Atticus Finch Shows Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

Improved Essays
Courage is an important aspect if you want to live life your way. Courage is a very prominent theme in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and is shown throughout the novel. Courage is doing what is right no matter the consequences. The two main characters that shows courage are Atticus Finch and Arthur “Boo” Radley.

Atticus Finch shows courage by not following the social norms of Maycomb and instead following his own beliefs and morals. For example, when Tom Robinson was accused of rape by Mayella Atticus was tasked to defend Tom and he accepted even though he was a black person despite knowing that he will not win and the town will despise him for it. They started saying on how he defended black people and some getting to a point where
…show more content…
He shows this by coming out of his house no matter if he is caught by Nathan Radley. The first example of this is during Miss Maudie’s house fire. During the house fire everone was gathered around Miss Maudie’s house as it was being put out while Jem and Scout were out in the distance watching, Scout was getting cold standing outside for too long and did not notice a blanket being put on her by Boo. He risked himself being caught and possibly punished by Nathan in order to help a young girl that is starting to freeze in the cold. Another example that shows his courage is when he hid gifts in the tree’s knothole outside of his house. Scout later on started to find gifts in the knothole of a tree that was located near the Radley house, later on it’s realized that Boo was the one putting all the gifts in the knothole for Jem and Scout, he wanted to bring joy to them, something that he did not really have and risked being seen to do so. This is also the point where we really see how Boo is really like and how the rumors were not so true. Lastly and possibly the biggest example of how Boo Radley is courageous was when he saved Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell which had the intentions of killing the kids. This time he did not just risk getting seen but also getting harmed or killed in order to save the people that he has grown attached

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Into To Kill a MockingBird Atticus Finch defines courage as. “It's when [people] know [they are] licked before [they] begin, but [they] begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” (Lee 149). This shows that courage is doing what is right even though you are going against everyone else, and is shown happening throughout real life in The Untold Story of Emmett Till, and Montgomery Boycott‘’. Courage intertwine through To Kill a MockingBird by Harper Lee, The Untold Story of Emmett Till filmed by Keith Beauchamp, and Montgomery Boycott by Coretta Scott King by doing the right thing even though you are going against everyone else.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are 3 different courages that appears many times in “To Kill a Mockingbird” Book. First, Atticus defend Tom from regardless of the Transporation, Next, Boo Radley shows courage by protecting the kids at the end, The last one is that Jem and Scout didn’t want their father to be in the Jury court alone. These are the courage that appears in the story.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    We all need to understand what courage really is. What is the real meaning of courage? How can we understand it better ourselves? Well, in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee she shows courage through her book. Lee actually defines courage with her characters.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the beginning Scout sees him as a ghost like and evil figure she states, “Boo is about six and half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch that’s why his hands were bloodstained.” Scouts ignorance and perhaps wild imagination striped her from getting to know the sweet and kind individual that Boo Radley was. As she matures she gradually sees the reasoning behind his actions. After Boo Radley saves the children from Bob Ewell and she walks with him home, she comes to the realization of, “ Atticus was right… you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Atticus Courage Quotes

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages

    True courage is being brave and standing up for what scares you the most in life. In this book, To Kill a Mockingbird, courage is represented through many main brave characters such as Atticus, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, true courage is shown by Atticus. Atticus is a great role model; he is a highly respected person throughout the novel.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the character Jem Finch exhibits courage, which gives him strength to overcome difficult obstacles and protect his family, for many reasons. He shows courage when he is told to go and read to Mrs. Dubose every afternoon. He also shows courage when he stands up to Atticus at the county jail. First of all, Jem shows courage when he is told to read to Mrs. Dubose after school every day. Mrs. Dubose called Atticus mean names several times, and it was really bothering Jem, so much so that he took a baton that he had just bought for his sister, Scout, and he cut off all the heads of all of Mrs. Dubose’s camellias.…

    • 530 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are many characters showing and even learning about courage. In To Kill a Mockingbird Jem, Scout, and Atticus show courage in childlike, and adult ways. There are many ways to define and show courage. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, she defines her own form of courage…

    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This quote shows that even though Boo Radley is a sensitive, shy man, he went against his self characteristics to save two children and risk being put into a position where much attention would be drawn. Courage is show here because Boo makes the right choice even though it might mean him being…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the beginning of the story, Atticus shows his courage by taking a case that he knows will bring him public humiliation. This is the case where he is defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape. Atticus knows this is a case that he will not win, but he takes it anyway because he believes it is the right thing to do (Lee 100-101). Besides defending Tom Robinson because he believes it is the right choice, he is also showing courage by doing something that will promote equality in the future. This is…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Standing up to a bully, trying something new, putting one’s life in danger to save another, standing up against prejudice, and facing a fear of public speaking. There are grand acts of courage, and then there are smaller courageous acts that can sometimes go unseen. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird explores different examples of courage through its characters. Mrs. Dubose, Atticus Finch, and Arthur Radley were all presented with opportunities to show courage.…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most people define courage as a man with a gun. In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird we follow the characters Atticus Scout and Jem Finch. Through the book Jem figures it out the hard way and scout gets is kind of easy. Jem showed his courage by helping scout when ever she needed help. Scout shows courage by standing up for her dad when the kids in her school called him a nigger lover.…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”. In the award winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is a single dad with two children-Scout and Jem-who are six and nine years old. Throughout the book, Scout and Jem experience many mysteries, one being about Boo Radley; the neighbor who apparently has been locked inside for decades. Atticus had a predicament of his own.…

    • 1277 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Courage is said to be a hero’s trait, the key to success. Cowardice is the antagonist, nobody likes it, nobody wishes to be it. Cowardice makes a meager mouse run your blood cold. Even though courage is defined by many authors differently, in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, courage is the trait to do the right thing. We can draw the definition of real courage from three characters in the story, Bob Ewell, Atticus FInch, and Mrs. Dubose.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird The main theme in To kill a mockingbird is courage and it is shown in many places throughout the book along with putting a huge impact on the book. There a three major places where courage is shown as in Chapter 1, when Dill dares Jem to run up to the Radleys house and hit it, when Atticus sticks up for Tom Robinson and defends him in court on the trial against Mayella and he sits outside the police station waiting for him, and once again near the end of the book courage is shown deeply when Boo Radley comes out of his house and fights off Bob Ewell. These are all very important scenes in the book where courage is shown and have an impact. In the first part of the book, in Chapter 1, courage is shown when Dill dares Jem to run up and slap the Radleys house. He says to him, “I won't say you ran out on a dare an’ I'll swap you The Grey Ghost if you just go up and touch the house.”…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The book puts courage as protecting the people less fortunate than you. Atticus shows his courage by protecting Tom Robinson during the trail. Also Boo Radley shows a ton of courage by stepping out of his house to save Jem and Scout from Mr.Ewell. This took a lot of courage for Boo because he barely ever comes out in public and has so many rumors about him floating around.…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays