Atticus Finch Research Paper

Atticus Finch and Courage

True courage is something that is only shown during the toughest circumstances in life. We also see this theme in literature. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a character named Atticus is called upon to defend a black man in court. Atticus tries his best to help the man against the ideologies of the town. We can conclude from how Atticus dealt with the events surrounding the trial that he is a courageous man. Atticus showed his courage before the trial when he waited at the jail for an angry mob wanting to lynch his client, Tom Robinson. Much of the courage Atticus showed in this book was in the face of extreme prejudice and persecution. This event took place before the trial even happened, when Tom was being

Atticus knew about it, and stayed at the jail to top the mob. This was a very courageous move on Atticus’ part because the mob easily could have killed him, too. His determination is shown through a quote by his daughter Scout. “We saw Atticus look up from his newspaper. He closed it, folded it deliberately, dropped it in his lap, and pushed his hat to the back of his head. He seemed to be expecting them. (Lee 171).” Atticus could have left Tom to fend for himself, and stayed where he was safe. He chose not to, instead risking his life to defend a black man who was most likely going to be sentenced to death over the next few days. Atticus also showed his courage in court when he did everything in his power to establish Tom Robinson’s innocence. When he took the case, Atticus was expected to not actually care about the outcome. With his quiet daring, Atticus proved the town wrong. His entire reputation could have been ruined. Atticus couldn’t care less. He knew what was right, that Tom was innocent, and he should be firm in his beliefs. It took courage to take the word of a black man over that of a white woman. At the end of the trial Atticus stated, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is