Arthur Radley Courage

Courage is often associated with knights fighting off dragons or superheros defeating villains. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines courage as the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous. While performing heroic acts are both difficult and dangerous, that’s not all there is to courage. It’s more than just doing something that seems hard, but doing something even though you know you are likely going to fail. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem considers Atticus to be courageous when he shoots a mad dog. While this may have been dangerous, Atticus does not consider it to be the definition of courage because, as the best shot in town, he isn’t likely to miss. Atticus uses the examples of Mrs. Dubose, coping with insults, and the trial to teach his children what he thinks true courage is.

Courage, as defined by Collins Dictionary, is “the quality shown by someone who decides to do something difficult or dangerous, even though they may be afraid”. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee has created many characters who exhibit such courage, even in the face of adversity, and develops this into a major theme. Atticus Finch, Arthur Radley, and other members of the Finch household and Maycomb community, display amazing courage in the things they say, but more importantly in the way they act. These characters all contribute to the novel’s theme of showing courage through adversity.

Evidently, an unlikely hero in the book is Mrs. Dubose, who overcame her morphine addiction. At first, Mrs. Dubose is seen as an evil and filled with animosity towards Jem and Scout. Atticus reminds them to see it from Mrs. Dubose point of view before judging her. The fact that Mrs. Dubose knows that she will succumb, she tries to overcome her addiction of morphine. Atticus’ description of a hero is “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (112). Consequently, Mrs. Dubose “… died beholden to nothing and nobody” (112).

The theme that courage is persevering through every challenge is shown when Mrs. Dubose dies free from her addiction to morphine. Jem Finch had been reading to Mrs. Dubose, a mean, old neighbor of his, to make up for ruining her garden. Jem had always thought of Mrs. Dubose as a sick, scary lady, but Atticus Finch, Jem’s father, informs him that Mrs. Dubose was actually a very brave and strong person. During her life, she became addicted to morphine; Mrs. Dubose promised herself she would die clean. When Mrs. Dubose did pass away, she was no longer taking morphine. Atticus explains Mrs. Dubose’s courage when he states, “I wanted you to see 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 you see it through no matter what” (Lee, 61). Atticus is explaining that courage isn’t just “a man with a gun in his hand”. Courage is much more than that. Atticus is stating that courage is never giving up even if you encounter struggles and difficulties. Atticus’s words prove that courage is when you know you might not succeed but you don’t stop trying. Mrs. Dubose knew it would be difficult for her to stop using morphine, but she swore she would. She ended up dying clean from the drug because no matter what, she never gave up and never stopped trying. Through it

Courage is the ability to do something in the face of pain, grief or fear. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus serves as an example of true courage to the town when he shoots the sick dog Tim Johnson, defends Tom Robinson in his legal troubles and allows Mr. Ewell spit in his face.

She meant to break herself of it before she died, and that’s what she did”(111). Although Mrs. Dubose was a cantankerous old lady who disapproved of Atticus defending Tom, she and Mr. Finch had something in common. They both shared similar views when it came to showing courage to overcome a task. Atticus’ lesson applies here as well. “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.

Dubose to show that people are essentially good. “You know, she was a great lady….She was the bravest person I ever knew” (Lee, 115-116). Despite her ugly and outspoken racism Mrs. Dubose is a courageous and strong woman. She forgave Jem for ruining her flowers even though the flowers were very meaningful and special to her. “She was a lady. She had her own view about things, a lot different from mine, maybe...son, I wanted you to read to her because I wanted you to learn something from her. I wanted you to see 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 you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. She broke her addiction to morphine, which was a very hard thing to do. She was the bravest person I ever knew.” (Lee, 149). She could’ve taken the easy way out and died pain free, but she decided that she was going to reach her goal no matter what. Atticus showed his integrity by not responding back with hateful comments back to Mrs. Dubose whenever she insulted him. Despite Mrs. Dubose’s racist comments towards the Finch family, she was a forgiving and kind lady till the

Courage (noun): the ability to do something that frightens one, the strength in the face of pain or grief. In the novels Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the two characters Atticus and George both show courage throughout both novels. Atticus and George define courage by fighting alone when no one else supports them. “I wanted you to see 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. You rarely win, but sometimes you do...” This quote states “you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Meaning even though you start with a disadvantage you still push through and fight!

“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 you see it through no matter what” is the true meaning of courage stated by Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird(Lee 149,chap 11). To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by author Harper Lee. The novel is about a childhood adventure that takes place in the southern town of Maycomb, were siblings Jem and Scout learn what it means to grow up and mature into adulthood. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays that courage is not just a man with a gun in his hand, courage can be portrayed or shown in different types of forms. The types of courage that were shown in To Kill a Mockingbird is physical courage, moral courage, and emotional courage.

For example, during the fire of Miss Maudie’s house boo Radley… “put the blanket around you’ (p.72) putting himself in an uncomfortable situation. Boo Radley very rarely comes out of his house for any situation except for the children. When he sees that scout is shivering from the cold he comes outside and puts a blanket around her. He feels like its right to go outside and put a blanket around scout, risking himself being seen and being put in an uncomfortable situation. Additionally, when Bob Ewell had tried to hurt Jem and scout, scout said there was a man there to protect them. When asked who it was scout who pointed at the corner and said “hey boo” (p.270). Bob Ewell had a knife on him when he attempted to hurt the children, but still boo Radley had the courage to go help the kids even if he could’ve gotten hurt or killed. Boo also could’ve gotten in very much in trouble for killing Bob Ewell while trying to protect the children. Boo Radley shows he has courage because he risks himself to protect the children and puts himself in uncomfortable situations to care for the

Dubose insults atticus ruthlessly but he finds a way to have empathy for her. Ms. Dubose says that Atticus is ruining the Finch family name and is a disgrace. In ch 11 Ms. Dubose brings her insults to an extreme as she tells Scout “[her] father’s no better than the… trash he works for”(134). Ms. Dubose’s insult highlights how terrible of a person she is and how hard it is for Atticus to empathize with her. Atticus knows Ms. Dubose is ill but many people taking this extremity of an insult in Atticus’s place would retaliate and not empathize with Ms. Dubose. However, Atticus still does not hate her, and by not hating her Atticus is able to empathize with her and find out how courageous she really is, which shows Scout that she can empathize with even the most racist people in the world. Atticus praises Ms. Dubose and says: “ I wanted you to see something about her - I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand”(Lee 149). Atticus’s quote on how Ms. Dubose displayed real courage is very significant. The quote is extremely ironic as Ms. Dubose is portrayed as a racist and someone who is not very courageous. Atticus not hating Ms. Dubose is a very important demonstration for Scout, who again is forced to empathize with people she does not like. Overall, Atticus shows that by not hating people, you can find much more about them and even empathize with

Atticus describes courage or bravery as “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (112). Atticus uses this quote to describe Mrs. Dubose, but he does not seem to see how it so easily applies to his own life. Mrs. Dubose is a morphine addict who decides she

Atticus uses these results of the conflict to teach Jem and Scout a lesson, which is important to their maturity. He explains that an individual shows courage in practicing their values, regardless of the risks that the opposition will impose. Another example of Harper Lee using the literary element of conflict to depict the central idea is through Mrs. Dubose’s internal conflict of addiction. She develops a necessity in taking morphine, a medication that is used in painkillers. However, after her death, Atticus says, “She said she meant to break herself of it before she died…” In this quote, Atticus explains that she was, in fact, attempting to overcome this addiction before her death. (Lee 148) Mrs. Dubose expects death in the process of freeing herself. However, she exhibits courage as she decides to confront the conflict. Mrs. Dubose forces herself to endure the pain that was inflicted by the illness that she took the painkillers for. She eventually accomplishes her goal, nevertheless, she passes away as she initially expects to. Atticus then explicates, “I wanted you to see 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 you see it through no matter what.” In this quote,

Courage shows strength, and a willingness to do what is right even though it may be hard. Although Harper Lee would define courage as taking one for the team and helping each other to get it done quicker. In TKM ways of courage are shown to demonstrate her meaning. I have chosen three examples of courage to explain from TKM“Atticus's hand yanked a ball-tipped lever as he brought the gun to his shoulder” (Lee 127). In chapter ten, Tom Johnson was on the loose. Tom Johnson is a dog but this this it was the dog we all wanted to see. As everyone saw him coming down the street his look shaky and out of place. He had rabies. Now most would just avoid the dog but in the story they can’t because, they don’t have medicine to cure people if they get

Courage is the quality of mind that enables one to face danger with confidence, resolution, and gain a firm control of oneself. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird showed courage in their own way. Courage can come in many different forms: physical, mental, emotional and moral. Courage is not the only main theme displayed in To Kill a Mockingbird; prejudice and education are also very important themes exhibited throughout the progression of the novel. Through the eyes of Scout Finch, a bright, sensitive and intelligent little girl, these themes of the novel are explored in great depth.