What do you think of when you hear the words true courage? Maybe you think of standing up for someone being bullied, helping others in need, like being brave. With true courage, it’s a little more than those concepts. It’s when you do(or at least really try) the right thing, even if the task will be very difficult and perhaps impossible. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many brave people in Maycomb, that do very courageous things. There are three characters that really stand out, because of how they demonstrate true courage. The characters Atticus, Boo Radley, and Jem demonstrate having courage by doing the right thing by helping their family, friends, and other people in Maycomb. The first person that showed courage was Boo Radley. He …show more content…
This whole story had tons of examples of Atticus having courage. There are some that stand out more than the others. The first one connects to what was just talked about, with Jem standing up. It takes place at Tom’s cell late at night. The text says, “‘He in they're, Mr. Finch?’ a man said. ‘He is,’ we heard Atticus answer, ‘and he’s asleep. Don’t wake him up.’...‘You know what we want,’ another man said. ‘Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.’‘You can turn around and go home again, Walter,’ Atticus said pleasantly. ‘Heck Tate’s around somewhere.’”(202) This quote shows that late at night Atticus stayed in front of Tom’s cell to protect him so he wouldn’t be killed from the mob! They could have killed him, and I think that he was well aware of that. However, he still protected and told the men to go away. The second way that Atticus shows true courage was him defending Tom Robinson in his case. Atticus didn’t have to defend Tom in this case. He could have just let them say that Tom is guilty and they would kill him. However, Atticus saw that no matter what skin color, Tom is a person and he was blamed for something he knows he didn’t do. He decided to have true courage and defend the innocent Tom Robinson from Bob and Mayella Ewell. He tried his best and worked hard to prove that Tom did not rape Mayella, that Mayella lied and that she even broke a social code in Maycomb (kissing/liking a black man when she is a white women). What motivates Atticus is because he just knows what right and wrong. Being racist is wrong, blaming someone for something they didn’t do is wrong, and watching it happen in front of your eyes and not doing anything, is wrong as well. That’s why Atticus is helping Tom because he knows that he did nothing wrong, and that the Ewells are just using him because he is black and the Ewells and white so they think they can get anyway with whatever with
Courage is a deed that can be portrayed in many ways. In the Historical Fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, there are many acts of racism and problematic cases where acts of courage are demonstrated in different and unique ways that can only be deciphered if one reads in between the lines of the words. There are three characters in particular who show courage in diverse ways. First, there is Arthur Radley who anonymously shows courage by performing tasks that cause him to face the outside world where he’s been isolated from for so long. Secondly, there is Scout Finch who demonstrates courage through her adolescent age. Lastly, there is Atticus Finch who displays courage through his selfless and kind actions. Therefore, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses diverse characters to represent different acts of courage.
An idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art of literature can be referred to as a “Theme”. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and may be implied rather than stated explicitly. Theme is an important part of fictional stories. Several themes are presented in the novel to kill a mocking bird. One of the reoccurring themes in to kill a mockingbird is courage.
People show bravery in many ways, both typical and atypical. Atticus, Boo and Jem all showed important examples of bravery. Atticus models bravery for his children in the determined way he defends Tom Robinson. Boo eventually becomes a hero by the brave actions he takes to protect the children. Jem grows from an immature child to a brave young man. They all face their inner fears as well as the rules of society and stand up for what they believe in. Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird shows the difference between right and wrong by the actions of Atticus, Boo and Jem.
"Courage isn't an absence of fear. It's doing what you are afraid to do. It's having the power to let go of the familiar and forge ahead into new territory." ~John Maxwell. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout (Jean Louise Finch), Jem (Jeremy Atticus Finch), and Atticus Finch display acts of valor that contribute, and in some cases encourage their rectitude. Harper Lee demonstrates that acting courageously can lead to an improved, sustained, or newly developed personal integrity.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, is a moving story about courage set against the prejudice in a small, Alabama town. Atticus tells his children that courage is standing up for what you believe in, even if you know you will lose. Atticus, Boo, and Scout show courage through standing up for what they believe in, even if they might lose by doing so.
Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one, which Atticus displays throughout the story. Firstly, Atticus has the courage to take on a case that he has a high probability of losing. Judge Taylor assigns the case to Atticus for a sole reason, that Atticus has the best chance of winning or creating a change in society with this case. “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hands. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyways and you see through it no matter what” (112). Atticus knows he will most likely lose the Tom Robinson case but he proceeds through it, despite the problems the case will cause him and his family. Secondly, Atticus Finch stands in front of Tom Robinson’s jail cell protecting him from the lynch mob. Lynching is a very common way of killing in the time period of this story which was commonly done by hanging the person for an alleged offense. “You know what we want’ another man said, ‘Get away from the door, Mr. Finch’. ‘You can turn around and go home Arthur,’ Atticus said pleasantly.” (202). Atticus is willing to stand up to a lynch mob and protect his client Tom Robinson even at the cost of his own life. Thirdly, Atticus continues on with his life normally despite the constant hate he gets. “Not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in the courthouse
This novel tends us to picture Atticus as a very courageous man. His definition for this term doesn?t mean bravery or a man with a gun in his hand. He defines courage as ?When you know you are licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what?. Atticus?s courage is represented very significantly and differently in this book. He undertook the case of a Negro who was wrongly accused of raping a white girl. He went against the whole racist community of the town. The opposition of the racist people failed to make him step back from the case. He just fought the case courageously. But the white jury couldn?t possibly be expected to take a black person?s work against the whites.
“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but just as much to stand up to your friends,” remarks J.K. Rowling in her book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Jem Finch, a boy from a small town in the South struggles to fully understand this idea. To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that real courage is standing up for others regardless of the what it may cost you. As a young boy, Jem’s understanding of courage and bravery are wrapped up in how others might view you, rather than who you really are inside. A little later he sees courage as having a clean record with others. Then Jem learns that courage is not giving up on someone or something even if you know you’re probably not going to win. Finally, Jem uses
Courage means overcoming obstacles to do what is right, Atticus is a generous person that is a great role-model, and knows courage. Atticus demonstrates courage about everyday in his life. Once, when Atticus was talking to Jem and Scout after he told the children Mrs. Dubose died. He said real courage “'Its when you know you're licked before you begin buy you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what,”'(Lee112). In this quote Atticus demonstrates a great example of courage to Scout and Jem. When he is talking about Mrs. Dubose. In the process he reminds himself why he took the Tom Robinson case that, he knew he had no chance in winning. He knew if he took the case he wouldn't be as close with his friends and neighbors until the trail was over. In the end Atticus stood up for what he felt was right against the while people, and that is real courage! Another character that shows courage by overcoming and obstacle to do what is right is Mrs. Dubose. She has been sick for so long that she wanted the pain to go away, and once she got the pain to disappear she overused the medicine. When Atticus explains this to the children he says “'She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you're sick as sh...
It is estimated that two African-Americans were killed through lynching every week between 1880 and 1920. Others who demonstrated enough courage to stand up to protect these victims of racism were also risked with lynching. Courage, specifically the “courage to fight for what you believe is right” was a key factor in the civil rights movement. It is also present in the book “To kill a mockingbird” predominantly in the protagonists and those whom they work to protect. The antagonists, society in the fictional town of Maycomb itself, show little courage or pity throughout the story. Atticus finch, the father of the narrator Jean-Louise, expresses courage the most. Shown through his acts of defending whom the antagonists despise, thus going against society itself. The children also present their own acts of courage, when they do the same as their father, whom concurrently taught them his version of courage. A courage without guns, or violence, but rather a courage of words, and the need to protect someone. As it would seem, the author of the story To Kill a Mockingbird would express courage only through the Protagonists and those whom they try to protect.
Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird In To Kill a Mockingbird, by author Harper Lee, several of the characters in the book share a similar character trait. Atticus Finch, Mrs. Dubose and Boo Radley all show courage throughout the book in their own individual ways. In different events, all three characters were faced with a challenge that they could either turn away from and accept or try to defeat. In Lee’s novel, a few of the main events that occur in the book include Atticus Finch defending a black man, Mrs. Dubose is challenged with overcoming an addiction, and Boo Radley must brave the outdoors to save the Radley children. Throughout the book, the characters change and one begins to understand what life in the small town of Maycomb is like, as the Finch family and friends grow and mature throughout the events happening while encountering social prejudice, courage, and the mockingbirds of life.
The highest level of courage is staying true to yourself. Being honest to yourself and standing up for what you believe in takes great courage. Unfortunately, being courageous comes at a high cost and you may not always be rewarded for it. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, many characters show courage at the topmost level. Their acts may seem foolish and immoral to others, but they do what they believe in. The book shows that true courage is fighting in what you believe no matter what the consequences. We see this type of courage in Jem, Scout, Atticus and even Boo Radley throughout the course of the book.
In conclusion, true courage is the ability to confront something even if one is “licked from the start. Tom Robinson, Mrs. Dubose, and Atticus Finch all display real courage throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson, being an African-American, living in a prejudiced town and having a crippled arm, still helped Mayella, gave a truthful testimony and tried to escape prison. Mrs. Dubose courageously overcame her morphine addiction despite her age and pains. Atticus’s real courage drove him to put aside the criticism and risk, and take up and fight the Tom Robinson’s controversial case. It is evident that these three characters in To Kill a Mockingbird display acts of real courage even when they know they are fighting a losing battle.
"Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" According to Atticus Finch, an honest lawyer in Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. "Real courage" is when you fight for what is right regardless of whether you win or lose. Atticus fits into this definition of what "real courage" is and demonstrates it several times throughout the novel.
Atticus was incredibly courageous taking on tom Robinsons case against the prejudice of Macomb County and he shows incredible courage when he says, "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try and won." He wants the people of Maycomb to hear the truth about Tom Robinson, "That boy may go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told." Chapter 15, Page 146. He was against the whole white community including his own sister practically said that he was a disgrace to his family Atticus tells scout when she asks him why he is taking the case he says "For a number of reasons. The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again.