Nicholas Tirch

Mr. McConnell

English 9

November 29, 2017

Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a book based in Alabama in the 1930’s. With

racism, segregation and all the other problems in the south, Lee tells the story of Scout and her

town, Maycomb County, during these times. Courage is greatly shown in the book through many

characters, but throughout To Kill a Mockingbird Scout, Jem and Atticus show the most acts of

courage in the story.

Scout, the main character in To Kill a Mockingbird, is one character who shows great

courage throughout the book. In one point of the story Scout shows courage by standing up for

Walter and explains that he is a Cunningham and did not have a lunch in the first place. “I rose

graciously on Walter’s behalf: Ah Miss Caroline? Miss Caroline he’s a Cunningham” (Lee 26).

This shows that Scout is not afraid to stick up for someone, no matter what can happen to her,

which is a sign of courage. Another example Scout shows is when she stands up for her father

when people call him a n****r-lover. “Francis called me that last Christmas. That’s why I

jumped on him” (Lee 145). Overall, throughout the story, Scout shows great courage.

Another character showing courage in To Kill a Mocking Bird is Jem. An example of an

act of courage by Jem is when he goes back to get his pants from the Radley home. He takes a

great risk of getting in trouble with Atticus, which shows courage (Lee 78). When he gets there,
he realizes someone had tried to sew the pants back together. Another example of courage

showed my Jem is when he tells Atticus that he does not want to return the blanket to Boo

Radley after the fire at Miss Maudie’s house. This also shows courage because Jem could return

it like he should, bur because he is obsessed with Boo, he keeps it (Lee 95). All in all, Jem also

shows great courage all through the text.

Lastly, Atticus shows the greatest amount of courage in To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus

works as a lawyer and his often criticized because with his work with African-Americans. Most

of the town folk make fun of Atticus and his kids by calling them n****r-lovers. Instead of being

upset about this, Atticus explains that the phrase does not mean anything. This is great courage

because saying this word is a great offense (Lee 144). Another act of courage shown by Atticus

is how Atticus is a father to his kids. Instead of being like the common folk, Atticus teaches the

kids many life lessons on respecting everyone, even African-Americans. Just because of their

skin does not make them any different. When Jem and Scout build a snowman Atticus even

reprimands Scout for making the snowman looking to much like Mrs. Maudie’s husband. This is

a sign of courage because most people would not care about the feelings of other people.

Altogether, Atticus shows a great amount of courage throughout To Kill a Mockingbird

In conclusion, in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are many acts of courage

shown by a variety of people in the text. In Total, Scout, Jem and Atticus all show the greatest

and most prominent amount of courage throughout the book.