Bravery is the state of showing mental and/or moral strength to face danger, fear or difficulty. A significant theme in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is bravery, and Harper Lee uses many of the characters and circumstances to demonstrate courage. In the first chapter, Dill convinced Jem and Scout to go into the Radley yard, and it took Jem three days to build the courage to go through with it. In chapter one it explains, “It took Jem three days to get up the nerve. I suppose he loved honor more than his head, for Dill wore him down easily: “You’re scared,” Dill said, the first day. “Ain’t scared, just respectful,” Jem said. The next day Dill said, “You’re too scared even to put your big toe in the front yard.” Jem said he reckoned he wasn’t, he’d passed the Radley Place every school day of his life.” (18) This statement proves that even though …show more content…
That lead to Jem overcoming their fear of Boo and even become friends with him. Boo later begins to leave them little trinkets in a tree, returns Jem’s pants, and puts a blanket over Scout’s shoulders at the fire. Later in the story, Atticus holds up Mrs. Dubose as the ultimate definition of bravery, she shows us bravery throughout the book as she battles her addiction to morphine. As mentioned in the story, "Her head moved slowly from side to side. From time to time she would open her mouth wide, and I could see her tongue undulate faintly. Cords of saliva would collect on her lips; she would draw them in, then open her mouth again. Her mouth seemed to have a private existence of its own.” (111) Mrs. Dubose is a good model of courage because she recognizes she has a flaw and that she needs to fix. She uses Jem’s weekly reading sessions to distract her. She goes through a time of withdrawal that is difficult to survive. As the children get to know her, though, they realize how brave she is dealing with her problems. In chapter nine, Atticus is prepared to defend a black man on such a serious charge