Atticus Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

Moral courage is a quality many hope to have, but cannot achieve. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbrid, by Harper Lee, she uses a character named Atticus Finch, the father of the main characters, to show moral courage. She uses Atticus to show readers that despite not knowing the outcome, one can still succeed if one musters enough courage. Throughout the novel, Atticus shows evidence of being a brave man. He helps Tom Robinson when the lynch mob came to take him, he shot a rabid dog, saving the entire neighbourhood, and finally, he agrees to take Tom Robinson’s case.

Atticus Finch makes a tough decision when he chose to get between Tom Robinson and the lynch mob that comes for him. He protected Tom’s life by risking his own. When Atticus was waiting for the men to come and collect Tom, Atticus Finch dismisses Walter, the man looking for Tom Robinson, “You can turn around and go home again, Walter,” (202). Atticus uses his courage to stand up against Walter, and save Tom. When Jem and Scout come, Atticus, for a split second, shows fear. He does not know what is going to happen to them. He did not speak, and he loses all bravery at that point. But, after seeing that Scout easily got the men to leave, he gets much more brave. He is terrified throughout this, but he keeps his calm. He did not know what could have happened at the end of the night, but he still chose to watch
Miss Maudie told Jem and Scout about when Atticus was younger, he was on of the best shots in the county. Atticus tells his children about his idea of the shooting,"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” (149). He doesn't think what he did was courageous, but when looking into it, he had not shot a gun in years. He chose to help, because he knew he could put the dog down quickly. If he had not shot the dog, worse things could have