> What does it look like for someone to confront a situation like this without courage?
There’s a lot of dark places people can go and choose to stay when they experience tragedy. Drugs, alcohol abuse, suicide, wallowing in misery etc. Perhaps you’ve never experienced tragedy, or been tempted by these dark reactions but for many they are all too familiar and it takes enormous courage to combat them. Seeing examples of others who are suffering reacting positively is greatly encouraging.
I was diagnosed with cancer in 2013. I had many surgeries, lots of radiation therapy, and like the woman in "Brazil", my complications developed complications. I feel I received excellent care, and I have had no tumors spotted in 8-ish years. But I've been in pain every waking hour of every day since May 16th 2013. Sometimes the pain isn't too bad, sometimes I lie in bed, legs rigid with pain, and scream. If I get a serious recurrence of my cancer, or a new cancer, I'm going to blow my brains out. I can't conceive of anything occurring in my future that would make it worth going through a multi-year episode of surgeries and other aggressive cancer treatments again.
There’s a lot of dark places people can go and choose to stay when they experience tragedy. Drugs, alcohol abuse, suicide, wallowing in misery etc. Perhaps you’ve never experienced tragedy, or been tempted by these dark reactions but for many they are all too familiar and it takes enormous courage to combat them. Seeing examples of others who are suffering reacting positively is greatly encouraging.