To Kill A Mockingbird

In today’s media centered-society, the virtue of courage is often misconstrued. Courage is portrayed in media as the lack of fear in dangerous situations. Courage is not about being fearless; it is instead the act of one overcoming their fears to pursue what they believe is morally right. The novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” provides prime examples of characters displaying courage by conquering their fears for the greater good, On e can see this when Atticus defends Tom Robinson, when Atticus kills the rabid dog and when Boo Radley saves Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell.

Atticus is worried about the safety of Tom Robinson in the jailhouse, so he stands guard outside all night. A mob of men approach him and attempt to convince him to let them in, but Atticus refuses, risking his own safety.

“‘He in there, 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.” (151)

In this passage we can see that Atticus possesses the virtue of courage because of the way he handles this converging mob. Despite being confronted by such a large, threatening group, Atticus handles the situation coolly, acting almost as if this was a social visit. The response, “…‘and he’s asleep. Don’t wake him up.’” Shows that Atticus is trying to avoid an obvious confrontation, he knows that the mob is here to harm Tom and therefore doesn’t care at all whether he is woken up or not, but Atticus adopts the naïve visage of someone who doesn’t realize the current situation. The mob members see through this act and directly order Atticus to “Get aside from the door,” it i...

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...his place, but instead Boo’s instincts kicked in and he overcame his crushing fear. Not only did he save the children, he also had the courage to follow the group to the Finch house, even though he usually avoided interaction at all cost. We know this because Scout acknowledges him, “Why there he is Mr. Tate,” In overcoming his petrifying fear and lifelong habit, Boo Radley displayed amazing courage in doing what he believed was right in protecting the children.

Serving as only a few examples of true courage are these three points in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Atticus’s defense of Tom Robinson, Atticus’s shooting of the mad dog and Boo Radley’s protection of Scout and Jem. These points reinforce the statement that true courage is not the act of losing fear; it is the act of overcoming that fear for the greater good.

Works Cited

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee