The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury

A few days (perhaps a week) ago I read a short story called "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" written by Ray Bradbury. It was based on the battle of Shiloh in the American civil war and talked about a fourteen year old boy, the drummer boy, and what was happening the night before the battle (or more specifically, what he was thinking or going through the night before the battle). It was beautifully written, sentences so smooth they seemed linked by a thread and descriptions so real, it seemed as though every word was a picture or thought.  The author explained each idea very clearly, which made me think about what the main idea might be.

For me I thought that the main idea or theme was the fact that it is alright to be scared, but that fear could be overcome if we try hard enough. I think that the theme is very true. Everyone on this planet has probably more than once been scared but, in order to move on, you have to overcome that fear.

Funny how the best lessons in life tend to come from books.

Fear is powerful. It can drive people crazy or to the point of insanity. In order to achieve a goal one has to find something stronger to grip on to and not give in to what one is scared of. Many things are stronger than fear. Inspiration, love, duty (such as the case of the drummer boy who accepted his fate or what he was destined to do and become), they are all examples but it is up to us to find which one and more importantly the reason we choose it. 

It is an unfortunate matter, the fact that every time you want to reach a goal, something else just has to stand in the way, fear mostly likely being one of those "something else" things. Is it because of the unknown? Is that what fear is all about, the not knowing of what could happen? If you think about it, it tends to be that the majority of fears are of the things we don't know. The Salem witch trials for example, when people didn't know what the "witches" could or would do, they burned all those accused of being one. The drummer boy in the book, he didn't know what would happen to him on the battlefield the next day so he was scared (just like how anyone would be). Death, the "thing" many are afraid of most, why are we afraid of it? Is it because we do not know how our death would come or what would happen after our death? If everything had an answer would fear no longer exist (not including phobias which are completely different from what I've been saying)? For good or bad, that will never be true, but either way that doesn't mean that we should stop finding answers to the mysteries surrounding us. Only that way will things seem lighter as we strive our way up to the point we want to go. Fear, it will never truly go away, but facing it and staying strong will definitely help the journey we live for, seem brighter each day.