I Never Had It Made Analysis

It’s All About How You Handle the Fear

“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.” -Bethany Hamilton. This quote really emphasizes that courage has nothing to do with the absence of fear, yet how courage is pushing past and fighting that fear in their way. Jackie Robinson, Gary Paulsen, and Karara from Island of the Blue Dolphins all went through life-changing moments in their lives and faced it with courage by pushing past the fear standing in their way.

First and foremost, Jackie Robinson was a great example of true courage. He faced discrimination, racial comments, and physical threats to him and his family including, but he kept on pursuing his dream and leading the way for innocent black men like him. In the story, “I Never Had it Made” by Jackie Robinson, he shows a great act of courage when he tells us, “It hadn’t been easy to fight the resentment expressed by players on teams, by team owners, or by bigoted fans

She is alone on a small island and shows great courage as she strives to survive and care for a wounded dog. In her story “Island of the Blue Dolphin” she gives examples of her bravery when she writes, “He did not move when I went up to him, nor could I see him breathing until I was very close.”(Scott Odell). Karana is going up to a wounded dog who killed her brother. To add to that the dog could be faking his injury to try and harm her. She would need so much courage to go that close to the wild animal. She also shows courage when she tells us, “Once I held out my hand to him, but at this he backed away and showed his teeth.”(Scott Odell). She has to really push past all that fear inside of her because the wild dog could bite off her hand and seriously harm her when she sticks out her hand. Despite all the fear in Karana’s way, she does what she knows is right and takes