"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught", said JC Watts, an American politician. Yet many people seek opportunities to do what is right only when they think that someone else will view them favorably because of it; others conform to ideals they do not believe just so they can fit in with the group. A true hero is someone who always follows their morals, no matter what. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus is unusual in Maycomb because he works hard to act the same in private as he is when others are watching. A hero is some who does what he or she feels is right. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
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Foremost, a hero is Paul Van Riper. Before all else, he decided to join the Marine Corps and he served in Vietnam because he wanted to serve his country. Furthermore, he decided to do training with his company after every battle to help keep them ready and maintain high morale. Even though this was unusual, he felt it would be the right action to carry out. Additionally, when he wanted to retrieve information about the enemy’s position, he swam into the river so that he could have the view he wanted. No matter what, he was willing to do what it took to be successful and acquire the information he knew he needed. Finally, in the Millenium Challenge war game, he maintained his own strategy to achieve victory. While the Blue Team used complex formulas and massive amounts of information, Van Riper instead used his knowledge and experience to reach conclusions. Reflecting afterward he said, “They were so focused on the mechanics and the process that they never looked at the problem holistically. In the act of tearing something apart, you lose its meaning.”(125) This is an indirect …show more content…
A first example is that Atticus stands up to Aunt Alexandra when she tells him to fire Calpurnia because Aunt Alexandra thinks she is a harmful influence to Jem and Scout. Because he values Calpurnia and everything she does for their family, he ignores her. More than that, Atticus defended the town from the mad dog by shooting a gun for the first time in thirty years. Using a gun was not something he liked to do, but when it was the only option to defend the town he still did it. Additionally, Atticus supported Mrs. Dubose in her fight with addiction, even though they disagreed on many fundamental beliefs and she often was cruel to him and his family. Strong morals and his own unique idea of courage are important characteristics of Atticus. When others view courage as using a gun, Atticus believes courage is doing what you feel is right, exactly what he symbolizes. Although Mrs. Dubose is incredibly callous and cruel to Atticus and his family, he supports her because he knows that she is doing something incredibly difficult in fighting her heroin addiction, and Atticus respects that. She chose to die clean because she didn’t want to have any attachments. Finally, Atticus takes the Tom Robinson trial, although he knows it will be difficult. But Scout doesn’t understand why Atticus would take the case when it is helping a black man. Atticus explains, “For a number of reasons...The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in
Foremost, a hero is Paul Van Riper. Before all else, he decided to join the Marine Corps and he served in Vietnam because he wanted to serve his country. Furthermore, he decided to do training with his company after every battle to help keep them ready and maintain high morale. Even though this was unusual, he felt it would be the right action to carry out. Additionally, when he wanted to retrieve information about the enemy’s position, he swam into the river so that he could have the view he wanted. No matter what, he was willing to do what it took to be successful and acquire the information he knew he needed. Finally, in the Millenium Challenge war game, he maintained his own strategy to achieve victory. While the Blue Team used complex formulas and massive amounts of information, Van Riper instead used his knowledge and experience to reach conclusions. Reflecting afterward he said, “They were so focused on the mechanics and the process that they never looked at the problem holistically. In the act of tearing something apart, you lose its meaning.”(125) This is an indirect …show more content…
A first example is that Atticus stands up to Aunt Alexandra when she tells him to fire Calpurnia because Aunt Alexandra thinks she is a harmful influence to Jem and Scout. Because he values Calpurnia and everything she does for their family, he ignores her. More than that, Atticus defended the town from the mad dog by shooting a gun for the first time in thirty years. Using a gun was not something he liked to do, but when it was the only option to defend the town he still did it. Additionally, Atticus supported Mrs. Dubose in her fight with addiction, even though they disagreed on many fundamental beliefs and she often was cruel to him and his family. Strong morals and his own unique idea of courage are important characteristics of Atticus. When others view courage as using a gun, Atticus believes courage is doing what you feel is right, exactly what he symbolizes. Although Mrs. Dubose is incredibly callous and cruel to Atticus and his family, he supports her because he knows that she is doing something incredibly difficult in fighting her heroin addiction, and Atticus respects that. She chose to die clean because she didn’t want to have any attachments. Finally, Atticus takes the Tom Robinson trial, although he knows it will be difficult. But Scout doesn’t understand why Atticus would take the case when it is helping a black man. Atticus explains, “For a number of reasons...The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in