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True Courage Definition

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What is the definition of true courage? In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee her story emphasizes the meaning of true courage through a series of social injustices encountered through the minds of two young children. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s, a time where nobody stood up for what is morally correct. The main characters Scout, and her brother Jem start off thinking immature actions reflected on dangerous activities is what courage is all about, but then as they experience others courageous actions, they develop an understanding of what courage really takes. From the examples of certain courageous and empathetic adults, Jem and Scouts ideas of what composes courage shift and they realize courage …show more content…

In Maycomb, Alabama racial discrimination occurred a lot. People has lots of prejudices against colored people, and it resulted in many social injustices. One being the trial of tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl, was convicted and sentenced to prison due to the discrimination against his race. Atticus teaches Jem and Scout the meaning of courage when he chooses to defend Tom Robinson, even knowing he wasn 't going to win the trial. He tells Scout and Jem that “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down” (76). Atticus is displaying true courage by doing what’s right no matter the ridicule and racism they will go through. This strongly impacts scout and Jem and reflects on them the true meaning of courage. Atticus also develops Jem and Scout 's sense of character by teaching them to be the mature one in a situation. After the torment off all the townsfolk about Tom Robinson 's case Atticus tells them that "…no matter how bitter things get, they 're still our friends and this is still our home" (76). This teaches Jem and Scout through Atticus 's lessons of empathy, and how to have a sense of selflessness towards everyone. Atticus is a great role model towards Jem and Scout, showing them his strong qualities so they can be passed on to changing Jem and Scouts character of themselves into better

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In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout, Calpurnia, and Atticus stand out when courage comes to mind. These characters show courage in many unique ways with different situations. In the early 1930s, in the deep south, racial discrimination was a huge conflict, for example, the Jim Crows Laws were in play, and it legalized segregation between blacks and whites. Courage isn’t always shown in situations, but simply throughout growing up.

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Most of them, if not all, showed true courage by standing up for what they believe in and keeping their heads up high. Harper Lee uses many scenes and key characters to develop the theme of real courage for instance, Jem, Atticus, and Miss Maudie go through a journey to discover, understand and to show that real courage is mental courage in the face of physical and emotional torment. Particularly, Harper Lee uses Jem Atticus Finch to show that courage means pushing through even though you know have already lost. In Chapter 11, Jem and Scout had many encounters with Mrs. Dubose.

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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 '.

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Jem further understood the true meaning of moral courage when he saw Atticus defending Tom Robinson, a black man. Although Atticus was hugely outnumbered and even cornered by Mr Cunningham and some other people, he did not back down from them. Instead, he seemed even more determined to win the case and prove Tom Robinson 's innocence to all of Maycomb County. Almost everyone in Maycomb County had criticised Atticus and his children for taking up the case of defending Tom Robinson and they were even called "nigger lovers" by many. At first, Jem did not understand why his father chose to defend Tom Robinson when he knew that people would whisper and gossip about it and that the possibility of him winning the case was very low.

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