Essay/Term paper: Courage in individuals in "on being seventeen", "the most dangerous game" and "giving blood"

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Argumentative Essays

Courage in Individuals in "On Being Seventeen", "The Most Dangerous Game" and
"Giving Blood"


In my eyes it is a good thing. It can make hard times easier and easy
times easier. Courage is overcoming a fear for a worthwhile purpose, such as
jumping in front of a train to save someone. I will be defining the courage of
three very unique individuals from previous stories read. They are Mr. David
Raymond from the bock On Being Seventeen, Bright and Unable to Read, written by
David himself. Mr. Rainsford from The Most Dangerous Game written by Richard
Connel, and Mrs. O'Neill from Giving Blood, written by Roberta Silmen.
David Raymond, from the book On Being Seventeen, is courageous in a
psychological way. He is a high school student who was born with dyslexia. He
writes about his life and how difficult school and learning to read was for him.
All he wants is for people to accept him the way he is. ÔÓ...anyway life was
awful. More then anything I wanted some friends.Ó By the end of high school he
was more excepted in places where he once was ostracized. He even tries to help
people with the same problem he has. ÒMaybe he was scared like I was....In
elementary school it was not easy....In high school I made honors and even won a
letter on the cross country team.Ó He put his fears aside to do what had to be
done. To learn the best he could in school for later life. The next story
deals with courage in another way. Physically.
Mr. Rainsford from The Most Dangerous Game is a sailor who is
shipwrecked on an island inhabited by only one person. A bestial hunter.
During Rainsford's stay he becomes the hunted. He has to put his life on the
line in order to escape. ÒHe stopped, held his breath. The baying of the
hounds stopped abbruply. Close. His heart stopped.Ó He ends up escaping the
dogs only to find himself in a dual with the hunter. ÒOn guard Rainsford.
Afterwards one of us will be repast to the hounds. The other will sleep in my
bed........Rainsford never slept in a more comfortable bed.Ó
In that story we are left only to wonder what Rainsford did with his
life. Did he stay at the estate or did he go back to sea?
The final person is Mrs. O'Neill, from the story Giving Blood. She is
couargeous mentally, physically and socially. She is a middle aged women who is
mother to a girl taken by leukemia. Mrs. O'Neill is forced to go door to door
in order find blood donors to give platelets. Ò My daughter is in the hospital.
She needs blood....could you give. She has leukemia.Ó This takes a lot out of
her both physically and mentally. She is scared to go to the houses in fear
that people will say no. ÒÓYou can give platelets. She only needs platelets.
Please.Ó She finds many people to give blood for her succumbing daughter that
prolongs her life.
As proven in this paper each one of the individuals shows one or more
types of courage. Mentally, physically, socially, and psycologically. If
courage was not a part of human life, maybe Mr. Rainsford would have given up
and been killed. Maybe Mrs. O'Ne'ill's daughter would have died from deficiency
of blood platelets. And probably David would not have been half the man is is
today. Courage is an essential part of life.