Examples Of Real Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

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What is Real Courage? Courage is not something people are born with. It is something that is learned. Atticus wanted to teach his children at a young age what real courage is. In chapter 11 of To Kill a Mockingbird Jem was complaining to Atticus about his having to deal with Mrs. Dubose. His father’s response was, I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win but sometimes you do. (128) Courage means taking the challenge when nobody else will, and To Kill a Mockingbird offers many prime examples of it. When thinking of courageous characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, there are three characters that come to mind. Atticus Finch, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley all showed great acts of courage. None of these characters showed courage in the same way, and the author, Harper Lee, did this on purpose so that she could make a strong point about courage in this book.…show more content…
He stood up for what he believed in even though he knew, without a doubt, he would catch grief for it. Atticus did not fear opposition, he overcame it, with courage. For instance, when he went to the jailhouse that night to be with Tom Robinson, he knew there was a chance of violence but went anyway. Atticus even told Jem, “He might have hurt me a little,” but because of his own daughter’s courage the crowd dispersed (179). Yet Atticus showed the greatest courage when he fought for a black man, and put up with all of the rude and threatening comments from the town of Maycomb. He did what nobody else in the town would do, and took a stand. As Miss Maudie said, “...there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them” (245). It was not easy for him but through it he proved he was a true courageous
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