To Kill a Mockingbird Final Essay In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee makes it clear that courage means several different things. She uses Atticus, Jem and Scout to showcase the different means courage. To begin with, Jem is a courageous character in the novel. Scout the main characters older brother, is a very brave young man who has always had a soft spot for the smaller ones in the world. Walter Cunningham, a young boy from a very poor family in Maycomb, had unintentionally made Scout, the narrator, get in trouble in school. Scout became angry and beat him up on the playground. Jem, Scouts brother, came over and saved Walter from Scout. “ [Scout] stomped at [Walter] trying to chase him away, but Jem put his hand out and
In To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel describing a Southern town of Maycomb, Harper Lee, the author, illustrates a picturesque image of courage, through numerous characters, their dialogue, and, of course, their actions, much different to our very superficial glimpse and understanding of courage. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee exemplifies courage through the character of Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem and the defense attorney in the Ewell vs. Robinson case. The first instance courage is displayed occurs when Atticus faces a mad dog named Tim Johnson. As seen in the instance, both Mr. Heck Tate, the sheriff of Maycomb
Firstly, Scout is showing courage by standing up for the Cunningham’s. Scout explains that “… Cunningham’s never (take)… they can’t pay…” (20). In the novel, Scout begins school, with Walter Cunningham, a young child of one of the poorest families in Maycomb, in her class as well. On the first day of school, Ms. Caroline Fisher sees that Walter doesn’t have lunch, so, she then offers to give Walter some money to borrow and then he can
The novel To Kill a Mocking Bird is written by Harper Lee in 1960. The story takes place in the tired old town of Maycomb, during the Great Depression. It is inspired by the author's own experiences growing up during these hard times. During the novel, Scout and Jem mistake physical strength for courage. However, true courage is the inner desire to do what is righteous, no matter the consequences that result from your decision.
Courage is a key part of life and some people are more courageous than others. In Harpers Lee novel TKAM set in the racist town of Maycomb County, where everyone is blood related and everyone knows each other. Atticus, Scout, and Jem are the three main characters that exhibit courage: Atticus takes on an unwinnable case, Scout by sticking up to a mob, and Jem by not backing down.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee wants to show courage in her characters in the story. Atticus (the father) wants to show his son Jem what courage is. He states in page 149 line 8-10 “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand”. There are multiple ways courage is expressed in this novel. Atticus tries to show his children to not be “common” as he explained it to Scout.
Scout lives with her father Atticus who is a lawyer and her older brother, Jem. Her mother died when she was little. Scout, Jem, and their friend, Dill, are intrigued by their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. As the story progresses, Atticus is assigned to a controversial case about a black male who was accused of rape. Courage is the most prevalent theme in the novel because it is present in Atticus during the trial, Mrs. Dubose as she tries to break her drug addiction, and Boo Radley when he bravely saves Scout and Jem.
“I want you to understand that courage isn’t a man with a gun in his hand,” (Lee 112). This is a quote spoken from a courageous man who put himself in other people’s positions and did not believe he was superior to African Americans like many in that time period. Atticus Finch is a lawyer, and also the father of Jem and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The finches live in a small town called Maycomb during 1933, also known as the Great Depression era. Throughout the book, the town faces many racial discrimination issues, especially when an African American man named Tom Robinson is falsely accused of rape of a white female.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most significant themes is that real heroes do not always use weapons. For example, Atticus says Mrs. Dubose is the bravest woman he knows because of how she continued to fight her drug addiction till her death. She knew she couldn't beat the addiction and she didn't have to fight it but she still wanted to so that she could die with a clear conscience. Atticus was telling Jem that he ‘“...wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.
One lesson in the book that I feel Jem learns as a part of growing up is moral courage. Atticus once told Jem that “courage is [not] a man with a gun in his hand. It 's when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Jem had always seen bravery as important and often tried to show the courage in him but only learnt about what moral courage really was through a series events that took place in the book.
Jean Louise Finch, or Scout, is one of the youngest and most important characters. She contributes greatly to Harper lee’s definition of courage. During her first years of school, Scout expresses courage through her acts of defiance and standing up for other students. The first grade students got a new teacher named Miss Caroline, so she was not aware of the circumstances and knowledge of the families that went to the school. When Miss Caroline confronts Walter Cunningham about not having lunch, Scout stands up for Walter by informing her teacher about his family’s lifestyle and telling Miss Caroline that he did not and would not accept the money she was offering.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, tells a tale of a small southern town in Alabama during the Great Depression. The book exposes the prejudice attitudes that the townspeople have towards African Americans. The author uses the main character, Scout, to reveal not only the unequal treatment of people with different skin color, but also the influence of the Finch family on the entire town through their courage. Through a difficult court case, Atticus, Scout and a crazy man, Boo, show their unique quality of courage and stand on the side of righteousness as the entire town soaks in bias and prejudice.
Harper Lee wants to tell us that it takes courage NOT to kill a mockingbird Courage and the symbol of the mockingbird are two of the most important, or in fact in my opinion the most important themes, which are addressed and displayed in the highly praised, but also controversial novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee. I will try to interpret these two motives and show how they are strongly connected to each other. There are many different types of courage and many people who all show it in their own personal way. If people talk about bravery and courage, they mostly think of the physical kind of courage. But there are also other kinds, which are often forgotten or cast aside by their big brother: moral and emotional courage.
Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one. An ordeal or circumstance that can bring out this instantaneous bravery and audacity inside of someone. Courage can be defined by something everyone wishes to display. Not only is it an attribute of good character, but it's what makes us worthy of respect. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main characters would not have been able to make it without having and acting upon courage.
Most of them, if not all, showed true courage by standing up for what they believe in and keeping their heads up high. Harper Lee uses many scenes and key characters to develop the theme of real courage for instance, Jem, Atticus, and Miss Maudie go through a journey to discover, understand and to show that real courage is mental courage in the face of physical and emotional torment. Particularly, Harper Lee uses Jem Atticus Finch to show that courage means pushing through even though you know have already lost. In Chapter 11, Jem and Scout had many encounters with Mrs. Dubose.
"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. "The only thing we 've got is a black man 's word against the Ewells '.