The central idea of To Kill A Mockingbird is Bravery. A quote used in the story that Harper Lee uses to show this central idea is “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (30/34). This quote shows how some people can be brave. Many of the characters in the story were brave but the three i'm going to focus on are Atticus, Jem, and Arthur also known as “Boo”. Atticus, the father of Jem and Scout was very brave throughout the story. Atticus was chosen to fight on the behalf of a black man accused of rape. Back in the 1930s when this book takes place it was against the norm to fight on the behalf of a black man if you’re white. Atticus was chosen because they knew he would give Tom Robinson a fair trial. Due to this Atticus knew that people weren't going to like him. Atticus was bullied by Bob Ewell, who was the father of Mayella, the girl that accused tom of rape. A quote that Harper Lee used in the book that shows how Atticus is brave is “... every lawyer …show more content…
When Dill dares Jem to touch the Radleys door he does it. The Radleys are creepy people so to go and touch there door was brave. Also, another time Jem was brave was when he beat Mrs. Dubose flowers with a baton. As a punishment he had to read to her. Hes brave to go read to a person that he ruined her flowers and she's also addicted to morphine. The reading helps keep the morphine off her mind. She was dying you need to be a strong and brave person to be able to sit there and watch someone go through addiction withdrawal everyday. As Harper Lee says in the book “She was horrible. Her face was the color of a dirty pillowcase, and the corners of her mouth glistened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep grooves enclosing her chin ”(Lee 142). This shows how bad Mrs. Dubose was doing when Jem had to read to her. This is great bravery this can be a very scary situation to watch someone go