Bravery Theme Analysis

In A Single Shard, being brave doesn’t mean exactly imitating the behavior of other brave people: instead, it means figuring out what the correct but difficult thing to do is in one’s own situation. The novel’s protagonist, a homeless orphan named Tree-ear who lives under a bridge with his disabled guardian Crane-man, at one point asks why Crane-man chose to live outdoors when he lost his home rather than seeking shelter in a monastery, the way many desperate people do in 12th-century Korea where the novel is set. Crane-man laughingly admits that the one time he tried to walk to the monastery, a fox (considered an ill omen and a possibly magical evil creature in local folklore) blocked his way. Crane-man ended up turning back and deciding to live independently under a bridge, scavenging for food and weaving his own shoes. Depending on how one looks at it, Crane-man’s behavior was either cowardly or brave: perhaps it was cowardly to flee the fox, yet perhaps it was brave to choose an independent life. In either case, however, the novel reveals that for Tree-ear to be brave, he cannot simply mimic Crane-man’s behavior.

After Tree-ear volunteers to carry some masterwork vases to the royal palace in Songdo for his employer, the master potter Min, he encounters a fox in a mountainous wood. Rather than turn back, Tree-ear proves his bravery despite his overwhelming fear of foxes by hiding all night until the fox goes away—and continuing on his journey. Similarly, after bandits smash the vases that Tree-ear is carrying to the palace, Tree-ear briefly considers throwing himself over a cliff off which, many years ago, brave concubines of the king famously jumped rather than be captured and tortured by the invading T’ang Chinese army. Yet Tree-ear quickly realizes that imitating the brave concubines wouldn’t be brave in his context. Instead, he finds a beautiful shard of one of the vases and brings it to the palace as an example of Min’s work, a bold move that pays off when Emissary Kim agrees to give Min a commission based on the high quality of the shard alone. A Single Shard shows that there are many ways to be brave, and because of this, bravery can look very different depending on the specific circumstances. Ultimately, then, in addition to an innate sense of courage, it is crucial that a person has the wisdom to know how best to tackle a situation—and the conviction and self-assurance to follow their plan through.