Atticus Finch Courage
In your mind what does courage look like, and how is it embodied by people? Different characters embody many forms of courage in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The main character of the book is a southern girl named Jean Louise Finch, and she lives near a house that the characters call the Radley house. Jean Louise believes that a mysterious man nicknamed Boo Radley is being held in the Radley house, and as a youthful girl this frightens her and the other characters. In addition to this plot, Jean Louise’s father, Atticus, is a lawyer, who got enlisted to defend a black man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white teenager named Mayella Ewell. However this is problematic for Atticus because the story took place in
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Being an adept lawyer, Judge John Taylor gave Atticus the choice to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. For Atticus, making that choice would have taken a staggering amount of courage because he would be defending a black man against a white family and therefore would have no chance of winning the case. In addition, he would give the people of Maycomb a chance to ridicule him for going against their natural practices. Also, Atticus knew that not only himself, but his family would face hardships because of him taking the trial, which could have made the decision even harder to make. However, in the end, Atticus did the righteous thing and took the trial because he knew that if he did not, it would be impossible to hold his head high knowing he made such an appalling choice exclusively based on the fact that the defendant was black. As Atticus explained his final choice to his daughter, she asked him if he thought he might win, and his response was “No, honey … Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started.”(Lee, 101) and this shows that he knew that he had no chance of winning, but he took the trial anyhow, in turn jeopardizing his current social status and even the safety of his own children, solely in order to teach them the wrongness of being a prejudiced person. Doing so, he showed great courage that resonates with the reader throughout the book. However, Atticus is not the only adult forced to show courage in relation to the trial. Defendant Tom Robinson also shows an immense collection of courage through the course of the trial and the
Being an adept lawyer, Judge John Taylor gave Atticus the choice to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. For Atticus, making that choice would have taken a staggering amount of courage because he would be defending a black man against a white family and therefore would have no chance of winning the case. In addition, he would give the people of Maycomb a chance to ridicule him for going against their natural practices. Also, Atticus knew that not only himself, but his family would face hardships because of him taking the trial, which could have made the decision even harder to make. However, in the end, Atticus did the righteous thing and took the trial because he knew that if he did not, it would be impossible to hold his head high knowing he made such an appalling choice exclusively based on the fact that the defendant was black. As Atticus explained his final choice to his daughter, she asked him if he thought he might win, and his response was “No, honey … Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started.”(Lee, 101) and this shows that he knew that he had no chance of winning, but he took the trial anyhow, in turn jeopardizing his current social status and even the safety of his own children, solely in order to teach them the wrongness of being a prejudiced person. Doing so, he showed great courage that resonates with the reader throughout the book. However, Atticus is not the only adult forced to show courage in relation to the trial. Defendant Tom Robinson also shows an immense collection of courage through the course of the trial and the