Jackie Rider

Brewer/Pre-AP World lit

Moral Courage
19, December 2014

Do you know what Moral Courage is?

My Grandma has Multiple Sclerosis and is in a wheelchair and can hardly move or speak not too long
ago she wanted me to paint her fingernails for her so that she can feel pretty and show them off. She wanted
me to do them that Friday and it was already Wednesday I had promised her that I would paint them for her
after school one afternoon. Well i knew that i had so many plans and would be so busy I thought that i would
never make it to paint them for her. I ended up cancelling my pitching practice just to go and paint them so that
I was able see her beautiful face light up. I showed moral courage in that situation because i went out of my
way to do something to make someone else happy.
Moral Courage is having the actions that you are willing to make for yourself, the abilities to sacrifice
yourself for one another, and the strength to stand up for what is right. Selfishness makes moral courage wrong
because it makes you and your actions look weak. Having the Opportunities like new jobs or people needing
your help come your way is a good thing, but when you take advantage of them, its regret for the future
because you're making bad choices and getting no where. In my opinion, having moral courage means that
you are willing to put other wants and needs before your own. Once you make this act a habit, you will become
a better leader and a better person in general.
Moral Courage in Cry the Beloved Country was being needed to leave Kumalos tribe and go to a
big city that he had never been to before. Stephan Kumalo had to face horrible experience to find his son in
Johannesburg. Johannesburg's people need to change in order to become a better place. In the book Kumalo
realizes there must be a change in both the tribe and city: Where would we be without the white man's milk?
He asked. Where would we be without all that this white man has done for us?(Paton 301).The white man
used Moral Courage by bringing them milk for his tribe, when he didn't have to. The white man went out of his

way for others and not letting them suffer, when no one had asked the man to bring milk. In chapter 2, Stephen
Kumalo received a letter from a young girl that was sent from Msimangu. My Dear Brother in Christ, i have
had the experience of meeting a young woman here in Johannesburg, This young woman is very sick, therefore
i ask you to come quickly to Johannesburg (Paton 37). The letter was telling him about his sister and how she
got sick: Not an illness, but about her life. At first stephan did not want to go to Johannesburg, his wife
persuaded him to so that he could take care of his sister. That shows moral courage because he didn't have to
go and take care of her, he went out of his way, left his farm that is suffering to go see and take care of his
sister. Just like i left my plans to go and paint my grandmother's fingernails.
Sometimes the biggest acts of courage happen in the smallest incidents. Anne Sexton varies the types
of figurative language used in her poem Courage to show examples of how it is shown, however she used
metaphors for the more important things. In the first stanza, courage is being shown in little ways. Sextons
poem is divided into four different stanzas, each representing a stage in life. The first stanza is about
childhood. The simile The childs first step, as awesome as an earthquake (Sexton 1), is unique because it
meant both literally and metaphorically. Courage is when you fall down but then you keep getting back up. Or
there are little ways which could be big jumps, like riding a bicycle, or taking your first steps. You want to be
there for your kids and watch every step that they make. Other events such as riding a bike for the first time
and getting a spanking, This is in the poem, The first spanking when your heart went on a journey all
alone(Sexton 6-7) is personification since a human heart cannot go on a journey, but it is also saying the
courage that the child went through. In the first stanza, the last metaphor that is used is in the line, you drank
their acid and concealed it. (Sexton 11-12). The their that Anne Sexton is referring to is bullys. The
courage the child is showing is by drinking the acid which is representing the hurtful words or abuse, and
then hiding the pain that is felt.
The way that i treated my grandmother and put all of my plans aside to paint her fingernails meant so much to
her, probably not as much to me because i just look at it saying its just nails there will be other times. But how
do you know there will be another time when thats all she had asked from me. She told me after i finished
them Thank you so much Jackie, you didn't have to do that.(Grandmother 2014). Just hearing that and

putting what she said to me together is that she doesn't understand, I wanted to do that. I painting her nails
came from my heart and the love i have for her. Like i said, how do I know that she will be alive for her to ask
me to do one little favor that goes for anyone. All that she had asked for me to do was to take thirty minutes out
of my day to do that for her. No respect would of been lost if i wouldn't of did them, but just doing them made
me feel like a better person. I felt better especially knowing that it boosted her confidence and made her feel
pretty.
These situations challenge ones sense of virtue, which involves acting in accordance with ones moral
and ethical principles. Moral courage is a virtue and needs to be developed and emotional intelligence to
determine when action is required. Moral courage is linked to virtue ethics, which emphasizes the role of
character rather than doing ones duty to bring about good consequences. Virtue ethics appreciates that
conflicts occur and that more than just moral wisdom is needed to ensure a moral outcome. Having moral
courage researching and writing my essay has changed a way in respect for me, to not only to do positive
things but to also have respect for others. To respect others because your actions toward them can either benefit
them or not and how they feel with their emotions. After reading this essay your attitude should change and
make you want to be a better person.

Works Cited:

-Paton, Alan, and Alan Paton. Cry, the Beloved Country: A Story of Comfort in Desolation. New York:
C. Scribner's Sons, 1948. Print.
-POET: ANNE SEXTON - COURAGE "POET: ANNE SEXTON - COURAGE." Poemhunter.com. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.

Jackie,
This is a really nice essay overall. You have a lot of Sentence-level problems (run on sentences,
mostly, and subject verb agreement, both of which are considered Serious errors). But your overall
arguments are really well made. I am especially impressed with your close-reading of Sextons
poem, and the way that you carry your grandmother story through the whole essay really ties it all
together. If you get your grammar/mechanics right, it will add POWER to your already well-made
arguments.