Unlikely Heroes In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel about Scout, a young girl on her journey to growing up. During her journey, she finds her southern town, Maycomb, in a huge dilemma about race. When there is a huge problem, that is when unlikely heroes rise to the occasion. In To Kill a Mockingbird the unlikely heroes are Boo, Atticus, and Jem.

One of the unlikely heroes in this novel is Boo Radley. He was first a rebellious teenager, until he got completely got cut from society. He never came out of the house after he got in trouble as a teenager. Even though he is locked out from society he still manages to have empathy and try to connect to society. He put candy in the tree for Jem and Scout, and he also mended Jem’s …show more content…
Atticus is Jem’s and Scout’s father. He is very courageous and compassionate. He protected Tom Robinson, an African-American, in court even though everyone was racist and against Tom. Tom Robinson was being accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. When the town folks saw Atticus defending Tom, not only did they hurl nasty comments at him, Jem, and Scout, a mob was going to lynch Tom, but Atticus went to protect him, “‘You know what we want,’ another man said. ‘Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.’ ‘You can turn around and go home’…. ‘Get some sleep, Tom. They won’t bother you any more,’”(202-206). He stood his ground, even though they were possibly going to hurt him. He also did not let all of the negative comments thrown at him affect him. He shows his compassion when he talks about Mrs. Dubose, “You know, she was a great lady...after all those things she said about you?’...’she had her own views on things, a lot different from mine… she was the bravest women I knew,’” (148-149).He defended Tom, although people were strongly against him. He is unlikely, because he is a white man defending a black man, accused of raping a white women. In Maycomb, a small town with problems with racism, that was unheard of and considered a disgrace. He has a strong moral compass, so he had the courage to stand his ground. That is why Jem, his son, is also an unlikely …show more content…
Even though Jem is very young, he is very mature and compassionate. He shows his maturity when he tells Atticus about finding Dill, after Dill ran away from his parents, “Dill’s eyes flickered at Jem, and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. ‘Atticus,’ his voice was distant, ‘can you come here a minute, sir?’” (187-187). Although Dill was Jem’s friend and that Dill’s eyes flickering made him feel guilty, he still had the maturity to do the right thing and tell an adult. Jem is also very compassionate. He shows this when he hears about Tom being un-rightly convicted, “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered,” (284). This shows he did not have “Maycomb’s usual disease”, racism. He feels compassion for anyone unrightly treated. He also shows compassion when he learns Mr. Nathan cements the tree to block Boo Radley out of society, “He stood there until nightfall, and I waited for him. When we went in the house I saw he had been crying’ his face was dirty in the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him,” (84). Jem shows maturity and compassion, when he saves Walter Cunningham from Scout’s beating and he invites Walter to dinner, “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was