To Kill A Mockingbird Courage Examples

Improved Essays
Examples of Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird Courage is a theme that has been used in literature since the beginning of writing itself. One of the many forms of literature are novels. Novels use courage as a theme to show a character or group being able to overcome their fears and reach their objective. A very well known novel, of the 20th century, is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee conveys courage in characters such as Atticus, Scout, and Jem to show one’s ability and will to overcome fear and worldly injustices.
One of the greatest obstacle that many of characters faced in To Kill a Mockingbird is fear. Fear is a deterrent that keeps people from reaching their goals or standing up for what is right. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the characters uses courage to overcome their fears. The two characters that
…show more content…
Early in the novel, Scout befriends a farmer boy by name of Walter Cunningham Jr., who comes from a poor lower class family. After learning about his father trying to help Atticus as one of members of the jury, she wants to invite Walter over for dinner. Her Aunt Alexandra forbid Walter because he is not the same kind of ‘folk’ that the Finches are. Scout is quite unset and uses her courage to stand up to her Aunt and try to convince her to let Walter come over. She does not succeed but still is courageous effort to stand up for her friend. Courage is a major theme and shown in many different forms in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee uses her characters like Atticus and Scout to show the different kind of courage and how they are used. She uses Atticus to show how a man just keeping his morale and personal code is courage. She uses Scout to show how even a little girl can be courageous effort to stand up to worldly injustices such as prejudice. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that shows us how to be courageous and stand up for what is

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

    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.…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scout is a little girl who has a brother named Jem, and a best friend named Dill. They all grow up throughout the book and learn important lessons throughout the story. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus, Jem, and Boo Radley show courage; Tom, Scout, and Boo Radley lose their innocence; Aunt Alexandra, Mr.Cunningham, and Scout feel empathy. To start, Harper Lee shows multiple examples of courage and wants to show us what courage looks like and who is capable of being courageous. One example of being courageous…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people presume that courage is simply a person who accomplishes a grand feat rather than having the quality of mind that enables a person to face difficulty or danger without fear. However, true courage depends on the eyes of the beholder. Courage is many things. Slyly embodied in both reticent and vital characters, Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird and Reginald Rose in 12 Angry Men both create a broad representation of courage. In both works of literature, the idea of courage that is being conveyed is the ability to do something that one knows is right or gracious, even though it is extremely difficult.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Courage is a wanted characteristic but not everyone can acquire it. Scout’s father Atticus Finch is standing up for a innocent African American named Tom Robinson. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, is based in the 1930’s in a very racist time. Which lead people to say rude and ignorant things too Scout. Scout has to learn to hold herself back and not let people get the best of her.…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is written to address the horrendous issues of the 1930’s, The Great Depression, the Jim Crow Laws, and segregation. It explores a variety of themes, all of which affect the reader greatly. Its portrayal of white supremacy, injustice, and prejudice is evident in many occurrences during the novel. The way the characters react to these times of hardship, however, defines their real strength stated by Martin Luther King Jr with the quote “the ultimate measure is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”. These significant themes, white supremacy, injustice, and prejudice, are reflected through the characters Scout Finch, Atticus…

    • 1088 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
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the novel, the subject of courage was shown…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Respect of Courage Everyone wants to be the person with enough guts to stand up to wrongs in an attempt to right them. Courage is perceived as a great thing in our society; so much so that the opposite of such, cowardice, is frowned upon. This is prevalent in the 1930’s as well. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates that courage is a trait Scout admires and seeks through Scout’s experiences, thoughts and actions.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Courage is a main theme throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus tries to teach Scout and Jem what courage really is and he does this by setting an example for them. Atticus is one of the most courageous characters I have known till this day; he stood up for what was…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Altogether, Harper Lee and her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, uses Scout and Atticus to cause readers to examine their own lives, deciding whether they have the same troubling attitudes and traditions as that of Maycomb County. Lee convinces readers to beware of having hate towards another person. She also shows through Scout how one could examine themselves and look at the way they treat their fellow people, asking, “What does not add up,” about the way they act. Lastly, she displays Atticus as an example of how to preserve a strong foundation, not easily bent or…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved 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