Lydia's Essay 15

 Lydia Schulz
Mr. H. Salsich
9 English
April 12, 2009

What Is Courage?
An Essay on a Poem

        What does it take to be courageous? Is it standing up for what is right or sacrificing something to help another? Is it putting on a brave face when someone needs to believe in you or is it just having the strength to get out of bed in the morning? In the poem “Courage” by Anne Sexton, she describes many scenes of courage, and as I read it over, I continue to find myself thinking about the movie “Saving Private Ryan.”
        Courage is an obvious theme in this poem, but if you look deeper into the meaning of these carefully crafted words, you can find more subtle motifs. The first of these that I noticed was growing up. Each stanza of this poem seems to focus on a different stage of life, describing trying moments we all must overcome (participle). As the poem progresses through a human life recounting the feelings of a “child’s first step,” and facing “the death of bombs and bullets,” it reminds the reader that, like it or not, we are all getting older and passing through the different stages of life. Another important theme I see in this poem is facing new obstacles. In every stanza, Ms. Sexton describes something that must be overcome, whether it is bullies, or the death of a friend, or heartbreak, or even facing death with a smile on your face(polysyndeton). She is simply relating challenges that everyone faces and must then surmount. It seems that Ms. Sexton wants to relate that it takes tremendous amount of courage to go through life. Because she was depressed and suicidal, this must have been a daily struggle for her and incredibly meaningful to her because. Perhaps she wrote this poem to show her readers that she no longer had the courage necessary to go on with her life. This is certainly a deep and meaningful poem that speaks so truly of how much bravery it takes to go through your life.
        When I read this poem, I first think of the movie “Saving Private Ryan,” a movie about the Second World War (loose sentence). The second stanza bears a striking resemblance to first scene in the movie, when the Allied Forces storm the beaches of Normandy. The soldiers are crawling up the beaches, watching as their friends get shot down, much like the scene portrayed in the poem. Watching something like this happen takes tremendous (FAST) amounts of courage, especially if you are being shot at by your enemies, and when I watched this particular scene, it reminded me of how much bravery it takes to be a soldier. As you may know, the premise of this movie is to find Matt Damon’s character, Private James Ryan, who’s three brothers were killed in action. Because of this, the Chief of Staff of Defense orders that the only remaining Ryan brother be found immediately and sent home. Once Ryan has been located, Tom Hanks’s character must tell Private Ryan that he has lost all three of his brothers. Instead of letting this devastating news consume him, Ryan “endure[s] [the] great despair” all on his own and makes the decision to stay with his comrades and fight alongside “the only brothers [he has] left.” This brings us to the final stanza of the poem, which speaks about facing death with pride and composure. Near the end of the movie (sorry if this spoils it for anyone), Tom Hanks’s character is fatally injured while trying to keep Private Ryan safe. His death was peaceful and selfless, and reminds me very much of the dignified death that is described in the poem. In these scenes and throughout the entire movie, there are countless examples of unbelievable courage and brotherhood.
        So I guess that courage can be shown in many ways. It could be helping a friend, or even putting your pride aside and letting a friend help you. You could be struggling to stay alive in a ferocious (FAST) battle or simply taking your first steps (Antithesis). Every day we do something courageous, whether we realize it or not.