From Russia With…Courage

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Alexei Navalny

I’ve written before about courageous characters in literature, but I’m going to return to that theme after last week’s tragic death of ultra-brave Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.

As most of you undoubtedly know, Navalny was a fierce opponent of Russian president Vladimir Putin and his autocratic, violent, corrupt regime. Navalny was poisoned (many think on Putin’s orders) and nearly died in 2020, but decided to return to Russia after extensive treatment in Germany despite the immense risk. He was quickly imprisoned on trumped-up charges, and died (was murdered?) in a remote Arctic penal colony on February 16.

Courage comes in various forms: physical fearlessness, moral heroism, bucking-of-societal-norms daringness, stoicism in the face of great pain or debilitating disease, etc. Some of fiction’s gutsiest characters?

Among those I mentioned in 2023, 2021, and 2018 posts were Sydney Carton of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Eliza Harris of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Laura Olamina of Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, Ayla of Jean M. Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear and its sequels, the World War I spy ring of women in Kate Quinn’s The Alice Network, the sisters fighting a Dominican Republic dictatorship in Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies, and the women and men engaged in the desperate Warsaw Ghetto uprising against the Nazis in Leon Uris’ Mila 18.

Today, I’ll mention several more courageous characters.

One of them is Robert Jordan, an American bravely fighting in the Spanish Civil War against Francisco Franco’s fascist forces in Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls.

John Ridd of R.D. Blackmore’s Lorna Doone displays courage in standing up to members of the villainous Doone clan and by staying loyal to the woman he loves (Lorna) despite the danger from that clan.

Bilbo Baggins of The Hobbit and Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee of The Lord of the Rings trilogy are among the characters that stand out for their mettle in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels. Small in size, those hobbits are big in bravery as they participate in adventures ranging from epic (Bilbo) to try-to-save-the-world epic (Frodo and Samwise).

Speaking of trilogies, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games features a teen protagonist (Katniss Everdeen) who is courageous in all kinds of ways — including volunteering to take the place of her younger sister (Primrose) in the brutal games.

In Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Helen Graham flees her immoral alcoholic husband with her young son and then makes ends meet as an artist — gutsy actions very rare for women of her 19th-century time.

White attorney Atticus Finch of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird displays a huge amount of ethical valor when agreeing to represent a Black man (Tom Robinson) falsely accused of raping a white woman in racist 1930s Alabama.

Thoughts about this post? Any courageous characters you’d like to mention?

My literary-trivia book is described and can be purchased here: Fascinating Facts About Famous Fiction Authors and the Greatest Novels of All Time.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — which includes more about a contentious Township Council and a controversial high school baseball field — is here.

127 thoughts on “From Russia With…Courage”

  1. Spiky, difficult , profoundly honest curate Josiah Crawley. In The Last Chronicle of Barset, Josiah didn’t steal anything – but tries to challenge the supposed need to have his innocence tested in court by rival attorneys. 

    Josiah could lose everything, and even if he wins, will his reputation ever recover ?

    Courageous of Trollope too, creating such a hard to like  protagonist. 

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  2. Pingback: Roberta Writes – Reblog: My review of The Sealwoman’s Gift for the U.L.S. hosted by Charles French

    • Thank you, Chris! “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is my favorite Hemingway work, and I’ve enjoyed Neruda’s poetry. Two men who had some problematic personal traits, but both of course terrific writers who were very brave and strongly anti-fascist.

      “Both were on the right side, but sadly lost” — a great, sobering line.

      My wife’s (American) father also fought in the Spanish Civil War.

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  5. Hi Dave, from a non-fiction POV, I’ll contribute The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela and Truth to Power by Anton de Ruyter (he exposed all the corruption by South Africa’s ruling party and the result collapse of our national power provider – Eskom. This has crippled the economy). From a children’s book perspective, there is I am David and The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. From a novel POV, A Town Like Alice in which both main characters demonstrate extreme bravery. Stephen King has lots of brave characters in The Stand, Salem’s Lot, The Shining and The Dead Zone.

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  7. Dave,

    Thank you this post which is a tribute to Navalny!

    It’s fantastic that I’ve read 5 of the books you have cited. Still, another book….hmmm…

    Funny how I often think of non-fiction literature when you ask your question at the end.

    Here, it’s the circumstances, so I will stick my non fiction neck out and mention “Red Notice” by Bill Browder. The NY Times says “Part John Grisham-like thriller, ” and it is absolutely thrilling.

    The hero is “Sergei Magnitsky”, Bill Browder’s accountant in Russia, who accidentally uncovered proof of Putin and the Russian government’s corruptions and thefts. He was arrested and tortured to death in a Russian prison. (sound familiar?)

    Browder went on to get “The Magnitsky Act” passed under President Obama with the aid of Senators John McCain & Ben Cardin.

    The act provides  “law authorizing the US government to sanction those found to be human rights offenders or those involved in significant corruption, to freeze their assets, and to ban them from entering the US.”, which as you know, has been used a lot since its passage.

    Bill Browder still lives a secretive life, as he is on Putin’s hit list.

    Unfortunately Yulia Navalny is said to be on that list now, too.

    I guess one of the people who I can say is definitely NOT on Putin’s hit list is trump. What a shame!

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  9. Such a beautiful tribute to the heroic Alexi Navalny, Dave.
    I read a lot but trying to think of a heroic character, I suppose Charlotte of “Charlotte’s Web” was one I could think of.
    And in the book “Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein, the two lead characters Maddie and “Verity”are very heroic as they do their bit during WWll. It’s riveting and heartbreaking.

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  10. I was moved by your tribute to Alexei Navalny, Dave–thank you. Since I read it, I’ve been trying to come up with a character with both physical and moral courage in a favorite book of mine. Since novelists write a lot about moral dilemmas and choices, I should have a long list of examples, but I don’t. Still, one character that made a great impression on me is the protagonist of a Newbery-award-winning historical novel I read as a child called “Downright Dencey” by Caroline Dale Snedeker. The heroine Dencey, a Quaker girl living on Nantucket, defies her mother and her town’s moral code when she does something strictly forbidden: She meets regularly with an outcast boy to teach him to read in order to atone for throwing a stone at him. Her decision to do something “wrong” in order to do what her heart and conscience tell her is right is somewhat like Huck Finn’s decision to help Jim escape.

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    • Thank you, Kim! Dencey sounds like an absolutely wonderful character, and your description of the book was great. Yes, sometimes doing the right thing is considered the “wrong” thing by governments and/or society. Heck, things like slavery (which Huck Finn, per your example, grew to abhor), denying women the vote, etc., were all considered “legal” at one point — and there continues to be many examples today of the right thing being dismayingly thought “wrong.”

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  12. Thank you very much, Dave, for your post about man’s courage and especially the death of Navalny, Putin’s biggest oponent! I’am at the moment reading “Irreverent Truths, by Dick Marti, a former Swiss senator and presecutor, who dared, for exemple, to make investigations for the Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe, between 2009-2010, which focused on alleged organ trafficking in Kosovo. He also reflected on degradation of democracies! Due to his efforts to find out the truth he had been threatened with death and he and his family had to be proteced day and night for about two years. During that time he wrote this book and died recently.

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  13. Navalny knew he was a death row prisoner when he voluntarily returned to Russia. What courage and what conviction! We can only hope that his death was not in vain and will soon be forgotten, but that he will be a role model for many like him around the world.

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    • Thank you, Zettl Fine Arts! You’re absolutely right about Navalny — unimaginable courage, knowing his return to Russia meant certain imprisonment and almost-certain death. And, yes, many, many people fervently hope his death will not be in vain.

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  14. Wow,what a list! I love Lisbet Salander in the series started by Stig Larsson and carried on by others after his death, the latest installment the girl in the eagle’s talons did not disappoint. Also Robin in Robert Galbraith’s serie is frightfully fearless in The Running Grave.

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    • Thank you, Kirsten! Those are two excellent examples! I’ve read Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, and the brilliant, mistreated Lisbeth Salander is indeed very brave. And, yes, Robin Ellacott in Robert Galbraith’s (J.K. Rowling’s) crime series is also very courageous, as is her investigative partner Cormoran Strike. I’ve enjoyed every book in that series, and am greatly looking forward to reading “The Running Grave”!

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  17. I don’t think there are words to describe the bravery,selflessness, courage of the late Alexei Navalny,indelible, no words. He cannot be compared to fictitious characters although they had their importance in that fictitious world. This was his reality, this Hell was his waking life.

    Navalny could have stayed in Germany after he was poisoned but he went back to the devil incarnate,Putin, went back because he wanted his Russian people to be free,this was not not about him. It saddens me as it seems inevitable what was to be his fate. It saddens me Putin will continue to murder anyone who speaks out on the atrocities being committed, as I write,in Ukraine, the oppression of Russian people, their lack of freedom, the wrath of devastation in Ukraine with no seemingly end in sight of a war over 2 years old. May Navalny rest in peace,for in life he could not rest,he gave his life for all oppressed,not just in Russia but the world.

    Michele

    E &P, way back.

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    • Thank you, Michele. Great, eloquent comment! I agree that it’s hard to put into words just how brave and unusual Navalny was, compared to 99.9% of other leaders throughout the world. And, yes, courageous fictional characters are just that — fictional — while Navalny did what he did in real life.

      You’re right that he could have chosen to never return to Russia after recovering in Germany, but went back despite knowing that prison and probably death awaited him. Putin doesn’t have even 1% of the courage Navalny had.

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  19. Dave, thanks for honoring the courage of Alexei Navalny in your post today. It has been years since I’ve read some of the books you’ve mentioned. Brave fictional characters remind me of what it takes to make a difference in the small spaces we occupy during our lifetime. Like Jamaican Samuel Sharpe, an African slave hanged for leading the 1831 Slave Rebellion, courageous real-life individuals and fictional characters may not live to see the social changes that they gave their lives for.

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  23. For the heroes of literature you mention, I’ve read all the books you’ve mentioned today as additions to those you’ve bought up from past posts–I haven’t read those, which gives me yet more additions to my TBR pile. ‘Lorna Doone’ was the first book I ever bought for myself, aged seven, with my saved-up pocked money. The BBC was running a dramatised serial of it at the time, and I couldn’t wait several more weeks to see what happened. It was the beginning of a long love affair with books for me, and the account of Carver Doone’s end in the book far outpaced the TV version–although to be fair they didn’t have CGI and other sophisticated special effects back then. I still have that book too. I’d like to mention Maggie Tulliver, of ‘The Mill on the Floss,’ another all-time favourite with me and about whom I may be doing a blog post in the near future. Her honesty and courage in refusing to elope with Stephen Guest–thus betraying her cousin Lucy even more than by the love that she couldn’t help–was tremendous. As Eliot notes, had she gone with him and returned some months later, a married woman, society would have come around to the unconventional marriage. As it was, she was treated like a pariah through the horrendous sexual double-standard of the time. The book was a watershed moment for me at age fourteen in realising just how badly women had been treated over time. That’s enough for now, but I’m sure I can come up with some other heroes with a bit of thought. Watch this space. 🙂

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    • Thank you for “The Mill on the Floss” example, Laura! Maggie Tulliver is indeed a brave character in that George Eliot novel as she deals with all kinds of things — including being treated shabbily by a sexist family and a sexist society while her much less worthy brother is treated so much better. I can imagine what an impact that book had on you as a 14-year-old. And, yes, re “Lorna Doone,” the novel is almost always better than the screen adaptation. Impressive that you read R.D. Blackmore’s book at age 7!

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      • From my childhood experiences I have a great respect for TV dramatisations–as long as they’re well done–as that was what made me buy the book. I loved reading already, but this sent me into ‘older’ books, and I never looked back.

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        • There are certainly some great movies, miniseries, etc., based on books — and screen adaptations can definitely send us back to the books if we see the adaptations first. But I’ve only found a few screen treatments that I liked better than the books.

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  25. This post is serendipitous today, Dave.

    I just read that today (February 18) in 1885 Mark Twain published the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” in the US. To me, Huckleberry Finn was the epitome of courage. He was willing to confront challenges, take risks, and stand up for what is right, even when faced with adversity or uncertainty. He demonstrated acts of bravery throughout the novel by standing up for what he believed in, helping his friend Jim escape from slavery, and facing danger head-on despite his young age and the societal norms of the time. His willingness to risk his own safety and defy authority in order to do what he felt was right showcases his bravery in the face of adversity.

    Mark Twain says it best

    “The average man don’t like trouble and danger.” Mark Twain Huckleberry Finn

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  26. Dave, nothing seems to be the same…” tragic death of ultra-brave Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.”

    It is such a devastating news, My opinion is Navalny was killed of or in other words Murderted by face lifted ugly V Putin .

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    • Then there is shameless Donald Trump still running around selling his shoes…what is happening to America !!

      There is one book I purchased from Amazon is the book by his niece Mary Trump, felt like reading a horror Novel.

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      • Thank you for the comments, Bebe. It IS terrible news, and it’s entirely plausible that Navalny was murdered by the Putin regime; Putin certainly has a history of doing that to dissidents. At minimum, that regime indirectly killed Navalny via the aftereffects of the 2020 poisoning and the harsh prison conditions he was forced to live under since then.

        Meanwhile, your mention of Trump reminds me that he’s an admirer of Putin as well as kind of a buddy to him. And Mary Trump rightly despises her uncle.

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  27. Tank you for this post today – we certainly need these brave characters to inspire us and make us feel that one person can do great things. And even though that person may be silenced, their voice and actions will not be forgotten, but keep inspiring others who will continue to work for a better world.

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