To Kill A Mockingbird How Does Atticus Show Courage

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. As a punishment, Atticus made Jem go to her house and read to her every day after school for a month. Jem does this reluctantly, even with her yelling meant things at him and looking gross since she was sick. Scout goes with him, and when Mrs. Dubose sees her …show more content…
Jem knew that Atticus was in trouble, or going to be, so he was willing to go to town by himself to see where Atticus was. He also was with Scout and Dill, and since he was the oldest, he was in charge of his and their safety, and by not leaving when Atticus told him to, this put them all in danger. This would take courage because there were many older men standing around him that Jem did not know that also looked like they wanted to hurt him. Even though he was in a dangerous situation, when Atticus says, “‘Go home, Jem,’ . . . ‘Take Scout and Dill home.’. . . Jem shook his head” (152). This shows courage because now he, Scout, and Dill are in jeopardy of being hurt even more than when they first walked in the group. One of the men even tries to hurt Jem, but Scout defends him. Scout ends up being the one who causes the men to leave, but if Jem had not stayed, Scout would not have stayed either, so it was Jem’s act of bravery that saved his father and Tom