To Kill a Mockingbird

What is courage? Does courage define a person? Is it something everyone has? In Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus, Scout and Dolphus Raymond demonstrate courage in the face of adversity.

Atticus portrays a strong character of courage by standing up for what he believes in and taking risks that could jeopardize his whole family. " 'The main one if if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this country in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again. [Atticus]' ' (Lee 75) In this quote Atticus displays moral courage when he is telling Scout that he wouldn't be who he is if it wasn't for the . This quote also shows how courageous people need to be because Atticus feels as if you represent something big you need to have a strong character and stand up outside of your comfort zone and be courageous [no second person - maintain third person throughout]. "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. Mrs Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew." (Lee 124) Atticus explains to Scout what he believes is real courage. He represents a character of moral courage in this quote because he defines what really courage is to him and how he feels that you should continue to do something even though you're not going to achieve it but to atleast try. He says this because this is what he lives by and it's what defines Atticus as a knowledgeable person.

There are many instances where Scout's fearlessness attitude is highlighted throughout this novel. " 'Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for!' " [Mrs. Dubose] (Lee 102) Scout was very fearless for an eight year old. she always stood up for what she believes is right just like her father and didn't mind what others would say, she could take in the words that others would say and was brave enough to stand against and say something. Atticus taught here to be courageous and don't let anyone's words affect you. She portrays a strong amount of mental courage after her father told her not to put a hand on anyone; she learned to ignore them and their hurtful words. "I go to school with Walter," Scout began again "He's you boy, ain't he sir"" (Lee 169) Scout is a child with bold characteristics and in this novel her bravery really catches the reader's eye. As a bunch of cars pull up and tell Atticus to move out of the way because they want Tom Robinson he mighty brave Scout comes out