ipl-logo

To Kill A Mockingbird Loss Of Courage Essay

479 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on courage in to kill a mockingbird

Everyone has something they fear. Before overcoming these struggles a person must build up the courage to do so. Multiple obstacles occur in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird that require such courage. Characters such as Calpurnia, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose are all faced with different obstacles. These personal struggles are defeated by each character applying the courage they possess. Most people are exposed to someone facing addiction at some point during their life; whether its someone you know personally or a public figure. Also, most people are aware of the amount of courage it takes to overcome. Mrs. Dubose, Scout and Jem’s “mean” neighbor, was struggling with a morphine addiction but refused to go down without a fight. …show more content…

Also throughout the course of this novel, Boo places items in the knot of a particular tree for Scout & Jem. However, the last “item” gifted to Scout and Jem is much more valuable than anything previously received. “He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch & chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, & our lives,”(242) is referring to the courageous moment Boo saved Scout and Jem’s lives. Lee states, “Thank you for my children, Arthur” (242). This is expressing to the amount of gratitude Atticus bestows upon Boo and how much courage someone would need to possess in order to complete what Boo has. These are just a few of the instances where courage is evident in this novel. Before reading To Kill a Mockingbird I believed courage was the ability and willingness to use strength to get your way. However, Harper Lee’s words have changed my perspective on the idea of courage. Atticus defines courage as “…when you know you 're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (Lee 115). Courage isn’t defined by rather you win or lose. It is about thinking long and hard about what 's right, instead of relying on personal prejudice, and then doing what 's right whether you win or

Show More
Related
434 Words | 2 Pages

In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” there was a lot of courage. Courage means the ability to do something that frightens one. It takes a brave person to show courage. In the book a lot of the characters showed courage in their own way. More into the book, you’ll see more courage from the characters.

Read More
534 Words | 3 Pages

Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee’s very definition, “Real courage is when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” Courage comes up so many times in this story throughout almost every single character. The characters that I will be proving the acts of courage in in this essay are Mr. Heck Tate, Mr. Dolphus Raymond, Aunt Alexandra, and Miss Maudie. Theses characters may not show quite as much courage as some of the others but they do help prove what real courage is. Heck Tate is the sheriff of Maycomb County, which means his job is to protect and serve the people of his jurisdiction.

Read More
558 Words | 3 Pages

Dubose, we see examples of bravery through her experiences of her addiction to morphine and her racial prejudice. She is the perfect model of courage because she recognizes she has a problem that she has to fix before she dies. Atticus states, “(Courage) is knowing you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.

Read More
634 Words | 3 Pages

He’s dead” (266). When Jem and Scout are attacked, Boo jumps in and bravely fights off Bob Ewell. After the incident, Atticus tells Boo, “thank you for my children” (276). Boo has an abundance of courage, risking unwanted attention and risking his

Read More
919 Words | 4 Pages

With Atticus’s unexpected acts of braveness, Boo Radley’s surprising changes in character, and Mrs. Dubose’s true intentions for her actions, Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird shows that things are not always as they seem as the theme

Read More
325 Words | 2 Pages

Abigail Poore 1st period 10/29/15 There are many examples of courage in To Kill a Mockingbird. Courage means having the confidence to do something. The three main characters that show courage are Atticus, Mrs. Dubose, and Jem Finch. All the characters show courage, just in different ways. First, Atticus shows courage by defending a black, and no one in the town agrees with his decision.

Read More
663 Words | 3 Pages

Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird When the word courage is thrown into a conversation, most think about the courageous hero in tall tales saving towns, countries, or the world. Never, do people think of an inner courage within themselves or between one other person. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee demonstrated courage in many different situations, in which a few will be mentioned later on. This novel circles around a young girl named Scout, and her close friends and family. Scout's father, Atticus, is a lawyer defending an African American man, which seems to be socially unacceptable in this time period.

Read More
963 Words | 4 Pages

People have in mind that courage is about being able to save other peoples’ lives and risking your own, or to climb Mount Everest, or to jump from the top of a high building. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, real courage is demonstrated in a different and encouraging way. Real courage is shown as fighting for what is believed in and what is most important, regardless of whether you win or lose. Atticus and Scout are two characters who define courage perfectly. The reasons why Atticus shows courage is that he argued the best he could to defend the innocent man from going to jail since he knew that no one else would.

Read More
666 Words | 3 Pages

Courage in it’s purest form is defined by one’s actions and intentions. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is full of innocence and bravery, displayed by characters throughout the story. Over the course of the story, the readers see development in the characters. Each character develops in their own way but it essentially becomes that each character understands more about the controversial issues in this book.

Read More
1449 Words | 6 Pages

“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare,” said Mark Twain. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age story about two young children, Jem and Scout Finch, growing up in Alabama in the 1930s and learning what real courage is through their father, Atticus, and the people of Maycomb. They learn to see the world from other points of view, which is also how they express empathy towards others, persevering and standing up for what you believe in, and putting yourself in danger to help others. One message that Harper Lee provides us with is that courage is when you persevere to do something even when it gets more difficult.

Read More
675 Words | 3 Pages

Courage “Courage is simply the willingness to be afraid and act anyways” - Dr. Robert Anthony. In courage is one of the main themes. There are many examples of courage in the book. Atticus shows courage in many ways and parts of the book and so do many other characters. In To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus shows courage towards Tom in a couple ways and Boo Radley shows courage.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

Martin Luther King stated: “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles...there comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right.” This quote is relevant throughout To Kill a Mockingbird because courage is a quality that most of the main characters possess. Taking place in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of two children named Scout and Jem. Their eyes are opened to who their neighbors really are when their father is appointed to defend an African American accused of rape in a prejudice town. The children grow up as the trial hypnotizes the citizens, and the reader sees courage

Read More
658 Words | 3 Pages

Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird: Critical Essay Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird covers many themes, throughout the novel. But, but there are major ones that stand out such as . Racism, injustice, and prejudice. are the main themes in the book. This novel is set in the early 1900s in Maycomb County, Alabama.

Read More
929 Words | 4 Pages

You rarely win, but sometimes you do” (112). Atticus then reveals she was addicted to painkillers but was determined to overcome her addiction before dying. To help her forget about her suffering, he made Jem read to her. In contrast to Jem's impression of courage as violent and hypermasculine, this perspective reframes courage as persistence through difficult times. While at the playground, Cecil Jacobs questions Scout as to why her father is defending an African American.

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird - Courage "Courage is when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" According to Atticus Finch, an honest lawyer in Harper Lee 's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. "Real courage" is when you fight for what is right regardless of whether you win or lose. Atticus fits into this definition of what "real courage" is and demonstrates it several times throughout the novel. "The only thing we 've got is a black man 's word against the Ewells '.

Read More

More about To Kill A Mockingbird Loss Of Courage Essay

Open Document