The Courage to Free a Mockingbird

Atticus is one to set examples in public and at home around his children. Throughout the story Scout gets into fights with some of the other students at her school because her dad is defending an African American. “My fists were clenched and I was ready to let fly. Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more,” (Lee, 74). Scout wanted to defend her father and stick up for him. She asked Atticus why he was defending him and Atticus said, “For a number of reasons, the main one is if I didn’t I couldn’t hold my head up in this town, I couldn’t even represent this town in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to

Moreover, every other character in the story can be said to have courage, especially Atticus. The book revolves around Atticus and how he has no fear to defend a black man. Atticus is a lawyer that always had justice and never accepts injustice. He defends a black man named “Tom Robinson” who is accused of rapping a white girl whose own father had infact raped. “I’m simply defending a negro his name’s Tom Robinson” “The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (Lee,100). These quotes show that Atticus is not afraid and is brave enough to hold his head up in town even if he defended Tom, an inferior in their society. It also shows how well educated and mature he is that he even connects his job to his kids and he always tries to be good to be the best in his kids’ eyes. He wanted his kids to get along with other people and for them to learn courage from them like Mrs. Dubose, for example.

They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (chapter 10). One of the Character who fits the symbolic meaning of mockingbird is Boo Radley. He is a man who is regarded as mysterious and dangerous by the community . He shows his goodness by giving gifts to the children and saving their lives. Doing no harm to others and expects nothing to return. Just like it is sin to kill a mockingbird, in this case, Boo should not be kill . That's why Heck Tate insists Bob Ewell fell on his own

"I wanted to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun." What kinds of heroism and courage are shown in To Kill a Mockingbird? Discuss.

He displays his courage many times, but one of the strongest examples happens when he kills the rabid dog as illustrated by the following quote: “With movements so swift they seemed simultaneous, Atticus’s hand yanked a ball-tipped lever as he brought the gun to his shoulder. The rifle cracked Tim Johnson leaped, flopped over and crumpled on the sidewalk in a brown-and-white heap. He didn’t know what hit him”(Lee 127). Atticus’s actions saves his kids and the people of Maycomb. He hates shooting, so he has to overcome his own morals and fears in order to shoot the dog. In fact, Jem and Scout Did not even know that Atticus could use the gun. They are very proud and impressed by the brave act of their father. The strongest example of Atticus’s courage is when he defends Tom Robinson even though he knows there is good chance he will lose the case. Atticus explains his reason for defending Tom Robinson to Jem in the following: “ ‘For a number of reason’ said Atticus. ‘The main one is, if didn’t i couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature. I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again”(Lee 100). Atticus uses his own moral compass to decide what is right even though the society of Maycomb does not agree with him. This is true courage. He knows that people will hate him because he is defending a black man. Also, he knows that it could harm his

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

When Atticus gives the children a gun during the novel, he reminds them to “‘shoot all the bluejays’” they want “‘but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’” (Lee 93). Shooting a mockingbird is as cruel as taking advantage of a defenseless person. When Boo Radley kills Ewell in an attempt to save Scout and Jem, Atticus wants it to be known that Jem killed Ewell in an act of self-defense because he believes it to be the truth. Instead, the sheriff states that the public’s notion of the occurrence will be that Ewell confusedly fell on his own knife. He formulates the idea with much consideration for Boo Radley, not wanting Radley to receive a tremendous amount of attention from the people in town for knowing that he truly murdered Ewell. Atticus understandingly fears that his children’s respect for him will dissipate if he follows through with the plan, but Scout consoles him. Shooting a mockingbird is as cruel as taking advantage of a defenseless person. Therefore, as Scout says, creating a hero out of Boo would similarly “be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird” (Lee 282). Her statement is an extremely climatic moment, allowing the reader to understand that she has fully absorbed the

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.

Atticus demonstrates both definitions of courage in many parts of the novel. Atticus was talking to Scout when he said, “‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win’” (Lee 76). This demonstrates Atticus’s own definition of courage because he knows he’s not going to convince the jury that Tom was innocent but he was still going to put his best effort in and fight till the end. Equally important, Atticus shows little acts of courage throughout the

This shows a very strong example of how Harper Lee uses moral courage. “You know the court appointed him to defend this nigger.” “Yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it” (218). This quote supports my claim of Atticus having the moral courage because Atticus knows no one in Maycomb county likes the fact that he is defending an African American man to the best of his ability to save Tom Robinson’s life. Also another example is when Atticus talked to Scout and Jem about why he took on the case and didn’t back down. “Every lawyer gets one case in a lifetime that affects him personally, this one's mine I guess” (101). This quote is similar to my claim and shows how Harper Lee demonstrated courage in his characters because Atticus knew that this case would affect him personally because this was his first time defending an African American man. Atticus knew he would lose respect from the Maycomb community and there would be problems before and after the case was finished but he continued to defend Tom. Another example of how characterization was used by the use of mood is when Atticus killed the mad dog. “I haven’t shot a gun in 30 years-” (99). “ Besides that, he wore glasses. He was nearly blind in his left eye” (99). These quotes show courageous because Atticus wasn’t the only one that seen the mad dog. The sheriff of Maycomb, Calpurnia, Jem, Scout and others were at the scene too. Although sheriff Heck Tate was there, he wasn’t the one that killed the dog. Even though he was nervous because he hasn’t shot a gun in thirty years, Atticus shot him. Additionally he could barely see out of his left eye, the only eye he could really see out of was his right. He took this shot not knowing if he would hit him or miss, endangering himself and others. However, he was a hero that day and saved their

There are two different types of courage, physical and moral. Physical courage is facing fear using force or other physical means, while moral courage is defending what is right, even in the face of popular opinion. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, moral courage is a significant theme. Atticus Finch teaches his children, Jem and Scout, the importance of moral courage. Throughout the novel each character discovers courage in their unique experiences. By the end of the story, Jem and Scout’s idea of courage shifts and they learn the importance of moral bravery. Atticus, Jem, and Scout all learn or demonstrate the meaning of moral courage throughout the novel.

In addition, Jem is faced with a courageous situation in regards to the Radley house. His courage stems from fear of receiving a whipping from Atticus, and more important, his disapproval. Jem is willing to risk his life in order to save his father from showing disappointment. The threat of Mr. Radley waiting for the intruder with his gun instills fear within Jem. However, Jem overcomes this fear in order to sustain Atticus' faith. Being the only and eldest son places pressure upon Jem to set an example and implant pride within his father. The possibility of being shot is an obstacle Jem must overcome with mental courage, which he does. Lastly, Jem also shows mental courage when he stops himself from bragging about Atticus and how he was a very good shooter. When Atticus shot the mad dog, Jem found out that his father was a very good shooter and he wanted to tell everyone in school about it. But, he knew that Atticus did not consider a man with a gun in his hand real courage and so Jem kept quiet and did not brag about it, which took mental discipline and courage on his part.

This quote shows that,when Jem realises his dad wasn’t what he portrayed to be and that he was a real courageous person. It also shows the courage that Atticus has to shoot the dog when he knows his family is watching him and will be surprised,but for the sake of maycomb county he shoots the dog anyway.

She later talks about the conflict with him and he gave her some advice on how to handle the situation, for the next time it comes up again, that instead of fighting for him, for her to still stand tall and be the better person even if it doesn’t help those who are depicting their ignorance. Atticus shows Scout the meaning of courage instead of being like everyone else, a coward and ill-mannered. Another quote to compliment Atticus as a very brave character would be when they experienced the passing of Mrs. Dubose, he used her as an example of courage, “…I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his