In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the characters Jem, Scout, and Atticus exhibit courage numerous times throughout the story. Atticus shows examples of courage through his decision to defend Tom Robinson and the values that he sets for his children. It takes a courageous person to face the negative remarks in the society that he lives in. He risks everything he has to defend a black man who was falsely accused of raping a white woman because he believes it is the right thing to do. “If I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again”.
In my opinion, the best theme to describe Atticus is courage, because of his strong morals and beliefs, his contributions to society, and his will power shown in the Tom Robinson case. The first way Atticus shows courage is by his manner of communication with others around him. One of the greatest examples in the book is when he is talking to Jem about the death of Ms. Dubose. Ms. Dubose was a neighbor of the Finch’s and was a morphine addict for many years. She tried to resist taking drugs because she wanted to have a clean bloodstream when she dies.
As our country has becomes more desegregated, we learn more and more about equality, no matter what your skin color. In the movie, To Kill Mockingbird, bigotry is a huge factor that affects many lives. While watching the movie, I began to wonder how the outcome of the story would have been different had one character’s skin color been white. The movie starts off with narrator talking about a knowledgeable story from when she was little. Her father Atticus, a lawyer, had a choice to defend a black man, Tom Robison, who was being accused of raping and beating up a young white women.
The symbol of the mocking bird, a sign of innocence, is present through many characters in Harper Lee's novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. In her telling of the powerful and moving story Lee portrays the messages of innocence being corrupted by characters through bigotry and intolerance. The co-existence of good and evil is shown by using characters to reflect each factor. Although there are no literal mockingbirds in the book, characters represent both mockingbirds that are harmed and those that are not. Throughout the novel, mockingbirds and other songbirds are representations of purity and generosity.
In this movie there are a lot of quotes which I love, but when Augustus said with an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips, “It’s a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do its killing.” Augustus shows that when his health is surely not the best, he associates the unlit cigarette with taking control over his health, which often feels out of his control. This novel, one of the many things it taught me is that everyone dies. Well that is command sense, but never really thought about it because of the fear of dying. There is nothing we can do to stop the process of dying, or all the side-effects of dying. Cancer and depression are just side-effects of dying.
Atticus tells his son that he wanted him to read to Mrs Dubose so he would understand that real courage was not demonstrated by a gun. “I wanted you to see something about her – 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.
With the time period of when the story takes place, you can imagine the dangers of this scenario. For this purpose, as you spend your time reading the book in the narrator's shoes, Scout, you too can see good and evil. 2 What on earth does the title of this book mean? Examining these four words, "to kill a mockingbird", the literal meaning is "to destroy innocence". To kill is to destroy and a mockingbird is a symbol of innocence.
To Kill a Mockingbird – Courage To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a heroic tale of leadership and courage. Courage is the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. According to Atticus Finch, “Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It’s knowing 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.” (Lee, 149).
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee incorporates the theme, prejudice, to portray the feelings and thoughts that people had during the time period of the Great Depression; this was described in the Trial where Tom Robinson fought for his life. throughout the 1930's, most people were raised with prejudice beliefs in the South. Whites were taught from generations before them that african americans do not deserve respect. Therefore, it should not be brought to them. Most whites believed that African Americans were to do what they were told, by them.
As I have stated, real courage is when you fight for what is right regardless of whether you win or lose. Similarly, Atticus distinctly dislikes dealing with criminal laws but he shows courage when he accepts to defend Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of rape.