To Kill A Mockingbird Essay On Courage

The title of being courageous is often deemed only to those whose acts are extravagant, ones that echo far throughout humanity. It is believed these acts come from those who know no fear, those whose limbs never tremble, and those whose calmest state is still braver than that of an adrenaline rushed man. However, some of the greatest forms of courage do not come from these people; instead, they arise from those who stand on top of their fear and remain well aware of the probability of their failure. Such triumphs have found their way into a multitude of classic stories, such as To Kill a Mockingbird. In this novel, author Harper Lee expresses that the greatest test of courage is the willingness to be defeated through the use of conflict and

After spending a month reading to Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, an old woman simply regarded as “plain hell” (6), Jem and Scout learn what was truly destroying her—a morphine addiction. Atticus delivers the news of her death to the children, respectfully addressing her as the “bravest person I ever knew” (112). Prescribed morphine as a pain killer, it would have been perfectly acceptable for someone as sick as Mrs. Dubose to die still grasping the drug, however, she decided that, instead, she was going to die “beholden to nothing and nobody” (111). The old woman used Jem’s reading as a distraction, and although she most likely wasn’t listening to a word the boy was saying, every day she set the alarm clock a bit later, forcing her frail 98 pound body to resist the urges of the morphine’s relief. With her situation, becoming addicted to the morphine was practically inevitable and reversing it would an incredibly difficult task, especially with only a few months to live. All the more, Mrs. Dubose accepted that fact and displayed true courage as she endured extreme pain just so she would leave the world with no loose ends. Afterword, during Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout and Dill discover Dolphus Raymond’s secret. Previously, the children had known him as an alcoholic who spent all his time with colored people despite being a privileged white man. When Dill takes a sip of Mr.