Courage Theme Analysis

O’Brien recognizes that Americans have long considered war to be a coming-of-age ritual for young men, a way for them to test their resolve and prove their courage. This drive to act courageously is a powerful force in young men’s’ live, especially during wartime, and evokes time-honored ideals of heroism, fearlessness, and bravado. However, O’Brien’s experiences of fear, moral conflict, and horror as a soldier lead him to believe that such an ideal of courage misses the point. Although many men in the army regard courage as manly bravado and fearlessness, O’Brien realizes that courage is actually the ability to “act[] wisely when fear would have a man act otherwise,” even when that means disobeying orders.

Several of O’Brien’s superiors regard courage as manliness and having “guts,” indicating that this is the pervasive understanding of courage in the army. After O’Brien receives assignment at a headquarters base, removing him from regular combat, he is assigned Major Callicles as his commanding officer. Major Callicles is an ultra-conservative soldier (he hates long hair, marijuana, and prostitution) who constantly laments about how soldiers aren’t manly enough and don’t have real courage anymore, since many don’t want to fight. Callicles preaches that courage means being “tough” and having “guts to stand up for what’s right,” though he leaves the “problem of what is right unresolved,” suggesting that he lacks wisdom or moral judgment despite his position of authority. Callicles regards himself as an embodiment of courage, someone who commits himself to army life to “show that there are still people with courage in this world”—but the major’s ideal of courage is essentially just manly bravado put on to intimidate his inferiors. While in combat, O’Brien’s firsthand experiences lead him to reflect on what actually constitutes bravery. For instance, Captain Johansen, beloved by his troops, charges across a rice paddy and kills a Viet Cong soldier from only feet away—an act that makes him seem as “brave” as Sir Lancelot. On the same day, a young soldier named Arizona does the same sort of charge but he is shot dead within his first few steps. O’Brien reflects, “People who [charge into danger] are remembered as brave, win or lose. They are heroes forever. It seems like courage, the charge.” That is, in the popular view of courage, ignoring danger and one’s personal safety is a key component, regardless of outcome or judgment.

However, after seeing many “brave” but dangerous actions, O’Brien recognizes that such manly bravado does not include good judgment, and this idea of courage leads men to do foolish or immoral things. Major Callicles eventually gets so fed up with the lack of “guts” in the army that he gets drunk and orders O’Brien and another soldier to go down with him to a village in the middle of the night to hunt for Viet Cong soldiers. Although it serves no mission or objective, Major Callicles is hell-bent on proving himself and “get[ting] some kills,” suggesting that he simply wants to kill people and prove that he’s a man, thus fulfilling his own courageous ideal. They lie in the forest all night, waiting to ambush anyone who walks past. Callicles, still drunk, speaks so loudly that any Viet Cong in the area would easily hear them and shoot them. Callicles eventually passes out in the grass, and they soon realize the village is empty anyway. To finally prove his own courage, Callicles sets fire to a “whorehouse,” and his superiors immediately strip his command. Callicles’s idealization of courage as manly bravado and action not only makes him foolish, but a dangerous and immoral leader as well. Even Arizona’s charge does not seem quite courageous to O’Brien. Although it is certainly brave, it is also foolish, since Arizona sacrifices his life for nothing—his death does not achieve anything, and thus feels unnecessary. This causes O’Brien to reflect, “Courage is more than the charge,” suggesting that bravery is not simply bravado or a disregard for one’s personal safety.

O’Brien decides that Ancient Greek philosopher Plato is correct when he argues that courage is the “endurance of the soul in spite of fear,” one’s capacity to exercise and act on wise judgment, even under tremendous pressure. Although Captain Johansen is an excellent soldier, O’Brien thinks it is Johansen’s good judgment that makes him courageous. When Johansen’s superiors—safely hidden away in a headquarters outpost, far from combat—order him to send his men into dangerous and fruitless ambushes, Johansen decides to report in as if they did but instead he lets his men rest and recover. Although this poses considerable risk to Captain Johansen—if his superiors were to find out he’d be severely punished—Johansen chooses to exercise good judgment and care for his men rather than risk their lives without reason. His men love him for it, and O’Brien notes that Captain Johansen’s willingness to put himself at risk for the benefit of others makes him uniquely courageous among all the superior officers O’Brien serves under in Vietnam. Although O’Brien contemplates the meaning of courage, he ultimately states that he himself is not courageous. He fights and faces death like any other soldier, but he fails to take a stand on what he believes to be right. O’Brien’s platoon harasses and hurts civilians: they shoot at farmers for target practice and hold old Vietnamese men hostage, reasoning that Viet Cong fighters won’t attack a platoon when their own fathers are tied up in the middle of them. O’Brien doesn’t participate in these acts but he also fails to intervene even when he knows he should. His desire to simply survive and his fear of earning the ill will of his peers prevents him from stopping something he knows is wrong. O’Brien has the good judgment that courage requires but he does not have the willpower to act on it, demonstrating that one without the other is useless.

O’Brien’s view of courage, which he admits that he does not have, suggests that the courageous thing to do is often in opposition with military orders or his comrades’ desires. Thus, the army does not breed courage so much as it creates bull-headed compliance, disregard for one’s safety, and a particular lack of good judgment.