s Case,” …show more content…
These characters are searching for something that will help their own wellbeing. In the story, “Through the Tunnel,” an eleven-year-old boy, Jerry, decides to venture off from his mother at the beach. He finds a part of the beach that’s not very safe. This part of the beach has lots of rocks and looks more adventurous to Jerry. As he’s swimming, he finds some foreign boys diving off of a rock. The boys allow Jerry to go and dive with them: “They were big boys—men, to Jerry. He dived, and they watched him; and when he swam around to take his place, they made way for him. He felt he was accepted and he dived again, carefully, proud of himself” (301). Jerry thinks that these boys were so cool that he wanted to impress them. He sits on the rock as he watches the boys dive again, this time it taking much longer for the boys to come back up to the surface. He realizes that the boys must have found a hole in the rock to swim through. Jerry wants to show these boys that he was cool too so, he has the courage to also swim through the hole in the rock. The first time Jerry tries he gets stuck in the hole. He panics and backs out of the hole, but has the courage to keep trying. Jerry decides, “On the day before they left, he would do it. He would do it if it killed him, he said defiantly to himself” (304). In the end, Jerry isn’t trying to impress the boys anymore, but longs to …show more content…
In the story “A Worn Path,” Phoenix works extremely hard to reach her goal, getting medicine for her grandson. Phoenix runs into many obstacles on her quest to town. She runs into animals, nature, a barbed-wire fence, and many other obstacles. Nothing can stop her from getting to town, especially in regards to the swamp, “The track crossed a swampy part where the moss hung as white as lace from every limb” (227). Phoenix didn’t turn back after crossing a slippery swamp. She is old and fragile and could get seriously injured but she had the courage to continue and to get this medicine for her grandson. Also, many people try to knock her down and encourage her to turn back on her quest. A young white man finds her in a ditch, helps get her out, and states, “‘Now you go on home, Granny!’” But, she has the courage to keep going for her grandson: “‘I bound to go to town, mister,’ said Pheonix” (228). Nothing stops old Pheonix getting to town. She has the courage to get to town and accomplish her goal by getting the medicine for her son. However, in the story “Paul’s Case,” Paul does not show courage to work hard to accomplish his goals. In the story, Paul wants to live a rich life without working hard: “He had not a hundred dollars left; and he knew now, more than ever, that money was everything, the wall that stood between all he loathed and all he

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Therefore, Tante Lou shows courage by being with Miss. Emma during her troubles, working hard for Grant to go through university, and by believing God will fix everything. Furthermore, Miss. Emma shows courage by standing up to Henri Pichot, fighting for Jefferson, and staying strong for him as well.…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the story, “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing a little boy name Jerry goes to the beach and is determined to be a big boy all because of this tunnel. Jerry is influenced that if he goes through a tunnel some boys showed him that he can be the independent grown up boy he wants. Jerry’s whole vacation is dealing with being independent from his mother, determination of being a big boy, and the dangerous acts he lays upon. Throughout the story, the eleven year old boy named Jerry focuses his life on trying to be independent and trying to be like a big boy. From Jerry, wanting to be independent, his mother is letting this little boy to go out into the world because she is afraid of being too overprotective.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Merrick Oleson Finding Forrester “We walk away from our dreams afraid we will fail or worse yet afraid we will succeed.” (Don't know how to quote the movie) Individual's need courage in order to face their fears and follow their dreams. In the movie Finding Forrester some of the characters are in situations where they have to show courage. Jamal showed courage when he was around his friends by going up to the unknown apartment.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jennifer Baer Grade 9 Mrs. Villanova American Literature 1 On Courage, Cowardice, and Masculinity One of the first sights that are thought of on the subject of war is death. More specifically, death caused by other men. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the thoughts of individual American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War are reflected upon, explicitly on what they did and did not execute during the Vietnam War. One of the main themes O’Brien includes is that, “Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to,” (O’Brien 21).…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Courage. One word, seven letters, yet thousands of different definitions and interpretations. What does it mean to be courageous? Do you have to save a life to be courageous? Do you show courage in your everyday life?…

    • 1184 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people presume that courage is simply a person who accomplishes a grand feat rather than having the quality of mind that enables a person to face difficulty or danger without fear. However, true courage depends on the eyes of the beholder. Courage is many things. Slyly embodied in both reticent and vital characters, Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird and Reginald Rose in 12 Angry Men both create a broad representation of courage. In both works of literature, the idea of courage that is being conveyed is the ability to do something that one knows is right or gracious, even though it is extremely difficult.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Themes in To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a story about two innocent children, Jem and Scout, growing up in Maycomb, a town that is accustomed to racism. However, To Kill a Mockingbird is not just a story about racism. It is also a novel about courage, integrity, and empathy. First, Harper Lee shows that courage is when people fight battles even when they know they might not win.…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Courage Creating Character “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are”- E.E. Cummings. Courage, by definition, is the ability to do something that frightens one. Courage is also strength in the face of pain or grief. Courage is shone through the characters of Romeo and Juliet through their tragic story of how deeply in love they are, but that love being forbidden. Also, in To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the character of Atticus Finch has courage to teach his children, Jem and Scout about diversity, innocence, and new perspectives.…

    • 1514 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Anglo-Saxon Heroes: Courage If you look up courage in the dictionary, it means to have mental strength to venture, persevere and withstand danger, fear or difficulty. In the Anglo-Saxon time period almost every single story had a hero and the trait of courage is so strongly displayed throughout all great heroes. Fighting monsters and saving princesses was not for everybody. These great men had to be able to face any odds with no fear, just a daring soul.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Red River written by Lalita Tademy is a powerful novel about the lives of three generations of two extraordinary African American families who are forever intertwined after the horrific aftermath of the Civil War. This novel offers many avenues of analysis on the authors background, writing style and historic events in Colfax, Louisiana as Lalita Tademy traces her roots telling the story of her courageous ancestors who are newly freed slaves fighting for their individual liberties and struggling with racial injustice yet somehow find the strength to move forward hoping for a better future for their children. Lalita Tademy is an African American novelist and former business executive who was born in Berkeley, California in 1948 and is the…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Someone once stated, “Courage is the ability to do something difficult even when there’s a risk.” Courage plays a large role in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Throughout the novel, courage was seen through the characters Jem Finch, Scout Finch, Boo Radley, and Atticus Finch. These characters all demonstrate excessive ideas of courage as the novel goes on. Through the characters minds there is fear involved, but was overcome by their courageous actions.…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Effects of Impulse and Recklessness Decisions and actions are the pathways that lead to a change in the way of someone's life. The authors of "The Most Dangerous Game," "A Worn Path," and "The Truth About Being a Hero," Richard Connell, Eudora Welty, and Karl Marlantes, demonstrate how certain decisions and actions change one's life through their works. In addition, the following question is answered throughout each of their works: what is at the end of each pathway that those decisions and actions lead to? Considering their passages, specific pathways often lead someone towards a certain state of mind or situation in life - especially due to impluse and recklessness. Giving in to impulse and recklessness causes a change in character,…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Examples of Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird Courage is a theme that has been used in literature since the beginning of writing itself. One of the many forms of literature are novels. Novels use courage as a theme to show a character or group being able to overcome their fears and reach their objective. A very well known novel, of the 20th century, is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Courage is said to be a hero’s trait, the key to success. Cowardice is the antagonist, nobody likes it, nobody wishes to be it. Cowardice makes a meager mouse run your blood cold. Even though courage is defined by many authors differently, in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, courage is the trait to do the right thing. We can draw the definition of real courage from three characters in the story, Bob Ewell, Atticus FInch, and Mrs. Dubose.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The two stories “Breaking through Uncertainty- welcoming adversity” and “Neighbours” are both stories about how big the benefits are when you take risks. The first short story is about how a skydiver must overcome his own uncertainty, to save himself from certain death. While the other story is still dramatic, just in a different tone; it's about a young woman, who has to decide whether or not a friendship is worth standing up for something that’s right. The protagonists in both stories, they have to take risks, and they’re both rewarded for taking those risks; on with his life, and the other with a stronger friendship. Even though the skydiver is risking his life, the protagonist in “Neighbours” had more gut to do what she had to do, where's…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays