Is There Real Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

By Harper Lee’s very definition, “Real courage is when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Courage comes up so many times in this story throughout almost every single character. The characters that I will be proving the acts of courage in in this essay are Mr. Heck Tate, Mr. Dolphus Raymond, Aunt Alexandra, and Miss Maudie. Theses characters may not show quite as much courage as some of the others but they do help prove what real courage is.

“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. Atticus courageously decides to take Tom Robinson’s case, therefore, going against the prejudice portrayed in the town. Malala Yousafzai was a teenager who lived in a city in Pakistan that was under control of a Taliban. The Taliban highly restricted girls from going to school because of their gender. Malala believed that everyone had the right to get an education, so she fought for what she believed in and went against the Taliban. Both of these heroes stuck up and fought for what they believed in no matter the consequences. Atticus Finch and Malala Yousafzai both portrayed courage throughout their lifetimes by having extraordinary bravery and went on to become many people’s heroes to this day.

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along."- Eleanor Roosevelt. You are not born with courage, it 's something that’s created over time. Being courageous is never a lucid decision, it determines the quality of a person 's mind as it 's faced with difficulty, danger, pain, and a test of bravery. The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee develops the theme concerning courage to show the difficulty and the necessity of acting boldly. The characters Atticus, Scout, Arthur Radley and Mrs.Dubose display an act of courage as they are faced with feasible but difficult situations.

Throughout To Kill A MockingBird, by Harper Lee there are many acts of courage. This is shown in Atticus Finch, Jem Finch, and Boo Radley. Atticus shows the most courage in the book but all three of these characters show true courage in some way, shape, or form. Boo Radley showed a lot of courage, but he was not in the storyline as much as Atticus. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, courage is defined as standing up for people and doing what’s right.

“It is a sin to kill a mockingbird” this quote is from the novel To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee. This story takes place in a rural very racially tense city called Maycomb. Everything is seen from the perspective of a little girl that goes by Scout. Jean Louise Finch (Scout) lives with her brother Jem and her father Atticus, Scout's father Atticus is a lawyer that decide to take a very controversial case defending a black man named Tom Robinson. In the novel the readers learn about the importance of integrity which means always doing the right thing. This theme is shown through several characters.

"Jem, 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. It 's when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." This insightful statement was told by Atticus Finch to his son, Jem Finch. Many people in Maycomb had to deal with racism, hatred, and discrimination because of their skin color or because of the court case. 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.

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. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see through it no matter what.” (pg. 112)Are the words Atticus Finch used to describe what real courage is. For Atticus being a lawyer is fighting for what is right whether if you win or lose. Atticus shows what "real courage” is in Harper Lee’s story To Kill a MockingBird.

" Run, Scout! Run! Run, Jem screamed. I took one giant step and found myself reeling: my arms useless, in the dark, I could not keep my balance. Jem, Jem, help me, Jem!" (chapter 28). When Jem and Scout were walking after the pageant, they think they hear someone following them. When Jem realizes that the person behind them is an adult, he is not scared and tries to protect Scout. At first, Jem as a young boy believes that courage is mostly a physical thing such as defending yourself by winning a fight or touching the Radley house on a dare. Later he learns from his father about the mental and physical courage Mrs Dubose displayed to beat her addiction to morphine. He demonstrates both physical and moral courage, even though he ends up getting the brunt of the attack, he does his best to save Scout and stands up for her from the attack of Bob Ewell. Lee wants to show that Jem's courage is against the fears and saving her sister without regard for his own safety.

Atticus’ courage is shown in multiple ways through his court actions and his stand against racial discrimination. For instance, as a lawyer, Atticus defends the innocent, despite controversial thoughts of others, this is proven true in the Tom Robinson court case. During this discriminative period, most African Americans brought to court for an accused crime were deemed guilty, despite the clear evidence that proved their innocence. When Jem thought Atticus’ defense of Tom will bring Tom to justice, Reverend Sykes said: “I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man”(Lee 279). This proves Atticus’ courage because he chose to fight for a colored man to prove that he is not guilty of an alleged crime, despite knowing the usual outcome of the case and the disapproval he will receive from others.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee vividly illustrates the real meaning of courage, both physical and emotional, through various situations and characters. Jem and Scout mix up courage and strength. They think courage is the ability to use strength to get your way. But c courage in the novel is not about winning or losing. It’s about doing what’s right even when it may be hard and people may not be on your side.

How she is courageous is that even though she was a morphine addict, she wanted to get clean. Atticus says “she was the bravest person I ever knew”(Lee 149). To Atticus she was the bravest even after she says all of those horrible things about him. Mrs.Dubose knew it was hard and that she would go through all of those fits to be free. Another way Mrs.Dubose is courageous is “I wanted you to see what real courage is ...see it through no matter what”(Lee 149). That takes courage and bravery to know she would willingly suffer just to be addiction free. All the time Jem was reading to her, she probably never heard a single word because she was focused on the clock and craving for morphine.So this is why I think her courageous and brave because she did not take the easy way out, she took the hard way and suffered, but she died a happy person because she achieved her goal to get rid of her addiction before she died. Jem and Scout did not know anything that she was going through they just thought she was some foul and mean person that disrespected their dad. But only understood when Atticus explained what she went through and the pain and

One year ago my family and i were in a car accident that changed me to grow up a little more . I think my experience is similar to Jem’s because he experienced a lot of things in life and he had to grow up a little faster than most kids his age.

Courage is never giving up, especially before you try. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the author shows courage in numerous ways. The characters learn that sometimes even though you know you might fail at something you still try to do your best. I agree with the theme courage is never giving up, especially before you try, and the characters of Mrs.Dubose and Mr. Underwood exemplify this theme.

“To kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee is set at a small town named Maycomb in Alabama, in the mid-1930s. The community of Maycomb is of mixed ethnicity and like most places of that time the white people believe they were the dominant race. The book has been written by Harper Lee on July 6th 1960 and the book is seen through the eyes of two children, Jem and Scout who are growing up at the time of the great depression and live in this society. As Jem gets older he becomes conscious of the fact that this community, where he lives in and the adults who are surrounded by him are not always correct and this makes him feel lost as he grows up and matures throughout the course of this beautiful book written by Harper Lee. In the novel several

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose represents courage. She shows courage by battling her morphine addiction before she died. Atticus says, “I wanted you to see something about her--I wanted you to see what real courage is… Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew” (page 149). In this quote, Atticus is telling Jem that Mrs. Dubose showed courage by not taking her pain medicine. This quote is important because Atticus uses Mrs. Dubose as an example of what true courage is. Mrs. Dubose is a symbol that represents courage because she knew that she was dying and she chose to stop her morphine addiction. Instead of choosing to die free of pain, she chose to die free of the control of her addiction. The symbol causes the reader to feel that Mrs. Dubose is what true courage is because she overcome her morphine addiction. She still fought no matter what, even though she knew that she was dying. Mrs. Dubose could’ve died comfortably, but she died