Evan Vanden Heuvel

Mr. McConnell

Period 7 English

December 1st 2017

Courage

The novel To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, many characters demonstrate ways of

being courageous. To Kill a Mocking Bird takes place in the 1930’s during the great depression.

Atticus, Jem, and Scout really show what it means to have courage. These three characters

demonstrate the theme of courage.

Atticus is a character who is a father and a lawyer. He demonstrates courage in multiple

ways. One example from the text is, “Scout, I could not go to church and worship God if I did

not help that man” (Lee 140). Atticus shows how if he didn’t help out Tom Robinson he

wouldn’t have been able to live with himself. He always shows courage by saying “Good

evening Mrs. Dubose! You look like a picture this evening” (133). This shows that he is very

nice and even though Mrs. Dubose is mean and calling him names, Atticus doesn’t listen to her

when she says bad things about him and his family. Even though Atticus shows courage, another

character that shows courage is Jem.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem show great courage. One way he shows courage

is when he wanted to deliver a note to Boo Radley. In the text, it states “We are going to give a

note to Boo Radley.” (Lee 62). He also shows courage with Boo again. When they get back to

their house, Atticus wanted to return the blanket back to the Radley’s. But Jem did not want to

because it could possibly get Boo in trouble. “Atticus, no sir,” (Lee 96). These two characters

both show great courage but with these two Scout shows great courage as well.
 Scout show great courage in the novel as well. One way he shows courage is when she

speaks up about Walter Cunningham’s Financial situation. It says in the text “Miss Caroline, he’s

a Cunningham.” (lee 26). Another way she shows courage is when she stands up for her own

father and when other kids at school were talking and making fun of her dad. “My fist was

clenched and I was ready to let fly,” (Lee 100). All of these characters show the theme of

courage.

Courage is one of the biggest themes in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus shows

courage by standing up for others. Scout shows it by physical fighting and standing up for what

is right. Finally, Jem shows courage by protecting Boo Radley from his uncle. The theme of

courage will continue to be shown by all three of these characters in the second half of the book.