To Kill a Mockingbird Themes

Courage Characters with courage | Incidents which they display courage | Mrs Dubose | Morphine addiction * Resilience * Fight against the odds and circumstances * “She could have spent the rest of her life on it and died without so much agony, nut she was too contrary…” * “She said she wanted to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody.” * “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 it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”Eventual death * Even though she knew that she was going to die soon, she still faced her life with immense courage.May seem judgmental and mean on the surface but may harbour kind intentions inside (Interaction with Scout and Jem softened her)Symbol: White camellia -> white (symbolises purity of race; Mrs Duboes’s biasness towards the whites) , delicate flower that can withstand harsh elements (represents Mrs Dubose’s courage; she may look weak but she is a fighter inside) | Atticus | Fights for a lost cause/justiceCourage to stand up against the mob calmly Mad dog incident (held a gun in his hands to shoot the dog; conventional form of courage)Moral courage: defines it as “the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down” | Arthur Radley | Courage to overcome his fears of interacting with people/step out of his comfort zoneRisks his life to save the childrenSymbol: Mockingbird | Tom Robinson* | Depended on himself to stand up for his own rights (standing firm to the fact that he did not raped Mayella; could have succumbed to pressure and confessed)Knew that the case would not be in his favour since he’s a black but had courage to stand against a lost cause (persisting)*Could have started out as acts of desperation which led to courage | Dolphus Raymond* | Sack of coke -> façade of being alcoholic Pursued his own