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Candice Young
English I 1
st
Block
Mrs. Knowles
23 May 2014
The Courageous Soul
Courage is the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous. People
show courage in our everyday life in numerous ways. A way of showing courage could be when
someone whos shy gets up in front of the class and presents, but they are afraid of public
speaking. Although the person knows that they arent great at public speaking, they present to
the best of their abilities even though its difficult for them. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird
many of the characters display courage in several ways. To Kill a Mockingbird captures the
reading in by telling the story of a family in Maycomb who faces hatred and judgment from
people in their community from having different beliefs about African Americans. Atticus was
the defense attorney for Tom Robinson, whos an African American. Many people of Maycomb
dont agree with Atticus defending Tom Robinson, and tried to harm him physically and
emotionally. Atticus shows great courage while defending Tom Robinson to the best of his
abilities. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee develops the theme of courage to stand up against
hate through Atticus Finch, who defends Tom Robinson.
The theme of courage is revealed in the novel while Atticus defended Tom Robinson
although the people of Maycomb didnt approve. The people of Maycomb gave Atticus a very
hard time about him defending Tom Robinson. One person that had a strong animosity towards
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Atticus was Bob Ewell. Mr. Ewell didnt like how Atticus was defending an African American.
While during the court case Mr. Ewell was a little uneasy when Atticus asked him questions
about what happened to his daughter, Mayella. At the end of the trial Tom Robinson was
pronounced guilty, but Mr. Ewell wasnt too happy. When the trial was over Mr. Ewell later
confronted Atticus and portrayed his emotions about what happened during the trial. The narrator
states,Atticus was leaving the post office when Mr. Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat
on him, and threatened to kill him (291). As Mr. Ewell expressed his feelings towards Atticus,
he just simply wiped his face with his handkerchief and stood there as Mr. Ewell called him
degrading names. He remained calm as Mr. Ewell was confronting him, and told him that he was
too old to fight him back. Atticus was a peaceful man who didnt let many things get to him. It
takes great courage for Atticus to just stand there and not retaliate as Mr. Ewell did that to him.
Being the bigger person and not fighting in a tough situation is very hard to do. The Atticus
remained calm as Mr. Ewell cursed, spat, and threatened demonstrates how it is not always good
to fight back in a tough situation, but be the bigger and courageous person and choose not to
fight back. It took great courage for Atticus to fight for he believed in although many people
didnt agree with what he was doing.
Atticus shows courage against hate throughout the novel between him and the citizens of
Maycomb. While Atticus was Tom Robinsons defense attorney, the people of Maycomb took a
strong disliking towards it. Atticus was a protective shield for Tom Robinson against the city of
Maycomb. One night Atticus went to the jail where Tom Robinson was. As Atticus sat outside
the jail, he read his newspaper. While he read his newspaper cars approached to where he was,
and he seemed to know that they were coming. In chapter 15, the narrator says, In ones and
twos, men got out of the cars [] Atticus remained where he was. The men hid him from view
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(202). When the men approached Atticus he didnt move because he already knew what they
wanted. The men were trying to get to Tom, who was in the jail. If the men would have gotten to
Tom it wouldnt have been a pretty sight. The men were distracted when Scout, Jem, and Dill
came along, so Tom wasnt able to be harmed by the men. It took great courage for Atticus to
remain where he was and protect Tom Robinson while he knew that the men were coming to get
him.
Displaying courage is hard to do in a difficult situation. While showing courage in a
difficult situation one should always remain calm. When someone threatens or looks
intimidating, it may diminish ones courage in certain situations. Showing courage when the
outcome is expected to be negative may actually change the outcome to positive. Courage is an
essential part of becoming a successful person. Courage is not the absence of fear, but when one
is able to overcome it. By doing the right things in life although it may fears someone, it takes
great courage to overcome difficult situations. When one doesnt take the courage to fight for
whats right, nothing positive will happen as a result.
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