Atticus Finch Courage

Courage is defined as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty” (Merriam-Webster). In the fictional novel by Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird, multiple characters show courage by standing up for themselves and not letting the words or actions of others affect them. In this novel, Atticus Finch is a single father of two children, Jem and Scout. They live in the small county of Maycomb, Alabama, where Atticus struggles to make ends meet as a lawyer. Atticus, Scout, and Boo Radley are all characters that display courage in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Throughout the novel, Atticus demonstrates his courage by doing what's morally right, and by respecting everyone and everything. For example, there is

One example of this idea is in Chapter 9 of the novel when Scout is visiting her family. Her cousin Francis calls Atticus a “nigger-lover,” and Scout gets angry with him, not tolerating it at first. She carefully aims, or “dr[aws] a bead on him,” and then drops her fists and walks away, with “Scout’s a cow-ward!” ringing in her ears (Lee 102). She withdraws because even though she is able to protect herself, she is mature enough to stop when things get out-of-hand. Another exemplification of this idea occurs when Atticus almost gets attacked by a mob. One of the members picks up Jem forcefully, and Scout says “‘Don’t you touch him!” (Lee 204). She then “kick[s] the man swiftly” (Lee 204). This passage shows that Scout is not only confident in protecting herself, but that she is confident in protecting others, such as her father. Scout shows courage by standing up for herself no matter the consequences, and by being proud of

In the last chapter of the novel, Scout and Jem are walking home for Scout’s pageant, when they suddenly get attacked by Bob Ewell. Coming to their rescue, Boo Radley kills Mr. Ewell, saving the children’s lives— “To my way of thinking, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight—to me, that’s a sin” (Lee 369-370). Boo’s act of courage saves Jem and Scout’s lives, and Sheriff Tate realizes that and wants to prevent Boo from getting in trouble. Boo’s courage is also shown by the fact that he even comes out of his house at all. His reputation is so awful, that many others would never even think about leaving their house. At one point in the novel, Jem says to his sister, “Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 304). This line occurs before Boo Radley saves Scout and Jem, so after this event, Jem appreciates Boo, and realizes that he has more courage than originally thought. Boo is a character who shows no signs of fear, even though it may not seem like it at first, and his generosity and fearlessness make him a memorable, courageous