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Zachary D. Baron

Mr. Martin Butler

Literacy 13

17th May 2017

The effect of courage on soldiers in World War 1.

Courage is defined as the ability to do something that frightens one. But that is just one

definition. People have their own definitions of it. Some describe it as Having the strength to

recognize and accept our weakness (Meyer).Others describe it as a feeling within themselves.

Courage has different definitions to different people because courage means something different

to each person. The Great War was the first one of its kind, never had war been so devastating

on such a massive scale. In war there will always be examples of courage. Yet there is also

courage in everyday life, a person's definition of what frightens them differs from person to

person. This is why courage is unique.

There is no doubt that WW1s chaos had an effect on man's humanity. Courage was a

reminder of being civilized. For example Roy Henley a Canadian ww1 veteran once said You

saw a little bush. You swore that bush was someone creeping up on you. A perfect soldier in that

war would have been somebody with no imagination. This shows that war had an effect on a

soldier's mind, and courage was a relic from a more civilized time. This also shows that courage

in WW1 might not have come from people typically associated with being courageous. In

addition, in WW1 shell shock was an arising problem. Shell sheck is defined as psychological

disturbance caused by prolonged disturbance to active warfare. This shows that there was a

major difficulty in war not to lose your sanity under bombardment. This also shows that soldiers
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could have been viewed as courageous just because they maintained their sanity under incredibly

barren conditions, showing how complex and deep courage is. In summation, chaos affected

soldiers, causing shellshock. Courage was a complex reminder of a more civilized and sane

soldier.

There is no doubt that courage is present in every human. For example people in

wheelchairs who are paralyzed still display acts of courage. This shows that courage transcends

physical barriers. This is because courage is not a physical object. In addition coverage is

achievable by potentially anyone because The consciousness of courage is that associated with

the activity of the cortical centers which are normal, together with the activities of the neuron

groups in which memories of past successes are stored(Burns 323). This shows that courage is

not a physical trait and this could explain why solider in WW1 who were young, skinny or any

number of other types of physical weaknesses performed bravely in the bombardment of war.

This is because courage, according to Louis burns is associated with memory of past successes.

For the reasons above, there is no doubt that every human can have potential courageous actions

in them.

There is no doubt that war made the action of being courageous even harder. For example

a quote says In war, emotions and choices become exponentially multiplied (Meyer).This

shows that in war, courage in a soldier could increase, but the same is true for fear. This also

shows that one's ability to perform acts of bravery during wartime like WW1 shows the

withstanding resolve against adversity. In addition There was no time to write down the pros

and cons of a situation to consider the percentages of risk, to weigh life's deeper truths. In the

fraction of a second, I determined that the situation was worthy of my life, so I rushed out behind

the men ( Meyer).

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This shows that in conflicts like war there are no calculated decisions. This is because

war is chaos, quicksand that pulls your sanity down lower and lower with your struggle, to an

unknown end... In WW1 soldiers had no time to question exactly what life the other man rushing

toward him had before war, all he knew was there was another man trying to kill him. To sum

up, wars such as ww1 had multiple effects on the morale of a soldier as his emotions were like

the numbers on a scale, sometimes incredibly stable and boring, and sometimes furious and

uncontrolled.

In conclusion, war was chaos, yet soldiers still maintained their courage against war. A

defiance against wars playground of torture to their sanity. Courage was not just about insane

acts of bravery against harsh adversity, but something that was present and performed daily by

these soldiers, sometimes by not sinking down to craziness, and being brave against the

bombardment, supporting how anyone can be courageous, regardless of physical abilities or

disabilities. Courage was like a reminder of a more sane time, and this is why courage played

such a part in soldiers from World War 1.

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Works Cited

Meyer, Cheryl Diaz. "War Teaches Lessons About Fear and Courage." Nieman Reports War

Teaches Lessons About Fear and Courage Comments. Nieman Reports, 15 June 2006. Web. 05

May 2017.

Burns, Louisa. Studies in the osteopathic sciences. Google Books Studies in the

Osteopathic Sciences. Google Books. 1911. Web. 05 May 2017