To Kill A Mocking Bird 1t3h9

Romain1

5/18/11 Courage What is courage? The definition of "courage” from reading To Kill a Mockingbird means to have strength and to face danger without fear. From the novel there were varieties of ways that courage could be shown if it’s to be dared to touch the Radley’s house, to give up morphine in order to die without regret, or to itting that Tom felt sorry for Miss Mayella in front of the judge. Many of the characters in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee were courageous like Scout, Jem, Boo, Mrs. Dubose, and Atticus each one showed courageous qualities in different ways by gaining a firm control of oneself. A character that showed the most courage in many ways was Atticus Finch. One of the ways Atticus showed courage was by raising his two children called Jem and Scout alone. He also showed courage by agreeing to defend Tom Robinson. Even though others were not pleased with him for defending Tom Robinson he knew that Tom needed a fair chance. Defending Tom Robinson caused Atticus to also find ways to defend his kids especially Scout who would tell Atticus "If you shouldn’t be defendin’ him, then why are you doin’ it?" asked Scout. "For a number of reasons," said Atticus. “The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again."(Lee, Ch.9) It took courage for Atticus to let his children know he was doing the right thing, because he wanted them to be proud of him, and he wanted to show them that they could rely on him, even though he knew that others would look down on him for it. Like the Cunningham boy who called Scouts father an n@#$*# lover. When she told her father he said, "You might hear some ugly talk about this at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just

Romain2

hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you don't let'em get your goat. Try fighting with your mind instead of your fists for a change." said Atticus. Scout who’s full name is Jean Louise she was another character that displayed an extraordinary amount of courage. She believed and trusted in Atticus’s every word so when ever someone would talk ugly to her Scout would ignore it for she stood up for what seemed to be right for her. For instance, when Atticus sat with Tom at the jail, she, Dill, and Jem sneaked off to find out where Atticus was and what he was up to. They found him sitting in front of the jail reading a book. As they watched, a crowd of men showed up ready to lynch Tom Robinson. Then without thinking, Scout ran to Atticus. While her dad couldn't convince the rowdy men to go home, Scout did. She simply asked “Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How’s your entailment getting’ along?”(Lee, 153) She unknowingly made Mr. Cunningham aware of all that Atticus had done for him. She also brought up Walter Cunningham saying “He’s in my grade, and he does right well. He’s a good boy, a real nice boy. We brought him home for dinner one time. Maybe he told you about me, I beat him up one time but he was real nice about it. Tell him hey for me, won’t you?” (Lee, 154). This fact made Mr. Cunningham observant that the Finches cared about his family and would never do anything to hurt or disgrace them. He then realized that to get to Tom, he would have to get through Atticus and his children. He knew that he could never do that after all that their family had done for him and his family. Scout's brother, was also a very courageous character. Jem who’s full name is Jeremy Atticus Finch showed courage to the people of Maycomb County by following in Atticus’s footsteps, defending his father's honor and being a gentleman. Jem showed courage the night he went to the jail with Dill and Scout to see what Atticus was up to, but ended up finding a mob of men that came to lynch Tom Robinson. The biggest thing the Jem did that showed Courage was

Romain3

the night coming back from the pageant. When he was most frightened he showed courage by trying to fight Bob Ewell off of Scout when he attacked her. "Run, Scout! Run! Run!" Jem screamed (Lee, 261) as he wrestled Bob off of her. "I see you brought that dirty sister of yours," said Mrs. Dubose. "She ain't dirty, and I ain't afraid of you," said Jem (Lee, 106). It took allot of courage for him to stand up to Mrs. Dubose even though he probably was afraid her. Jem Finch was truly a courageous character. Even though she was a minor character, Mrs. Dubose was a very courageous character. She was an old lady who lived down the road from Jem and Scout. She fought a morphine addiction and could be downright hateful and say things to Jem about his father to hurt his feelings. But in the end she didn't really mean it. “Your father’s no better than the n@#!*s and trash he works for!” said Mrs. Dubose.(Lee,102) As the novel goes on Jem and Scout learn her reasons for being so mean, and the reason she made them read to her. She was lonely and needed something to take her mind off the drugs and pain. Jem and Scout learned “things are not always done for the reasons they seem." When Mrs. Dubose died Atticus talked to Jem and Scout and he said “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.”(Lee, 112) Likewise another courageous character is Boo Radley who’s real name is Arthur Radley. People said many bad things about him. He never came out of the house but it was mostly because of all the stories said about him, and he some how thought that it was better to just play along with the stories. He cared about Jem and Scout in a special way for he left items for them to find. He put them in the knot hole in the tree in his yard; also he was the one who put a blanket around Scout when Miss Maudie’s house was on fire. The biggest thing that Boo Radley did was

Romain4

he saved Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell when he attacked them. This must have taken allot courage to help someone else when Arthur afraid of coming face to face with others. Courage was something all these characters had. The ability to stand up for them self’s and others while leaving fear behind. All of the characters showed courage whether it is through good or bad times, and the thing is they all learned from each others mistakes and daily troubles. This novel can be related to society in many ways today because there is still discrimination. Many people see a black man in today's society as guilty whether he committed a crime or not, because he is black. They look more at the color of the person than what the person has to offer others. We never guessed that there was an innocent bird in the book, for most birds are at least guilty of something. This novel has taught people to have courage to always do the right thing.

Romain5

Works Cited Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mocking bird. New York: Warner, 1960