"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.
Courage is shown through Atticus many times in the book. A time in the book where Atticus showed courage was when he had had to shoot the rabid dog. He did not want to do it but he had to or the dog might have hurt someone badly. Another time where
"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.
Despite race discrimination around the world, there are still people who overcome and persevere through these challenges - often at great risk to themselves. During the 1930s, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, a small town called Maycomb held a trial against an innocent African American man accused of raping a Caucasian woman. The reader experiences life in Maycomb through the eyes of ten year old girl name Jean-Louise Finch, Scout. In this case, Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, was assigned to be the lawyer for the accused, Tom Robinson. However, Atticus has integrity and tries his best for Tom even if his own life is at risk. It makes sense for Atticus to take a stand to defend Tom Robinson because that was who Atticus was,
Do you see people having courage in their society? Harper Lee puts courage as a central idea of To Kill a Mockingbird just as courage is a central idea in The Giver and if you have read the book then you would know that Jonas uses his courage to change society. It is almost the same thing in To Kill a Mockingbird except Atticus is trying to stop racial segregation in the society. If you haven 't read To Kill a Mockingbird then you have to know it is a fictional story about a girl named Scout who grew up in the 1930’s when segregation was all over America. I believe that Harper Lee adds courage as a key component of the overall To Kill a Mockingbird story because courage can change a whole society as she proves in her book. My main points are going to be that Atticus, his kids, Mrs. Dubose, and Mr. Raymond all show courage but in very different ways as the the book unfolds.
“This order, given by me to Cecil Jacobs, was the beginning of rather thin time for Jem and me. My fists were clenched and I was ready to let it fly. Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting and more; I was far to old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be,” (Lee, 99). Scout knew she had to be better than the other person, and to hold her actions in. Scout shows us courage for keeping the emotions in and not letting them get the best of her. She shows us how to have that much courage as a little
Many philosophers say; “The most challenging part of growing up is letting go of what is comfortable, and moving on to something unknown.” This quote strongly applies to the maturity process of Jeremy “Jem” Finch, a lead character in Harper Lee’s award-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Jem struggles to understand his role in society as the picturesque facade of his sleepy southern town is destroyed, revealing the darkness underneath the surface. In this coming-of-age story amidst of a race war, Jem navigates the hardships of maturity. He is aided by the guidance of his father, who plays an integral role in the conflict of the small town as the court-appointed lawyer of an African-American man falsely accused of assaulting a white
Courage is not only about winning or losing; it is also about the moral strength to do what is right rather than succumbing to personal prejudice. Atticus- Scout's father, his
It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do” (Lee 149). Atticus’ quote of courage foreshadows the results of the trial, he knew the end result of the trial, but he fought against it anyways, although he did not win. Another act that justifies Atticus’ courage is keeping Calpurnia despite Aunt Alexandra’s strong disagreement. Atticus said: “She’s a faithful member of this family and you’ll have to simply accept things the way they are” (Lee 182), this reveals Atticus’ courage because he kept Calpurnia even though there are controversies of having an African American house member as shown by Alexandra. Another example of courage is that Atticus continues to read to Scout even with the disapproval of her teacher, Miss Fisher, this shows Atticus’ ability and courage to keep a strong bond with his children by reading despite the teacher saying that his ways of teaching was
What Atticus meant when he told Scout what courage was, was that even if you know that you're going to lose something it doesn't mean you shouldn't try. He knew that when he decided to take Tom Robinson's’ case that he would lose, but he decided that he wouldn't give up on it. He wanted to be a good example for Jem and Scout. Maybe he thought that when they grew up and faced a difficult time that they would look back on this part of their lives.
Atticus shows the most examples of courage in this story. He teaches his people many lessons, especially his children. For example, he teaches his children to believe what they want, and to not let other people influence their decisions or thoughts. Atticus says, “Don’t you worry about anything. It’s not time to worry” (Lee pg. 134).This stands out because Atticus has faith in his mind and his
Scout is showing courage when she does not care what others think. For example when she was at school and Cecil Jacobs says Atticus “defends niggers” Scout is quick to defend. She yells, “You take can just take that back, boy”(Lee 99). Though she is wrong, Scout must think to herself she is to be the one to stand up for her father. So she stood up to Cecil Jacobs not caring what others thought of her. For instance, as Aunt
Jem had the conception that courage was a “manly man”, a man that was tough and could fight. However, using Ms. Dubose as an example, she explained a new type of courage to Jem. Ms. Dubose knew that her struggle was close to impossible to win, as many people failed to break addictions, yet she still tried to fight it, and winning at the end. The courage to do so was considered, by Atticus, real courage. This was also demonstrated by Liu Xiaobo. He went against the most powerful force in his country, the government. He knew that he would not win, as he says, “I hope that I will be the last victim…[and to] inspire others to do the same”. He says that he didn’t not expect to win, but only to inspire others. In other words, he was courageous enough to have sacrificed himself in order to get his voice heard. This related to Atticus saying that courage is “when you know you’re licked”, and you still persist. Liu Xiaobo knew
"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.
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.