It seems that courage is really important to al the soldiers in this book, and I guess that makes sense. Who would want to go to war and be labeled a “coward.” I mean, could you imagine having all your friends making fun of you for being afraid to shoot someone, or running away when things started to get real bad? I don’t think I’ve ever been called a coward before but I know I’ve been called a quitter, and that made me feel really bad about myself. I guess you could say it’s along the same lines. I think having no courage at all is kind of like giving up on something.
Courage is defined as “the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery” according to Dicitonary.com. These soldiers were definitely facing difficulty, danger, and pain through out the story and the war. The pain, however, was both physical and emotional. They had to deal with the physical pain, such as when Tim describes what it felt like when he got shot, or the emotional pain that goes with losing a friend.
Norman Bowker is a prime example a person with courage but someone who did not reach their full potential to act on that courage. When they are being fired upon in the s**t field and Kiowa sinks below the surface, Norman tries to save his friend. He tries really hard to pull Kiowa out but then Norman starts to slide under and has to let go.
I think the hardest part for Norman Bowker about the night Kiowa died is that he wasn’t as courageous as he could have been. He could have tried harder to save his friend. He could have gotten the attention of another guy and they could have pulled Kiowa out together. But instead he lost his friend that night. He talks about what happened that night in this paragraph:
He would’ve talked about this, and how he grabbed Kiowa by the boot and tried to pull him out. He pulled hard but Kiowa was gone, and then suddenly he felt himself going, too. He could taste it. The s**t was in his nose and eyes. There were flares and mortar rounds, and the stink was everywhere—it was inside him, in his lungs—and he could no longer tolerate it. Not here, he thought. Not like this. He released Kiowa’s boot and watched it slide away. Slowly, working his way up, he hoisted himself out of the deep mud, and then he lay still and tasted the s**t in his mouth and closed his eyes and listened to the rain and explosions and bubbling sounds.
He was alone.
He had lost his weapon but it did not matter. All he wanted was a bath.
Nothing else. A hot soapy bath. (149-150)
At this point, I don’t think Norman really cared about courage, or the lack thereof. Later on, I think he realized that he was not courageous at that moment and felt ashamed of himself. No one blamed him for Kiowa’s death, but there was still blame to be put somewhere. He was afraid of what the other soldiers would say about him.
But then again, I wasn’t there. I was never a soldier, so my opinion of courage and what it means is completely different than someone who actually went to war and experienced something like this.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I think that a part of courage for a soldier is being able to put your life on the line for another one of the men in your platoon. Norman Bowker failed to do this. In order to save his own life, he had to let Kiowa die. I think that for a soldier, this is worse than dying yourself, you have let another down and cost him his life. there was a quote in the book that stated something along the lines of if someone died, there needed to be blame. A part of this courage, is being able to take the blame and live with it. Was Bowker a coward then for hanging himself?
cowardice certainly defined the men. their minds were numb but they all avoided shame like the plague. i believe the men had the ability to possess courage, but their emotional void overpowered this feeling. but perhaps courage is fear. it is said that when you fear adrenaline courses through your veins and makes you feel like you can do anything. perhaps that is what these men were experiencing: a permanent state of fear.
I think that soldiers are courage right off just for becoming a soldier. They know what they are getting themselves into, and the different situations they might have to face, but yet they do not turn away. I consider that courageous, because I would never be able to become a soldier knowing that I might have to kill someone, or be killed myself. I agree that Norman Bowker has courage (because he is a soldier and he did try to save Kiowa's life), but he just was not able to be as courageous as he could have been. I think he wanted to and could have, and that that is why he kicked himself in the butt so much after returning home, causing him to hang himself. I've never been in the situation, but it must be a horrible feeling knowing that you probably could have saved someone's life, but were too afraid for your own life.
Post a Comment