Courage "it Takes Greater Courage to Live."

COURAGE

"It takes greater courage to live."

I think this line is really great because it can fit with a lot of situations in this book, especially Sachi and her illness. I think that what Matsu meant by this line was that by Sachi not killing herself and living through her illness and choosing life over death was very brave. Tomoko did not have the courage to face life with the leprosy and chose to end her life. Sachi instead chose to tough it out and make a new life for herself with Matsu's help.

Courage is one of the main things in this book. The courage of the soldiers in the war; the courage of Stephen to leave his home and go to a new place. Sachi has courage everyday as she lives with leprosy and Keiko shows courage by defying her father and continuing to see Stephen.

"Pie's words had gone straight to my heart. At twelve years old, she already had more courage than any of us" (Tsukiyama 118). Stephen mentions how much courage Pie had by helping out the Red Cross Center. He notices that even though Pie is only twelve, she is doing something that she feels is right, even though it might be scary.

"Bravery is when you step in to help when you have nothing to lose. Matsu-san and you, Stephen-san, are the brave ones" (Tsukiyama 123). I associate courage with bravery. Matsu and Stephen were very courageous and brave by going and helping put out the fire in Yamaguchi. Stephen had a hard time running up the hill to Yamaguchi but then also had to deal with the smoke from the fire. He did something even though it might be scary, but he did it to help other people.

My definition of courage is doing something that you feel is right even if it is scary or something that makes you uncomfortable. It's taking a stand and putting yourself out there. It means to push yourself farther than you think you can go. To overcome a fear or to do something difficult that you did not think you could do it is an example of being courageous.

Every character in this book has their own struggle and is courageous in their own way. Matsu was even courageous by opening up to Stephen about his relationship with Sachi and talking about his sister Tomoko. Even though it was hard for Matsu to discuss Tomoko and her death he talked about it with Stephen which took courage to do.