How Does Atticus Show Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

TKAM ESSAY

There are many characteristics in humans that are truly remarkable, some are rarer than others, some better than others, one example of a rare and remarkable characteristic is courage. One might define courage as when a person goes into a task and odds are against him/her, but he/she still puts forth all of their effort. Many people believe that they have courage but when it comes down to it they crack under the pressure and don't know what to do or how to look at it from a different angle. For example, In To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee, one of the main theme revolves around courage. This characteristic is not only shown through Atticus taking the court trial but also in other characters in other stories such as the Emmett

During Atticus’s closing speech for the trial he addresses the audience and says, "You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women—black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire”(Lee 232) While Atticus is talking he changes his tone in order to address the audience on a more personal level to try to make an impact on someone's mind. In everyone's mind Tom is bad because he is Black, through this quote Atticus tries to make the audience see that Tom is a man, and that some men are bad and some are good but Atticus just wants them to look at the evidence to decide if Toms guilty or not, and to try to make them see that everyone is capable of making mistakes not just black people. Atticus says this so that some people may form a new opinion if Tom is guilty or not guilty. After Atticus’s closing argument prior to the verdict, Jem was very confident based upon the evidence presented that Tom would be not guilty, after the trial Jem was very upset and crying about the harsh reality of the case case, while he is talking to Atticus about this he says, “It ain’t right, Atticus”(Lee 242). Jem is finally maturing and realizing the harsh reality of Maycomb and the racism and prejudice in people's minds throughout their society. Jem learns that just because of the way you were born you are not given the same opportunities that others have just because of one factor, the color of your skin, not the way you act, or your reputation, but the color of your skin, something so little, but has such a massive impact on everyday life.