Cowardice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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.
Courage can only be identified if we know what cowardice is. Dictionary.com says that cowardice is a lack of courage to face difficulty and danger. Cowardice is a lack of courage, the opposite of it in fact. One character who displays titanic cowardice throughout the book is Bob Ewell. Mr. Ewell is a …show more content…
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose an old lady from the county shows off courage like a lion. “She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody. Jem, when you're sick as she was, it's all right to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn't all right for her. She said she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that's what she did." Mrs. Dubose was very ill and was taking morphine as a painkiller and became an addict. She was going to pass away, but she decided that she would leave the world under her own will. “...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 see it through no matter what.” Mrs. Dubose is the definition of real courage, she knew was “licked” but she began anyway and finished it at death’s door. Mrs. Dubose also spoke her mind freely, not caring about what others thought of her and not ebbing into society’s ideas of a “senile old lady.” “Don't say that to me you ugly girl! You say good afternoon Mrs. Dubose!” Mrs. Dubose is an explanation of Lee’s definition of courage, taking the form of bravery and …show more content…
Not the coward that stood on the sidelines as the hero hits the game winning shot. Courage is a big part of making that shot and the leap into first place. You have to do whats right, with the perfect concoction of bravery, stubbornness, and helpfulness. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston