Becca Fox 10/2/13 To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Mod 7

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout, son and daughter of Atticus Finch, are fascinated with their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley, because he never comes outside. Their friend Dill comes to Maycomb County every summer and joins along with the bewilderment of Boo Radley. Later on, Atticus was chosen to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, in court. He accepts the case, and the family faces many hardships within the neighborhood. Prejudice surrounded them at every corner. They eventually overcame these ordeals and realized what is right and what is wrong. Because of this, the theme of the novel is true courage is continuing to fight, even with the promise of defeat. This is shown through the actions of Atticus taking the Tom Robinson case, Mrs. Dubose overcoming her morphine addiction, and Boo Radley finally coming out of the protection of his home. Atticus shows major courage when he accepts the Tom Robinson case. It was very risky for the entire family; however, Atticus knew it was the morally correct decision to accept the case. In the novel, Atticus states, Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win (Lee 76). This shows how even though Atticus will not win the trial, he still accepts the case just to get an important point across that the color of ones skin should not matter. He wants to show how being prejudice will not get anybody far; treat everyone as equal only because they are, indeed, equal. This takes a lot of courage because Atticus could have gotten really hurt in this process because of some of the horrible, prejudiced people on Maycomb County. In fact, Scout helped save Atticus from an angry mob that planned on hurting him and Tom Robinson. This just shows how courageous Atticus truly is because, even though they were not going to win the case, he still wanted to get the point across because it was the right thing to do.

Becca Fox 10/2/13 To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Mod 7

Similarly, Mrs. Dubose showed true courage when she was bed-ridden and dying, desperately trying to overcome her addiction to morphine. In the novel, Atticus states, 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 (Lee 112). This proves exactly how courageous Mrs. Dubose was. She knew she was dying, and she wanted to have breathed her last breath with the pride of overcoming her morphine addiction. Atticus did not want Jem to think that being able to shoot a gun well was showing courage. He wished for Jem to know Mrs. Duboses situation and how serious it was. He wanted his son to be aware of what true courage was. Even though Mrs. Dubose was promised defeat, she wanted to die having overcome her painful addiction. This is true courage. Lastly, Boo Radley proved to be quite courageous by the end of the novel. The shy fellow finally stepped foot out of his house. In the novel, the Sheriff states, To my ways of thinkin, Mr. Finch, taking the one man whos done you and this town a great service an draggin him with his shy ways into the limelight to me its a sin (Lee 276). Even though Boo Radley was a complete introvert, he willingly came out of his protection, his home, to save the lives of the kids he has been living an eventful childhood through. He knew there could have been consequences as to killing a man, but he took the risk of being strung into the limelight because of this act to save two kids lives. Clearly, Boo Radley had unbelievable courage to do this; it was the right thing to do, and he did the town a tremendous favor. In summary, the novel proves that sometimes it takes a lot of courage to do what is right. It is taught that true courage is continuing to fight, even with the promise of defeat just because it is the rightful thing to do. It may be challenging to show amazing acts of courage, but it is worth it in the end if it benefits, not only oneself, but those around one as well. Courage is confronting ones fear because they know it is for the better. Clearly, the characters of the novel have great experience with courage.