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“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”
~Mark Twain
Life is full of trials and tribulations that test the endurance and patience of people. Those who can face extreme tests with courage will prevail in whatever trials they may face. There is nothing they cannot conquer. Mark Twain once said, “Courage is the resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.” Here Twain is able to objectify fear. If a person is able to identify to their fear and resist the temptation to succumb to it, they will truly be a courageous person. This is what Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and Chloe Saunders from The Awakening are able to do throughout their journey.
Courage is something a person must have to face their worst fear. For Katniss Everdeen, hunger was her greatest fear. People constantly die of lack of food in her world where people are forbidden to hunt inside or outside their territory. Her district is one that relies heavily of the production of coal, but if the Capitol refuses access to it then the people will starve. This is the unjust world that Katniss must face. Since her father was “blown to bits in a mine explosion,” her family also had no income. Her mother fell ill because of mourning making Katniss the head of the family. Despite the fear of getting caught she musters all of her courage and goes into the forest to hunt as her father once did. Suzanne Collins creates a world in which the reader can get delve into. In her text, she incorporates fire as a symbol of courage through Katniss. For example, Katniss wears a cape of fire as well as lives in a town full of coal. Collins solely concentrates on Katniss’ development as a valiant hero full of fiery courage.
Courage is being able confront the unknown within oneself. For Chloe Saunder’s in The Awakening, she must face the supernatural powers within herself. Once she hits puberty, she begins to see strange people that others cannot see. Little does she know, she is a necromancer. She is soon discovered and is sent to a house called Lyle House. Here she is committed as a schizophrenic. Yet all does not seem right at the Lyle house, the people seem normal. She soon finds out she is in a halfway house for Supernaturals, where if you do not get better, you do not get out. She and her friends muster the courage to run away from the Lyle House. It is here that their friendship deepens. This depicted when Simon shows concern for Chloe, but Tori intervenes and says,
“No, I kidnapped her and forced her to escape with me. I’ve been using her as a human shield against those guys with guns, and I was just about to strangle her and leave her body here to throw them off my trail. But then you showed up and foiled my evil plans. Lucky for you, though. You get to rescue poor little Chloe again and win her undying gratitude.”
Tori shows that regardless of all the evil around them, they can still find the time to be kids and fool around a little. Kelley Armstrong depicts the inner struggle within all of the characters as they grow up in an intolerant world allowing us to feel their fear and their happiness once they acquire their freedom.
Kelley Armstrong and Suzanne Collins both are able to depict the necessity of courage within their text. By nature, evil is intimidating. It is able to inspire fear with half a glance. Both Armstrong and Collins have realized this and have depicted evil in many different ways inside their texts. Yet there cannot be evil without some good in the world to show its contrast. Good harbors strength in knowing it is the right thing to do, which is depicted as a characters inner strength. Without the inner strength of all the characters, their world would have been annihilated, symbols would have meant nothing, many lives would have been lost and the story would not have been as relatable. It is also relatable, because of both the presence of good and evil, which allows the reader is able to see how the setting, plot and characters all depict the greater ideal of courage. In essence courage is resisting fear that evil creates.
Courage is not something easily acquired. It something one must continually work at. New fears arise everyday in life just as old fears can be lost as easily. It all depends on the strength of the character. Both Chloe and Katniss have proven themselves to be strong resilient women that have shown great amounts of courage in life threatening situations. We can all learn a lesson from characters in these books; we must never give up on ourselves or we will be letting fear win.
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