Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

Nelson Mandela once said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” The 1930s were a time of economic disaster, the Great Depression just struck and the crime rate was soaring, people could not fight for their rights and stand up for themselves and there was severe segregation in the southern states of the United States. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee a similar lesson is taught by Atticus, the narrator’s father and a lawyer, to Jem, the narrator’s brother who is an eleven year old boy in the fifth grade, after he committed an act of violence against a neighbor. Atticus tells Jem, “I wanted you to see what

Atticus already caught Jem and Scout once before, the narrator, once before trying to give a letter to Boo and says to them, “You stop this nonsense right now.” Ignoring the fact this occurred, Jem goes to get a glance through the window of the Radley’s. He continues until the owner of the house and Boo’s brother, Mr. Nathan Radley, comes with a gun and makes an attempt to shoot him as he flees, luckily for Jem Mr. Nathan does not see the person and recognize them. As he is fleeing, Jem’s pants become stuck in the wires of the fence, he must face the whole neighborhood, so the wouldn’t suspect him for trying to break into the Radley’s place, without his pants. Later that night Jem returns to the sight of his lost pants knowing he could be caught again. These are acts of courage that Jem does that don’t involve violence. He stood up for himself to his fears and attempts to see Boo and returns to get his pants from their

Avery runs into the house of Miss Maudie, another neighbor and a good friend, because it is burning and he is trying to save her belongings. Mr. Avery commits an act of bravery when Scout tells us, “ Then Mr. Avery’s face appeared in an upstairs window. He pushed a mattress out the window into the street and threw furniture… ‘The stairs are going! Get outta there, Mr. Avery!” Mr. Avery does not display any violence but has the courage to risk his life to help someone other than himself for nothing in return. This relates to the situation with Jem by giving him an example when a neighbor showed courage with no