How Is There Real Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

On page 121 in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus says to Jem that he wants his son “to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.” Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one. So how is courage defined in this novel? In To Kill a Mockingbird most of the town, Maycomb, Alabama, shows courage. Courage can be a small thing like saying hi to somebody as you pass them on the streets, even though you’re too shy to speak up. Courage can be a big thing like going up to somebody’s house that you don’t like, or are scared of. In the novel, many times Jem and Dill wanted to go up to the Radley house, Scout didn’t like the idea, but went along with it anyways. Jem ran
One example is; Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline, told her to tell her father not to teach her how to read anymore, if I were in that situation I would probably just say okay and be done with it, even if what she said wasn’t true. But Scout decided to say what she wanted to say. On page 17 on the online book, the text says, “”Teach me?” I said in surprise. “He hasn’t taught me anything, Miss Caroline. Atticus ain’t got time to teach me anything.” I added, when Miss Caroline smiled and shook her head. “Why, he’s so tired at night he just sits in the living room and reads.” That had courage to speak up and say
He wasn’t from the town, so he probably wasn’t as scared of the Radley’s. But he did have courage, he wanted so badly to see Boo Radley, like I said before, he wanted to get Boo to come out of the house, so he dared Jem to go touch the house. The next summer, when Dill came back, there was still no sign of Boo. So Jem and Dill decided to try and give Boo a note. Scout didn’t like the idea but went along with it. On page 47, the text says, “Jem was merely going to put the note on the end of a fishing pole and stick it through the shutters. If anyone came along, Dill would ring the bell. Dill raised his right hand. In it was my mother’s silver dinner-bell.” They attempted to give Boo the note, but Atticus, Scout and Jem’s father, caught them. The author states on page 49, “Shoulder up, I reeled around to face Boo Radley and his bloody fangs; instead, I saw Dill ringing the bell with all his might in Atticus’s face.” It takes real courage to want so badly to see Boo, when the rumors of him aren’t