How Does Atticus Show Courage

Atticus shows true courage by defending Tom Robinson, a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Atticus continues to fight for justice despite knowing he can’t win the case because he is

“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” (Mark Twain) In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are not many characters that show moral courage. One particular character that shows moral courage is Atticus Finch. This character always does what he believes is right. Atticus shows courage not by being aggressive or killing, but by standing up for what he believed in a sophisticated and determined way. Atticus whose moral courage is

In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus defending Tom Robinson is an act of standing against racism. Today there are so many protest about racism that end in violence that solve nothing. If people went about things like this everybody would end up with a better outcome. That is another problem using hate and violence to try to force change will never work. Atticus stood up for what he believed in because he saw injustice in what was happening. He is only one person, but he was hoping to influence the community and have everyone believe, people are equal no matter what skin color. Mr. Robinson was

The Jim Crow laws were everything but fair, and equal. Jim Crow is the name they used in the laws on separating the African Americans from the Caucasian men and women. These laws deprived African Americans from their civil rights because of the many things they were not allowed to experience due to these laws. Jim Crow laws oppressed the educational rights, voting rights, and social freedoms of American citizens, this essay will be discussing the oppression of these rights and freedoms.

Jim Crow Laws were mainly found in the southern states of the the US, but could also sometimes be found in northern states. These laws were created around the time the 14th amendment was created in which all races had the right to vote. Jim Crow Laws were meant to limit the freedom of Africans-American. These laws included,”A black male could not offer his hand to a white man” and that blacks and whites were not suppose to eat together. An African-American couldn’t even look in the direction of a white person without being punished.

Atticus is courageous for defending a black man accused of rape,Tom Robinson, against a white women ,Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell’s daughter, in a predjest community and be ridiculed by people in his community, friends and family included. Atticus has the courage to stand up for what he believes in and takes ridicule from people in his community to defend Tom Robinson even when he knows he will lose the case. Atticus says to uncle Jack ”’It couldn’t be worst, Jack. The only we’ve got is a black mans words against the Ewells’. The evidence boils down the you did it-I didnt. The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson's word against the Ewells…’’’. This shows Atticus is courageous because he knows people are angry and saying he is wrong and he still stands up for what he believes in and defends Tom Robinson when he knows he's losing the case in the end. Atticus is courageous for standing up for what he believes is

There were several trials held throughout the case of the Scottsboro Boys. Most of them were unfair and obviously conducted with the odds stacked against the boys. The testimonies given by the two girls often did not match up. Victoria Price spent the most time on the stand, and on the rare occasion that Ruby Bates testified, most of what she said was disregarded because it contradicted or changed Price’s story. It was concluded that anything Bates said was no good because she was dimwitted and could not keep her story straight.

Undoubtedly, one of the most controversial subjects in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, would be whether or not Atticus Finch should have defended Tom Robinson. However, in order to understand this controversy, a person must first be able to understand Atticus Finch himself. Atticus as a character is a very intellectual person who possesses the fortitude to stand up for whatever he believes is right and will not let other people’s choices affect his own. Furthermore, it is also important to understand that Atticus is not a racist, nor does he approve of the idea that one group of people are better than another based on their appearances in general, and because of this, a person can generalize that Atticus’s characteristic traits are why he did not complain when given the task of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who had been wrongfully accused of raping a white woman. A man that he, as well as a small group of other people from town, viewed as the picture of innocence. In their eyes, Tom was no more than a mockingbird, “[and mockingbirds] don’t do one thing but make music for [people] to enjoy” (Lee 119). Knowing this, anyone with a reasonably strong sense of what is right and what is wrong can conclude that it does make sense for Atticus Finch to have taken the case due to his belief that it is a sin to kill the innocent as well as his courage that allows him to stay true to his ideas, even though when taking the case, he was inevitably going to be putting his

The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. “The most common types of laws forbade intermarriage and ordered business owners and public institutions to keep their black and white clientele separated.”(1) A vast majority of the Southern States agreed upon the Jim Crow Laws, which were slave states. That left some of the Northern States free states which didn’t pass the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws prevented African Americans from doing a lot of things that white americans could do.

It took an unimaginable amount of courage for Atticus to take the Tom Robinson case knowing he and his children would be harassed by all the other townspeople. For instance, when “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an' that nigger oughta hang from the water tank” (105). Also, Atticus knew he had a very low chance of succeeding in winning the case, but he took it anyways. He knows the town will think differently about him solely because he is defending a black man. He also knows that his children will be shown a lot of hatred. Even knowing this, Atticus takes the case and tries his best. Not only did he know he would take hatred, he also knew he would lose. But, he knew this case would define who he was “every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally”(96). While talking to the Judge he knows that he will most likely not win, but that does not change his mind. He knows just because Tom Robinson is black that he will not win. The Jury will see the white man who claims his white daughter was raped and believe him with no doubt. No matter what Atticus says to try to change the jury’s mind, he knows he can only try his best. To summarize, Atticus shows courage knowing not only that the town would hate him, but also that he would lose the

In the novel, Atticus Finch is used 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 other whites from confirming

After the Civil War, most Southern and Border States deprived the basic rights of African Americans. Jim Crow was a fictitious character created by a white entertainer to ridicule African Americans. The laws were made in an attempt to keep African Americans away from whites after slavery ended (“Examples of Jim Crow”). The Jim Crow laws affected education, health care, and social events. “From Delaware to California, and from North Dakota to Texas, many states (and cities, too) could impose legal punishments on people for consorting with members of another race” (“Jim Crow Laws”). These punishments could be brutal or sometimes fatal.

Many people work diligently to attain the character trait courage. Courage cannot be easily accomplished as the definition of courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty. Courage is shown in the book To Kill A Mockingbird, as Atticus bravely defends a black person, Tom Robinson during history where racism was vivid. The theme of courage is ideally present via Scout and Boo Radley from the book To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee.

Let’s start from the very beginning. The term Jim Crow, originally came from a song performed by a struggling white actor, Thomas Dartmouth or Daddy Rice. In 1828, Rice performed this song as a exaggerated and stereotypical black impersonator. Rice weared burnt corked to darken his face, “black makeup.” The show was a completely success for white audiences, and soon helped the belief that blacks were lazy, stupid, inherently less human, and unworthy of integrations. By 1887, Jim crow began to be seen less as a term to describe blacks, but the term used to describe the Black Codes, which oppressed blacks with segregation laws, rules, and customs.

When Tom Robinson was convicted of a crime and sent to a trial that he had no chance at winning, he had lost any bit of innocence that he would ever get. In a time where the black community faced constant prejudice and discrimination, it was near impossible for any African American to be let off as innocent for any crime. And the sad part to it is that a lot of the blacks sent to trials and jail weren't even guilty of any crime at all, they were innocent. Tom Robinson was sent to a trial for the rape and beatings of Mayella Ewell. No one believed Tom on his innocence and when Atticus, his lawyer at the case, hands down proved his innocence, he was still going to be convicted as guilty. If it had come down to where they had to sit in front of another jury and do the same thing over and prove his innocence again, he still would probably be convicted as a guilty man. In the end Tom would be sentenced as guilty on not fact, or logic but by wrong prejudice ideas. With the broken judicial system and sideways beliefs of the time Tom Robinson lost any little hope he could ever wish for, he was completely stripped of his innocence.