Compare And Contrast Ship Of Fools And The Flight Of Icarus

Taking risks. A bold brave thing to do which can end up being a great decision for someone to take upon, but at the same time being the most foolish and biggest blunder of someone's actions. To take risks is good once in a while, but at the age of youth it is just plain foolishness not knowing the full extent of what can come. In both stories “Ship of Fools” and “The Flight of Icarus” we see how both risks lead to tragedy and fame, but was there any point in taking said risks? Furthermore I will explain how in both ways good and bad that adolescents taking risks should not be praised upon and instead cared for. To further discuss my point on both of these individuals we will first be starting off with Abby Sunderland, the foolish adventurer.

Icarus being younger making him have been more prone to his risk because of his naive sort of manner, had also taken a bigger risk than Abby had. Icarus, setting upon flight having a reason for his risk trying to escape his imprisoned island with his father, had no reason to fly higher than he should’ve. In paragraph 7 we can see how he had caused his death “The blazing sun beat down on the wings and softened the wax. Small feathers fell from the wings and floated softly down, warning Icarus to stay his flight and glide to earth. But the enchanted boy did not notice them until the sun became so hot that the large feathers dropped off and he began to sink. Frantically he fluttered his arms, but no feathers remained to hold the air.”. We can see how from too much excitement Icarus flew higher exposing himself to the sun and causing his fall to the ocean, instead of just staying on level with his father. From this action Icarus caused the mourning of his father, while still escaping the island his father had never escaped the mourning of him causing his dad to long for his birdlike son to come back. We can see why Icarus was so foolish in his actions being free again in a very long time, as we see in paragraph 7 “Up and up Icarus soared, through the soft, moist clouds and out again toward the glorious sun. He was bewitched by a sense of freedom and beat his wings frantically so that they would carry him higher and higher to heaven itself.”. Yes Icarus was foolish taking a risk by over exerting his wings, but he did not know any better thus proving the claim of a foolish adolescent taking a risk. Now we move onto both of these stories showing how both experiences in taking risks lead to the individual's