In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee reveals that even if the battle is lost before the start there still needs to be a fight. On the very first page Harper Lee includes an example of this theme. “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury” (Lee 1). When he was 13 Jem almost breaks his arm and it ends up being crippled but he still persevered and played football. In fact his fears were erased. Later in the book when Scout first goes to school, her teacher expects the class to not know how to read. “‘Now you tell your father not to teach you any more. It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I’ll take over from here and try to undo the damage-’” (Lee 19). She still continues reading with her dad secretly even if her teacher does not approve of it. She still acts like she doesn't read at home too. This is a good example for the theme because even though the school curriculum does not want her to read she still practices at home with Atticus. …show more content…
“‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,’ Atticus said.” (Lee 78). Atticus was defending a black man accused of rape in the 1930s. Maycomb is an extremely racist town, and Atticus stands almost no chance defending Tom Robinson but he will try to because that is what he thinks is