Courage and Bravery

In the book Just Jane by William Lavender, Jane is a little kid who has moved from England to the American colonies, leaving part of her family behind to live with her aunt and uncle in the new world. She is hesitant about it all being that, her mother died when she was very young and her father had just died recently. So all she had left was her care taker Mrs. Morley, who eventually leaves her to help out an aunt's mother. Throughout this book Jane faces many moments when she needs either courage and/or bravery. Sometimes you just need a little courage and bravery to make it through life, and that's what Jane shows in this book. 

Have you ever moved? Either to a new house or school? Even a new state? Even if you haven't the feeling of just maybe having to move can be a little scary and sad. Imagine if you had to move across an ocean to a new home with people who you are related to, but have never met. I know I would not take that as just a new adventure, I would be very scared. Jane on the other hand was not, with her care taker Mrs. Morley by her side she felt as if it was just a new start after a rough year. Sometimes she was sad and sometimes she was happy about meeting the other members of her family, but on the other hand she also missed her father who had just passed away a couple of months before. It took a lot of courage for her to get on a boat for a long trip to a new land; she wasn't thrilled about it but she never showed that on the outside. Mrs. Morley was nervous about the whole situation so helping her stay calm and staying calm herself Jane realized that this might not be so bad after all.

Even though she went on this trip with Mrs. Morley saying she was never going to leave her side, it wasn't quite like that, once they actually got to the colonies. Mrs. Morley met a new friend, Jane's Aunt Harriet's mother, and they were the same age and had a lot in common. They loved each other’s company so much that Mrs. Morley decided she couldn't let the elderly lady live on her own. For Jane being alone in a big house with her aunt and uncle, who she was currently living with, was a little scary. But the bravery she showed when Mrs. Morley packed her bags and left was amazing. I would have never been able to just let go of someone that had never left my side since I was a little kid. Even though this was sad for Jane it helped her realized she wasn't really as alone as she felt. 

One of the books that shows the same theme in it, of courage and bravery, is The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny have their parents killed in a fire. They moved in with several family members who all either left them or got murdered by the person who was after their family fortune. They showed a lot of courage through out these books by not backing down to Count Olaf, the murder after their fortune. They also showed bravery by taking on many challenges in all of the different places they had ended up. They showed bravery throughout this series because they were doing all of these things without someone who really cared about them. Their parents died and their family members were just taking them in so that they would have somewhere to live. But throughout these books they learn that they are truly on their own and the only things they really have are each other.

Another book that has the same theme as, Just Jane and The Series of Unfortunate Events, is Elephant Run by Roland Smith. Nick is a teenager who lives with his mother in London England. He gets sent away to his dad's elephant plantation when the Japanese start to take over England.  After a couple months at the plantation, the Japanese take the plantation over and hold him captive, and the Japanese take his dad to a prison camp. He had a lot of courage in this entire book because he has to sneak away from the Japanese soldiers and save his dad from dying in the prison camp without getting caught. Nick has a lot of bravery in this book because moving away from the person you have spent your entire life with to live with a parent you have meet once is really scary, not only for him but it could be for anyone.

Sometimes you don't need a lot of courage and bravery to do things in life, and sometimes it's not you who needs it. It's the people around you who need to know that you're not afraid. In all of these books, all of the people learned a lot about themselves. Their courage and bravery not only saved their lives, but made some situations less freighting for others. Even though sometimes you may be scared, having courage and bravery not only helps you, but showing it sometimes can help the people around you.