How Does Atticus Finch Show Courage

However, all the neighborhood legends about Boo were contradictory to what Boo’s true nature was. He rescued Scout and Jem from being murdered by Mr. Ewell, and in the brief time he was physically present in the book, he showed no signs of malice. He was almost brought into the spotlight because he was the one who stabbed Mr. Ewell in order to rescue the children, but that would hurt Boo because of his content life of solitude. “ To my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight-to me, that’s a sin.” (Lee 369-370). Scout also observes on the same page when Atticus tells the cover story to save Boo, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”. Scout was right to say so because it is true that Boo would have suffered a great deal when he was the one who saved the lives of Jem and Scout. Boo Radley

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.

“Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Atticus Finch. This quote is proved to be true in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee as it demonstrates the true definition of courage. The book takes you along the journey of young girl, Scout Finch, during a time where colored people are thought less of. She experiences this first hand as her father, Atticus Finch, has been assigned to defend a colored man who has been accused of raping a white female. Scout along with her elder brother Jem, learn the definition of courage through some of the characters and how they act to the events that occur before and after the trial. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, many characters are great examples of trusting yourself when all odds are stacked against you. Throughout the novel the characters that display courage are Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, one of Atticus Finch’s most significant qualities, courage, impacts the story. Throughout the book, Harper Lee portrays courage as doing something out of your comfort zone, for the greater good or a good cause. The first example shows how Atticus’s quality of courage impacts the story. Atticus is sitting in front of the jail cell where Tom Robinson, the African-American man he is defending, is being kept. When Mr. Cunningham and the rest of his followers confront Atticus, he stays strong, keeps his ground and doesn’t let anything happen to Tom. The interaction starts with Mr. Cunningham approaching Atticus, “He in there, Mr. Finch? He is, and he’s asleep. Don’t wake him up. In obedience to my father. There followed what I later realized was a sickeningly comic aspect of an unfunny situation: the men talked in near-whispers. You know what we want. Get Aside from the door, Mr. Finch. You can turn around and go home, Walter. Heck Tate’s around somewhere.”(171-172) Atticus stops Mr. Cunningham and his men from harming Tom before his trial. It took courage to stand up to men who are usually cordial with him resulting in Tom not being killed and allowing the trial to continue. In the second example, it shows how Atticus’s actions reflect what how Harper Lee believes courage looks like in everybody. Atticus is brought to a tough decision in whether or whether not to defend Tom Robinson. When Scout asks him about the case and why he decided

He is referred to as a mockingbird because he suffers he is stuck and constantly talked negatively by the town.It's the only form of contact he has with the outside world. Boo (Arthur Radley) is actually a very shy character who is often misjudged by society including scout and jem. As the story goes on, we find Scout beginning to realize Boo radelys true intentions and the situation when she tells Atticus that exposing Boo would be "sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?” Throughout the novel, Scout, Jem, and Dill are curious about the "mysterious" Boo Radley because he never comes outside from his house or associates with anyone in the neighborhood.

Another device that assists in portraying courage is through the characterization of one of the main focused characters, which during the whole duration of the novel was flat and static, Atticus Finch. In the narrative, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus shows many daring moments, as a lawyer and father, he is a role model to not only the coloreds’ in Maycomb community but including the kids, Jem and Scout. To Scout, he speaks to her about fighting all the time because of what people say about him and he tells her a bit of advice, “… You may hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change… it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning.” (76) Since his daughter, Scout, was already hearing so many negative feedback from many people in Maycomb including the kids her age, she had got into it with a classmate of hers, Cecil Jacobs, after verbalizing how Atticus “defends

Courage is the ability to persevere with determination and bravery even when fear is present. Atticus Finch, a protagonist in To Kill Mockingbird, is a character that the most shows courage throughout the book. He exhibits courage by doing and saying what others don’t what to. He does what’s right despite others going against it or saying it’s wrong. In his town, he’s surrounded by wrong and bad morals, but still sticks to his own morals and decisions.

In To Kill A Mockingbird the author, Harper Lee, tells the characters time and again show courage not only in their actions but also in their personalities as individuals. Throughout the story we are informed on: Scout, Jem, and Dill. They all show courage in the things they do around Maycomb as in: school, home, the Radley house, Mrs. Dubose, and several places throughout Maycomb. The children’s feelings towards Boo Radley are in a way mixed, when I say mixed I mean they feel intimidated, a little scared, but also the feel sorry for him since he’s always inside. We also observe Atticus’ courage in defending an african american, which at the time was a big deal especially in the south.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses Atticus Finch to teach a lesson of bravery and perseverance to his children and the reader. His choice to continue to defend Tom Robinson contributes to the credibility of his lesson. When asked about this case by Scout, he tells her, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Lee 87). Atticus shows courage even when he is first appointed to defend Tom Robinson by trying his best to win. He truly believes in the innocence of Tom, but racial prejudice prevents whites from confirming it.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously once said, “The only thing to fear is fear itself”. What Roosevelt really meant by saying this is that the fear we have for something or someone will only make it worse. Courage, most often times, can be defined by the actions that someone makes as a result to something that they fear. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main characters, Atticus, Scout, and Jem, face many fearful obstacles in which they have to overcome their fears to move through them. Although many readers may believe that Jem displays the most courage, Atticus is the one who truly displays the most courage due to the fact that he had to face many difficult tasks in the courtroom and at home. Despite all the hatred he received

In the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird", Atticus Finch is one of the bravest men whom the protagonist has ever met. In his definition of "real courage", he says "It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what."(Lee 149) He demonstrates this type of courage by taking on the Tom Robinson case. Provided that he knows this will affect him and his family, he does hence anyway. I agree with his opinion on courage. To do the morally correct, despite it being considered a disapproved decision by others, requires bravery. A personal observation of mine was when I watched two doctors leave their stations to go help someone in intense and immediate need. They were explicitly told not, however,

“Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success.”(Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe)In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee states that bravery and courage are favorable traits that build character and make one stronger. She suggests this through Atticus deciding to defend Tom Robinson and Mrs. Dubose defeating her morphine addiction. There are many examples of this, but these two stood out the most.

Jem and Scout look up to Atticus and have the highest regard for him. Atticus purposefully teaches his kids valuable life lessons such as do not kill a mockingbird, stand in other people’s shoes, and show respect. When they learn about a “non-boring” secret--he is the best shooter in town-- from Atticus’s “boring” life, they learn yet another life lesson, in addition to Atticus’s overarching lesson, do not kill a mockingbird, an innocent life, but they also learn about what is important in life. Atticus “kills a mockingbird”, the dog, in order to protect his family. The fact that Jem wants to stay “humble” about his father’s skill with a gun while Scout wants to “brag” individualizes the two characters.

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them,” Walt Disney once said. Having courage is challenging knowing how other people might judge you, but having courage takes courage. Imagine what the world would be like today if Martin Luther King would have just stood by and not have fought for his dream. Atticus Finch has a dream of equality and he is courageous enough to fight for what he believes in. Atticus’ dream has affected not only the people that live within the town of Maycomb, but he has inspired the readers all over the world. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is the most admirable character because he is courageous.

Although we only see Boo only once in the whole novel, he plays an important role in the story’s plot. His image evolves though the story (especially in the eyes of Scout and Jem), from a creepy “malevolent phantom” to a kind human being. Boo Radley extends his care to Scout and Jem, even though at times, they were taunting him. This perfectly depicts the underlying theme of the mockingbird; that Boo Radley is friendly and good-natured, even when he is tormented. In the last chapter, Scout directly refers to Boo as a mockingbird, by saying: “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin‘ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”