Essay On Atticus Finch And Social Courage

To Aristotle courage was the greatest quality of the mind. He placed such high value on courage due to the high moral character it shows. However, just as powerful as the moral character is the mental urge to act on your conviction against social and moral adversity. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the courage of many characters is tested under different circumstances in the small town of Maycomb Alabama. All of these acts show moral and social courage.

Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose shows strong moral courage in combating her addiction to morphine whilst Simultaneously enduring her withdraw effects with resolve. When one attempts to wean themselves off an addictive substance, a constant in the life of that body is removed. The body has become so

Tom Robinson was a black man convicted of rape at a time when the Jim Crow laws were at their most potent, thus there was a large power divide between the white population and the black one. Since the jury was composed of all white men the odds facing Atticus’s success in this case where astronomical. However, Atticus chooses to take the case. In taking the case alone Atticus demonstrates great social courage, for social courage is when you persevere to the end of a task despite social adversity and pushback. This pushback is shown by multiple instances in which Jem and Scout are made fun of for their father is a “n****r lover”. Secondly, Atticus knows he is going to lose the case for he knows that the moral character of Maycomb is not high enough to be able to see true innocence on account of evidence. This realization did not deter him, for he believed that “the one place a man should get a square deal is in a courtroom” (295). Thus he delivered on behalf of his morals and completed the case. This again shows moral courage, for Atticus knew that he if he forfeited his defense of Tom Robinson the ridicule would stop. However, if he did so then an innocent man would die with no chance of