Courage
...composure and posture has been classified as courageous over the years, illustrated by Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and women over the years. Au contraire, allowing one’s opinions and thoughts to be overrun by a majority, fading into a sea of faceless lemmings, and becoming intimidated is a sign of oppression, cowardice, and weakness. For examples, the thousands of whites that were not advocates of slavery, but remained silence in fear of what their peers would say, indirectly contributed to the prolonging of slavery and the brutality that African Americans suffered for many subsequent decades. Courage requires the overcoming of a present and sometimes overwhelming fear. Running back into a burning building because of the knowledge that someone was left in there, fighting the strong current of people fleeing for their lives is a notable act of courage and bravery. Jumping into a fight to shield a friend, even though the probability of exiting with more than a little damage is called stupid by some, but by those that understand the situation, courageous. Attempting to protect others, at the risk of personal injury, is generally defined as an act of courage. Allowing the fear to dominate one’s actions is the first sign of weakness. Standing by and watching a friend getting hurt, but being too afraid to intervene is feeble and shameful. However, one has to consider the psychological effects of fear. If one is genuinely, physically paralyzed by their fear, courage is not a factor. Seeing loved ones being murdered, but being too frozen to do something, is not uncommon. In that case, the gravity of the situation must also be examined. Courage requires that the person maintain an amount of sanity and awareness about his or her accomplishment. A man cannot merely stumble into a man who is holding up a bank, knock the gun out of his hand, and cause him to bump his head, rendering him unconscious. Fate and coincidence should not decide whether a person is courageous in a situation. A person must take control of his or her actions, and claim responsibility. A man that is initially a hostage in a bank that was in the process of being robbed, understanding the imminent danger and the probability of being shot if he attempted to “be a hero,” but tackling the gunman regardless, can be classified as courageous. This is because he was completely aware of the risk, but overlooked it in favor of the greater good. A woman jumping onto train tracks in front of an approaching train to untie the shoes of a friend, who had gotten stuck, is courageous because the peril of hundreds of tons of steel barreling towards them at breakneck speed was probably forefront in her mind. A word that is commonly associated w...