The rare quality of courage is highly praised in society today. For some, courage entails daring feats of bravery; for others, it simply means doing the right thing, whatever the outcome. In her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee switches many of the traditional stereotypes. Children and old folks display outstanding valor, while grown, able-bodied men exude extreme cowardice. Those who have courage in the novel risk their safety and reputation. While many characters in the book show bravery, the actions of Atticus, Jem, and Scout Finch remain the most prominent.
Out of all the characters in Lee’s book, Atticus demonstrates the most courage. He commits to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, in court, a deed that costs him the respect and social status he once had with many whites in the town. He helps Tom outside of court as well, going so far as to face a mob of angry men to protect him. When explaining his position to Jem, he says, “Courage is… when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (149). Though many in the town talk badly about him, Atticus sticks to defending Tom
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As if passed down from father to son in the gene pool, his son Jem also shows remarkable ability to conquer his fears. Though for a time he would not even go by the Radley property without running, his friend Dill eventually coaxes him to touch the house and even sneak into the gate at night. After Mr. Radley shoots at him, Jem goes back to the house to retrieve his pants. Later, when a group of men arrive at his house to tell Atticus of the possible danger that Tom faced that night, Jem sneaks out of the house again to make sure his father remains safe. “I’ve just got this feeling”, he says when Dill asked about the trip (199). Even though peer pressure incites many of his daring acts, Jem manifests himself as one of the most courageous characters in the
Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a novel that takes place in a small town, called Maycomb, in Alabama, narrated by Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Scout learns how to deal with many things in everyday life, including racism and criticism. While learning about these things, she finds that courage is being shown by not only herself, but by other role models around her, including her father, Atticus Finch. The theme of courage is very significant in the novel.
Moral Courage is having the courage to go against other people 's’ morals and do what you believe is right . Most of the time there are obstacles in the way of doing so, such as people, the community, and yourself. Most stories that use Moral Courage as a theme usually include a character overcoming one of these obstacles and showing Moral Courage. In the Book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” various characters struggle to do what they believe is right by taking action and going against the ideas of other characters. By using Conflict, they way the Characters’ ideas contradict with each others, and Setting, Harper Lee is able to create a story that teaches in detail about Moral Courage.
Courage is a common occurrence everywhere in the world, especially back in the 1900s when colored people were thought to be different because of their skin color. In the book “ To kill a mockingbird” By Harper Lee, courage is shown all throughout the book, from Scout, a 8 year old girl, to Jem and Atticus, her brother and her father. Courage allows them to protect the ones they love, grow exponentially, and to stand up for what they believe is right. First of all, Jem demonstrates courage when Scout claims to have found a snake under her bed, she says “ I think there’s a snake under my bed, can you come look?”(Lee,185)
Courage is a key part of life and some people are more courageous than others. In Harpers Lee novel TKAM set in the racist town of Maycomb County, where everyone is blood related and everyone knows each other. Atticus, Scout, and Jem are the three main characters that exhibit courage: Atticus takes on an unwinnable case, Scout by sticking up to a mob, and Jem by not backing down.
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird there are many different types of people. Including people that show courage, boldness, growing up, also people who were killed trying to get out of prison which they shouldn’t even have been there and were only there because a little girl could not tell the TRUTH, and other people that show intelligence. We are going to be talking about one of the people that showed courage Atticus Finch. Now see Atticus Finch was a good man who although got criticised openly he was actually well respected in the town of maycomb. Now you see he was criticised because he was trying to free a man from going to prison for something he did not do.
Jem demonstrates the characteristics of braveness, imaginative and curiosity throughout the novel. Jem shows curiosity when Dill, Scout and him try to make Boo Radley come
One lesson in the book that I feel Jem learns as a part of growing up is moral courage. Atticus once told Jem that “courage is [not] a man with a gun in his hand. It 's when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Jem had always seen bravery as important and often tried to show the courage in him but only learnt about what moral courage really was through a series events that took place in the book.
Another thing was big and that really standed out by Jem was the way he would try to protect his sister. When they go attacked he would try to get up and help Scout out of her costume so she could run away, another thing is that he would fight back to when they got attacked to the point where he got knocked out. In the beginning of the book Jem go over his fear of the Radley’s house. Him and his sister would also try to avoid getting near the
To Kill a Mockingbird - Courage "Courage is when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" According to Atticus Finch, an honest lawyer in Harper Lee 's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. "Real courage" is when you fight for what is right regardless of whether you win or lose. Atticus fits into this definition of what "real courage" is and demonstrates it several times throughout the novel. "The only thing we 've got is a black man 's word against the Ewells '.
Harper Lee wants to tell us that it takes courage NOT to kill a mockingbird Courage and the symbol of the mockingbird are two of the most important, or in fact in my opinion the most important themes, which are addressed and displayed in the highly praised, but also controversial novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee. I will try to interpret these two motives and show how they are strongly connected to each other. There are many different types of courage and many people who all show it in their own personal way. If people talk about bravery and courage, they mostly think of the physical kind of courage. But there are also other kinds, which are often forgotten or cast aside by their big brother: moral and emotional courage.
One of the central themes of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the distinction between cowardice and courage. The narrative is set in the fictitious town of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s, and it centers on a number of events involving racial prejudice that the protagonists, Scout Finch and Jem Finch, experience and witness. The sibling pair finds themselves unraveling details relating to the trial of Tom Robinson, who was wrongfully accused of beating and raping a young white woman, through their father, Atticus Finch. Following the narrative through the eyes and conflicts of young Scout Finch, Lee suggests that courage is standing up for what is right in the face of hardship and fear, as opposed to cowardice, which entails succumbing
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout, Calpurnia, and Atticus stand out when courage comes to mind. These characters show courage in many unique ways with different situations. In the early 1930s, in the deep south, racial discrimination was a huge conflict, for example, the Jim Crows Laws were in play, and it legalized segregation between blacks and whites. Courage isn’t always shown in situations, but simply throughout growing up.
"Jem, 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 see it through no matter what. " This insightful statement was told by Atticus Finch to his son, Jem Finch. Many people in Maycomb had to deal with racism, hatred, and discrimination because of their skin color or because of the court case.
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines courage as the ability to do something that frightens one. Many characters in Harper Lee’s mid 20th century novel To Kill a Mockingbird display courage in numerous ways. One character however, jumps out. When first reading the book, most people would say that courage is displayed by those like Jem, Scout, Tom, or Atticus.
Atticus is displaying true courage by doing what’s right no matter the ridicule and racism they will go through. This strongly impacts scout and Jem and reflects on them the true meaning of courage. Atticus also develops Jem and Scout 's sense of character by teaching them to be the mature one in a situation. After the torment off all the townsfolk about Tom Robinson 's case Atticus tells them that "…no matter how bitter things get, they 're still our friends and this is still our home" (76).