Cowardice

Charlie screamed when he saw insects, mice, and dogs. He would run as fast as possible and his screams sounded an ambulance siren. Moreover, he passed out every time when seeing needle and syringe. Is this so-called cowardice? The Macmillan English Dictionary defines cowardice as “a behavior that shows you are not brave to fight or do something difficult or dangerous but reasonable that you should do.” In other words, cowardice is not merely phobias but irresponsibility.
Refusing taking risk is not always coward, it depends on the motivation. Iliad is one of the greatest epics in literature and Achilles is also one of the greatest heroes. However, Achilles once refused to fight for Agamemnon. Because Agamemnon captured Chryseis and refused to release her to her father, Chryses, one of Apollo’s priests. Chryses prayed to Apollo and ask the god to punish Agamemnon. Hearing that, Apollo rained down his arrows so that all the animals were dead. Trying to convince Agamemnon to return Chryseis to end the plague but fail, Achilles was enraged because Agamemnon decided to return Chryseis and replace her with Achilles’ concubine, Briseis. Being humiliated, Achilles was enraged that he refused to war for Greek. Even Agamemnon finally offered to return Briseis to convince Achilles back to the battle, Achilles’ dignity didn’t allow him to negotiate. However, Achilles did not give up the battle; he still worried about that so he landed his armor to his best friend, Patroclus. Regardless of what happened in the rest of the event, why did no body ever dare to call Achilles a coward? Why did he become the most famous hero in Iliad? From the first time I read Iliad until now, I always believe that Achilles was regarded as hero not only because of his achievement but also of his self-dignity. It is obvious cowardice is defined not by people’s achievement, but by their motivation.
One of my friends once told me in our class discussion that he might try to run away from army in times of war. At first, I thought he was really a coward because it was his responsibility to protect the country. I thought he was afraid of injury and death; however, he just could not bear to kill strangers, who were under command just like him. I realized that he was not the only one who refused to kill people merely for some unknown or even ridiculous reasons, and I was sorry for them. Compared to those who lost or gained much of weight or those who broke their arms deliberately before military services, who is the real cowardice? Those who pity for humankind or those who do everything they can to escape the physical training?
Cowardice is not apprehension but retreat from what we should do due to weakness, ignorance, or frustration. As Mark Twain said, ‘We all live in the protection on certain cowardice which we call our principles,” sometimes people refuse to take charge of their duty because they are afraid of failures, disappointment, hindrance, or injuries. Therefore, they refuse taking any risk to protect themselves. In the movie, “Peaceful Warrior,” Socrates once expressed, “A warrior is not about perfection or victory or invulnerability. He is about absolute vulnerability. That’s the only true courage.” Life is full of surprises and challenges; facing all the difficulty is a way to fulfill and enrich our lives and it takes a lot of guts to face our own weakness and imperfection. The real coward is not afraid of something but himself who can not deal with failures.