Courage is characterized as mental or moral strength to surpass notions of fear. As demonstrated by Atticus Finch and Mrs Dubose in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the development of courage gives the character’s strength and courage to hold their heads high, while fearing none. Harper Lee depicts the theme of courage incalculable amount of times, detailing courage as “ when you know you’re licked before you being, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” (Chapter 11, Page 124) All of the characters have an alternate kind of perspective of what courage is exactly, which will be examined in depth.…
Harper Lee makes the theme of courage clear and strong in the book “To kill a mockingbird”. Throughout the story there are many demonstrations of courage. Some of these are firstly masked to later be uncovered and at first they may not seem obvious. Some moments of the courage portrayed aren’t physical courage but rather mental and psychological. The story is narrated to us by Scout who is growing up in a small town known as “Maycomb” which is situated in the Southern part of The United States. At the time the novel takes place, racism and segregation was very common in the south and Harper Lee makes this very clear as Maycomb is a stereotypical early twentieth century,…
In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch shows courage by standing up for his beliefs and by respecting values that he does not share.…
Throughout the book, readers are shown Atticus’ high morals and values and the events in chapter 15 only explore that further. In this chapter, Atticus chooses to put himself in harm’s way in order to do what is right, hence displaying moral courage. After the fellow townsfolk warn him of a lynch mob, the lawyer takes it upon himself to protect his client – Tom Robinson – from the racist mob. He goes out of his way to travel to the town late at night and unarmed, leaving himself very vulnerable. He is a lawyer by profession, not an officer.…
In the novel, to Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus is portrayed as a virtuous man with lots of integrity. Atticus always had good moral values that he wishes everyone else could have. He was also always a good parent, telling Jem and Scout about a strong sense of morality. He even told them that they couldn’t use the word “nigger” or “nigger-lover” even though everyone else does, “”Scout,” said Atticus, “nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything--like snot-nose. It’s hard to explain--ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves.” (Lee 144). Atticus believes in equality for all of men so he defends African American from prejudice, and even Tom Robinson in court. This story reveals Atticus’s courage and dedication for defending Tom Robinson but Atticus demonstrates his virtue and good moral values through his quiet everyday actions and teaching his children to judge only after looking at the world through other points of view.…
Courage is when someone takes pride in what they believe in even if they are alone. In the novel To Kill Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch demonstrates the greatest amount of courage. Atticus took on the rape case of Mayella Ewell defending an african american man Tom Robinson, knowing what the outcome would be.…
“It’s easy to stand with the crowd, it takes courage to stand alone.” The courageous acts of individuals in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM) present the determined minds of the characters to stand-alone to positively impact society. Composed in 1960, set in a time in America’s history when African-Americans citizens were discriminated against and were segregated away from the rest of society. Set in the fictional town of Maycomb, where racial prejudice prevailed the characters experienced many trials and tribulations that required great courage to overcome these boundaries. One of the main characters Atticus, a local town lawyer who defended an African-American who was accused of raping a white girl, endeavors throughout the…
Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee publicized courage as a theme, allowing the reader to unquestionably see Atticus, Scout and Jem’s father, as the hero and moral voice in the book. Living in a quaint, small, and prejudice town Atticus faced many challenges that permitted him to show his courage and heroism. Atticus strived to understand people before he judged them, he stood up for Tom Robinson, and he taught his kids to fight the evil with their smarts rather than physical violence.…
What is courage? According to dictionary.com, courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain etc., without fear; bravery. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, both Atticus and Boo Radley are both courageous through the challenges they are faced with. Both of these men are citizens of Maycomb and create change within their town. Although Atticus and Boo Radley are very different people, they prove to be similar through their acts of courage. Though their acts of courage are similar, they both generate change to different aspects of their lives. Both men change things through their acts of courage, but the changes are drastically different. Atticus’ courage is a long term change, and it will help Maycomb see African Americans as equals and not as inferiors. Boo’s change on their other hand, will be more of a lesson that teaches not to judge a book by its cover.…
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, there is an array of countless problems that must be faced by the citizens of Maycomb. How did they respond? After all, as the town was told, it had nothing to fear but fear itself. At least the more intelligent responded courageously. Relentless determination and perseverance were the only option to keep everything together. One character who shows this is Atticus, who stands up for African Americans inside and outside of court. Even though he’s called names and threatened, he supports Tom and promotes equality. In this novel, courage is defined as standing up for what you believe in. Lee tries to convey the point that readers can improve society using courage. Atticus has real courage because he stands up for equality when he defends Tom, faces danger to protect others, and doesn’t stop when the town’s residents insult him.…
“Heroes represent the best of ourselves, respecting that we are human beings. A hero can be anyone from Gandhi to your classroom teacher, anyone who can show courage when faced with a problem. A hero is someone who is willing to help others in his or her best capacity.”- Ricky Martin. Heroes can be obvious or they can be anonymous extraordinaires. Heroes are all around you and you might never notice it. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch has many characteristics that exhibit his heroism.…
Most people may not know this book was based off some of Harper Lee's childhood experiences. The theme is based off many things but main thing is moral courage and how it is used in conflict and characterization. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how conflict and characterization reflected this theme of moral courage through many problems that happened and through many of the characters actions in this novel.…
One type of courage that is shown in To Kill a Mockingbird is physical courage; the act of putting one’s self in harm’s way to protect others. This best portrayed by the character Arthur Radley, more commonly known as Boo. Boo is a mysterious man who lives in the Radley place and he is almost never seen outside.…
Bam! Bam! Bam! “Order in the court! I find the defendant guilty of all charges. You will be hanged for this offense.” This was the sentence for Tom Robinson, a courageous black who stood up to defend himself in court. It took great courage to stand up for blacks back in that time. Atticus Finch was very courageous to stand up for a man who had done no wrong; many people gave him grief for doing his job. There is indeed great courage in this story, not only Atticus’s defense, but in others, such as Mrs. Dubose in battling her morphine addiction, and Dill for running away after his parents lost interest in him. In the novel,To Kill a Mockingbird, courageous acts are seen throughout the course of the story, which makes the story far more exciting and adventurous.…
In Harper Lee’s autobiographical narrative, To Kill a Mockingbird, characters like Atticus, Dolphus Raymond, and Tom Robinson demonstrate many forms of courageous behavior; in contrast, characters like Bob Ewell demonstrate cowardice. From these characters, Harper Lee’s audience learns that there are many characters in this book that are brave.…