The Theme Of Courage In Forge, By Laurie Halse Anderson

In the historical fiction novel, “Forge,” by Laurie Halse Anderson, tells the story of Curzon Smith, a runaway slave who enlists in the rebellion against the British during the American Revolution. It is a sequel to “Chains” where “Forge” begins after Curzon has been deserted by Isabel, a friend whom of which had freed him from imprisonment at the end of the previous novel. Along the arduous journey, the protagonist faces “ignorance, mistrust, and greed” including the conditions that come along with enlisting. In this way, the theme of this novel is, “Forging your own way to get through life’s obstacles” including “Fight until the end” and the trait that changes throughout the novel is courage. To begin with, the theme is “Forging your own …show more content…
While the trait, courage, is shown as foolhardy in the first and is glimpsed in the second section of the novel, for the duration of the last section it is mainly true courage. As 179 reads, “I almost bolted for the fireplace and grabbed that poker so I could brain him. They’d catch me, beat me, mebbe kill me, but it would have been worth it. Except for Isabel.” This proves that it is mainly true courage because Curzon had kept in mind the consequences if he did execute his actions, but he had not. Curzon had not executed his actions, even though it may be worth the while, because he had put his logic first, and that was to not put his friend, Isabel, in danger. Even though Curzon had the chance to do what he thought out, he had not and therefore it was even more courageous of him to stay there, and obey the one person, or his “master”, who had treated him wrong. Another example of Curzon showing true courage is, “I wiped my sweaty hands on my breeches. If my father had been wrong about this, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” and, “Before I could kiss her, Isabel kissed me.” (244) For this reason, one can see that Curzon had made this choice deep within himself, to confess his affection for Isabel. Also, Curzon had kept in the mind the outcomes, whether Isabel would also return his feelings or not, and therefore was afraid and even nervous. But despite the outlook on things, Curzon had the true courage to go on with his decision; taking a risk, even if he was scared out of his wits. Equally important, “The rest of the fellows were quiet, including me, because I did not know what I would have done if somebody shackled me to a mountain and sent an eagle to eat my insides, day after day after day. Now I knew. I would fight the eagle and chains and that mountain as long as I had breath.” (199) Although