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Greg Perrin
Mr. Byrne
English 10 Hon.
29 November 2006

Our Arrogance keeps Our Fears Suppressed

Fear is a complex word, for it instills different things in each and every one of us and that makes the word itself unique. Webster’s definition of fear is as follows: an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger b (1) : an instance of this emotion. While the definition is techinically correct, it means so much more to an individual in question. Fear is not just an unpleaseant emotion; it is not just something that happens; it is not just a feeling of dread or terror; it is a personal feeling, different to every individual. Although Webster’s definition is fundamentally correct, it fails to capture the essence of why we feel fear, and why it is different in all of us.
Why do we feel fear? Is it nothing more than a reaction to a certain sight or sound? When we feel fear, special hormones are released inside our bodies that account for the flight or fight response. Pulse quickens, muscles contract, and the body prepares to do what is needed to survive. An irony that this should happen, for it seems that most of the time, the things we’re scared of the most harm us the least. Henry Flemming feels perfectly content to feel fear on a very irregular basis. During the first battle, he fires his rifle again and again, making himself feel as though he is part of a machine. But, when the soldiers retreat and attack again, fear breaks his spirit and he runs from the very thing that was empowering him. What was Henry accutally scared of? Was it the prospect of death or becoming wounded that terrified Henry? That hadn’t scared him before, why should it scare him now? It was the overwhelming odds in the face of danger that forced Henry to run. Throughout the novel by Stephen Crane, he is constantly trying to justify his actions to himself. Even in the beginning his fear of being scared...