Fear and Courage

Much of Abby’s character arc is defined by her reassessment and reorientation towards fear and anxieties, and through this character arc, the narrative explores how fear and courage are a complexly interacting dynamic rather than simply two opposing forces. The narrative ultimately portrays courage as something that is born directly out of fear, and the story first introduces this idea as Abby begins to face her fear of public speaking. Abby is highly introverted, and to her, public speaking seems to be “a fear greater than death” (26). Thus, when she is promoted form her generally solitary job to a position that involves much public speaking, she must directly confront this fear. To Abby’s substantial credit, she does not balk at her new position, and instead she uses her time off from work in order to prepare herself for her new role. Thus...