To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus Courage Quotes

Atticus’ courage is shown in multiple ways through his court actions and his stand against racial discrimination. For instance, as a lawyer, Atticus defends the innocent, despite controversial thoughts of others, this is proven true in the Tom Robinson court case. During this discriminative period, most African Americans brought to court for an accused crime were deemed guilty, despite the clear evidence that proved their innocence. When Jem thought Atticus’ defense of Tom will bring Tom to justice, Reverend Sykes said: “I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man”(Lee 279). This proves Atticus’ courage because he chose to fight for a colored man to prove that he is not guilty of an alleged crime, despite knowing the usual outcome of the case and the disapproval he will receive from others.

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” (Lee 149). Atticus’ quote of courage foreshadows the results of the trial, he knew the end result of the trial, but he fought against it anyways, although he did not win. Another act that justifies Atticus’ courage is keeping Calpurnia despite Aunt Alexandra’s strong disagreement. Atticus said: “She’s a faithful member of this family and you’ll have to simply accept things the way they are” (Lee 182), this reveals Atticus’ courage because he kept Calpurnia even though there are controversies of having an African American house member as shown by Alexandra. Another example of courage is that Atticus continues to read to Scout even with the disapproval of her teacher, Miss Fisher, this shows Atticus’ ability and courage to keep a strong bond with his children by reading despite the teacher saying that his ways of teaching was