Atticus Courage Essay

A significant representation of courage is seen within Atticus.  Within To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus speaks of the Tom Robinson trial as a trial all lawyers fear.  He must face a court case that will have a profound personal effect upon himself and his family.  Atticus summons the courage to recognize that there is a need for justice and that it is his duty to achieve this.  Maycomb is a town tainted with stereotypes and racism.  Atticus has the courage to overcome the fear of other peoples' dislike.  He must face the fear of straining the lives of his two young children and family name.  The courage Atticus embodies stems from his "satisfactory" character.  Atticus is righteous and unable to turn his back on those who truly rely upon his ability to show empathy.  He overcomes the heartless comments of those around them, to see the necessity of his involvement.

Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published in the year of 1960, and is one of the few American classic novels awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The racism that is prevalent in many southern American towns in the 1930s is brought to life with profound imagery in To Kill a Mockingbird. There are several characters in the book, yet the true main character is the narrator's father, Atticus Finch. He is a man of great integrity and intelligence. A very heroic figure in more ways than one, Atticus possesses traits like being principled, determined, and, more importantly, he teaches others. When looking at To Kill a Mockingbird, one can see that Lee uses lots of description, dialogue, and actions to portray Atticus as a heroic individual.

Atticus is one of the characters who proves that courage is about thinking long and hard about what's right instead of relying on personal prejudice or gut reaction, and then doing what's right whether you win or lose. 2Throughout the whole case Atticus supported Tom Robinson; he went against the whole town just to help an innocent man. 3Atticus did everything he could do to defend Tom Robinson, but when he failed it really hurts him. When Aunt Alexandra told Atticus that he would ruin the family name, he still refused to change his mind. Throughout the whole novel Atticus still fought for what he believed in. Atticus told Jem that "As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it-whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash" (page 233). Atticus stood up to Aunt

Everyone has the potential for courage, however, not everyone takes advantage of it. Imagine the nerd taking advantage of talking to the pretty girl in the lunch-room and compare it to not taking the chance. Similarly, in Harper Lee’s story,”To Kill a Mockingbird”, characters employ their wits in order to overcome adversity. Frankly, when used, courage can help with the impossible.

Finally, Atticus is fearless when he saves Tom Robinson from getting hurt from a mob. He was alone with those men until Jem and Scout showed up to the jail. Even

Q1“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 through it no matter what.”

“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear” (Mark Twain), this ties in with Atticus’ and his definition because he masters fear and is resistant to it; he takes the case and is not feared by Bob’s presence. One of the many topics in this book is courage; it is used many times in the novel and in life. It is explained many times in this novel; whether it is through Harper Lee’s use of courage, how courage is defined and the character who exemplifies courage the best. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird courage is expressed by many characters in many different examples.

He overcomes the brutal comments of those around him. Atticus not only shows courage in his profession but also towards the family. “You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anyone says to you, don’t let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change…it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning” (Lee 86).

The definition of courage according to the Canadian Dictionary is “the strength of mind to control fear and act firmly in the face of danger or difficulties. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, courage represents a different definition. It is said by the character Atticus Finch that courage is “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (ch. 11 pg. 128). Courage shines throughout the character's Aunt Alexandra, Arthur (Boo) Radley, and Atticus Finch. These three characters show the most courage because even through hard times they keep their ground and do not show any source of anger or fear.

A time when Atticus had showed courage was when he was chosen to fight Tom Robinson’s case. Even though Tom was black, Atticus still fought his case because Atticus knew that Tom was innocent and Atticus wanted to set a good example for his kids. When Atticus was talking to Scout as to why he was fighting Tom’s case he had told her that ‘if [he] didn’t [he] couldn’t hold up [his] head in town. ’(86) This shows that Atticus is going to do what is right because he wants his kids to know that just because Tom is black it doesn’t mean that he is wrong because in this case he is the innocent one.

Even when pressured to fight physically by those who disagree with him, Atticus maintains composure and decides that it is better to remain more stoic than reactive towards any opposition. This conscious choice can be seen when Atticus is sitting outside the County Jail, protecting Mr Robinson from being lynched by the angry opposers of Atticus. Despite being in extreme danger, Atticus chooses not to wield a gun, and instead arms himself with nothing but wit and words. Lee’s bold choice not to give Atticus a traditional weapon with which to defend himself is an action which speaks in support of true courage being more than the simple image of a man and his weapon. That night, Lee gives Atticus the possibility of dying, and shows how willing he is to support a cause he has belief in even if the chances are not in his favour. For both Lee and Atticus, courage and bravery can be the simple action of protecting the one you care for, and pointing out that it does not take an armed soldier to win a

Courage defined in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird is doing the right thing even when everyone else thinks you are wrong. This is best represented by Atticus defending a black man in court [pg. 100], and how everyone thinks he is wrong to do so like Cecil Jacobs [pg. 102] and Mrs. Dubose [pg.135]by how they call him a n*****- lover. I think in the book courage is best personified by Atticus, because even with the passing of his wife he still takes care of his kids with the help of Calpurnia, and how he feels he has an obligation to take this case or he couldn’t tell his own kids what’s right or wrong. Courage is also represented by the way Jem and Scout have to deal with the social ridicule they get by neighbors and classmates, like how Scout

Atticus took on Tom Robinson’s case to prove to himself that he had the guts. This is obviously a hard decision for Atticus to make,

They think that courage is the capability and eagerness to use strength to get to your way. But Atticus defines courage as “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” In this novel, courage is not about winning or losing. It’s about thinking smart and hard about what’s right instead of depending on personal prejudice or spontaneous reactions, and them doing what’s right whether you win or lose.

One of the way To Kill A Mockingbird shows courage is through the form of moral courage. An example from the book that represents moral courage is “If I didn’t… I couldn’t even tell you or jem not to do something again” (Lee 75; ch. 9). This shows moral courage because Atticus had to do the right thing in order to be a good role model and parent to his children. By turning down this opportunity to do the right thing would result in Atticus beinging a hypocrite, which doesn’t represent a good role model for Jem and Scout. Another quote from the book is “I’m simply defending a negro man” (Lee 75; ch. 9). This represent moral courage because Atticus didn’t pay attention the race of the defendant, but simply the case. In both example, Atticus went against what everyone believed in to do the right thing, which takes courage.