Theme of Courage in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

A remarkable American soldier and author named William T. Sherman once stated, “Courage, a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure It.” Going against what society says and sticking to your beliefs is an act of courage. In the realistic fiction novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, an average southern family, the Finches, fights against the racism of a small town. Harper Lee’s message is expressed by symbolism through the two characters Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, the bildungsroman of Scout, and the hero archetype of Atticus .Harper Lee portrays that courage should be shown through loyalty not popularity.

"Courage isn't an absence of fear. It's doing what you are afraid to do. It's having the power to let go of the familiar and forge ahead into new territory." ~John Maxwell. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout (Jean Louise Finch), Jem (Jeremy Atticus Finch), and Atticus Finch display acts of valor that contribute, and in some cases encourage their rectitude. Harper Lee demonstrates that acting courageously can lead to an improved, sustained, or newly developed personal integrity.

‘ 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. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever

In To Kill a Mockingbird courage does not concern winning or losing, but instead is revealed through fighting for what is right, no matter the consequences. Atticus explains this well when he says, “when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see through no matter what” (Chapter ). The novel contains many acts of courage such as Jem protecting his family, Atticus and his determination for justice and Ms Dubose's fight against her morphine

Atticus does not just go through the motions of representing Tom Robinson at his trial; instead he does what he knows is right; he defends an innocent man. This puts his own life at risk, as well as the lives of his children.

As a child, Harper Lee’s father took part in the Scottsboro boys case as a lawyer. This event in her life inspired her to write To Kill a Mockingbird, which takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. Her father, like Scout’s, was a lawyer in the case. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee foreshadows a loss of innocence through the significance of snow, the white camellia, and the mockingbird.

In Part One, Atticus Finch defines courage as “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” These words describe the actions of many characters in the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Two characters who display courage in the mindset of Atticus are Mrs. Doboes and Atticus himself. Both individuals were certain of the negative outcome of their struggles, however, both persevered anyway.

Tom Robinson an innocent, targeted man and a member of Maycomb County had been accused of raping a young girl with an abusive father, her name is Mayella. Atticus defended Tom Robinson and proved his innocence; Mayella continued to twist and lie about the story as her father threatened to beat her, when in reality the father was the guilty one after all; now of course everyone would believe Tom did it, he was a black man with a bad reputation with plenty of twisted rumors that pondered around the town, who would believe he was innocent? No one. Maycomb never thought for a second that a white man would ever do such a thing, even if so a black man would still be targeted due to the racism the town endured.

I wanted you to see something about her- I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that it is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you are 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. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew. (Lee 149)

In the novel she is the white women falsely accusing a black man, Tom Robinson of rape. During the trial Mayella admits that her father was abusive to her and was the whole reason that she is accusing Mr Robinson is because she fears her father. During Miss Mayella’s testimony she stated “I don't recollect if he hit me. I mean yes I do, he hit me.” ( Lee 185). Mayella’s weak testimony shows just how much she is being manipulated by her father. Mayella is completely dependent on her father. The lack of confidence shows just how much of an impact he has had on her.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, This essay is going to prove how Atticus and Mrs. Dubose both show their own version of moral courage and how it has influenced others in this novel. The first point is that Atticus shows moral courage by fighting for what he believes in, no matter the consequence or the result. The second point is how Mrs. Dubose shows a specific meaning of moral courage by overcoming a tough physical and mental obstacle.

As people rush from a burning building, smoke filling the blue brushed sky, a man runs in to save a child stuck under a fallen support beam. Is this “true courage”? What is true courage? True courage could be defined as a way or feeling that prompts someone to do something and makes that person able to do it. How do people display true courage?

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a small Alabama town named Maycomb. The time frame is the same as the Great Depression. This is a time in American history where racial relations are defined by separation. The protagonist of this story, Atticus Finch, is a somewhat prosperous lawyer.

The book shows great examples of work life, and the fight for justice. To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around an African American man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white woman. In the 1930’s, many African American men were wrongly accused of serious crimes, such as rape and murder. The issue of racism is brought up when Scout overhears her teacher saying that it's a great thing that this is happening to Tom

“Courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (112). According to Atticus Finch, a wise honourable lawyer in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. True courage is standing up for what one believes in until the very end. Atticus faces multiple occasions where he must choose between just and justice such as his disposition to defend Tom Robinson and contradict his morals. Scout, through her brave actions, overcomes her age boundary.