Theme Of Atticus Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird
Throughout the book, readers are shown Atticus’ high morals and values and the events in chapter 15 only explore that further. In this chapter, Atticus chooses to put himself in harm’s way in order to do what is right, hence displaying moral courage. After the fellow townsfolk warn him of a lynch mob, the lawyer takes it upon himself to protect his client – Tom Robinson – from the racist mob. He goes out of his way to travel to the town late at night and unarmed, leaving himself very vulnerable. He is a lawyer by profession, not an officer. It is, in theory, not his job at all to protect Tom Robinson outside of the court. However, his belief in justice is so strong that he is willing to face dangers if that means Tom Robinson will get a fair trial.
…show more content…
Whilst sitting in front of the jail, Atticus remains calm and when the mob party arrives, “He [remains] where he [is]” (202).
Though he wants to protect Tom, we get the sense that he does not want to do it in a rash, violent way – that is why he chooses not to take aid of a weapon, despite the fact that lynch mobs are made of dangerous and hostile people who just want to achieve their goal. As Scout later notices, “there was a smell of stale whiskey” (203), referring to the mob being drunk and therefore, even more likely to act on impulses and make irrational decisions. However, Atticus sticks with his decision to stand up for a man who cannot protect himself and he does not back down, even when his children get
involved. Separate from Atticus’ own plans, Scout, Jem and Dill show up, prompted by Jem’s worrying over Atticus’ safety. This action leaves Atticus surprised and fearful as well since, when het gets up to meet them, “he was moving slowly, like an old man,” and “[his fingers] were trembling a little” (203). When he tells Jem to go home, his son does not budge. A member of the lynch mob takes it upon himself to send Jem home himself and roughly yanks at him. Scout chooses to defend her brother, and though it was perhaps the right course of action, Atticus says, “Don’t kick folks” (204), leading back to the point earlier on how he wants to deal with this situation peacefully. At this point, readers get the sense that Atticus is not only sacrificing his reputation within the town, he is also putting his own life and his children’s safety on the line. In the time period this took place in, blacks were treated like trash by white people – very few white people would put themselves in danger to stand up for justice for a black man. Therefore, in this chapter, Atticus shows readers that he not only says righteous things, he does moral and just things as well – even if it means endangering himself and his children. Atticus also shows how he reacts to dangerous situations and thus revealing his true character. He chooses to react to the lynch mob in a peaceful and calm manner, but at the same time very assertively and bravely as one of the first things he says to them is simply, “Don’t wake [Tom] up” (202).
Whilst sitting in front of the jail, Atticus remains calm and when the mob party arrives, “He [remains] where he [is]” (202).
Though he wants to protect Tom, we get the sense that he does not want to do it in a rash, violent way – that is why he chooses not to take aid of a weapon, despite the fact that lynch mobs are made of dangerous and hostile people who just want to achieve their goal. As Scout later notices, “there was a smell of stale whiskey” (203), referring to the mob being drunk and therefore, even more likely to act on impulses and make irrational decisions. However, Atticus sticks with his decision to stand up for a man who cannot protect himself and he does not back down, even when his children get
involved. Separate from Atticus’ own plans, Scout, Jem and Dill show up, prompted by Jem’s worrying over Atticus’ safety. This action leaves Atticus surprised and fearful as well since, when het gets up to meet them, “he was moving slowly, like an old man,” and “[his fingers] were trembling a little” (203). When he tells Jem to go home, his son does not budge. A member of the lynch mob takes it upon himself to send Jem home himself and roughly yanks at him. Scout chooses to defend her brother, and though it was perhaps the right course of action, Atticus says, “Don’t kick folks” (204), leading back to the point earlier on how he wants to deal with this situation peacefully. At this point, readers get the sense that Atticus is not only sacrificing his reputation within the town, he is also putting his own life and his children’s safety on the line. In the time period this took place in, blacks were treated like trash by white people – very few white people would put themselves in danger to stand up for justice for a black man. Therefore, in this chapter, Atticus shows readers that he not only says righteous things, he does moral and just things as well – even if it means endangering himself and his children. Atticus also shows how he reacts to dangerous situations and thus revealing his true character. He chooses to react to the lynch mob in a peaceful and calm manner, but at the same time very assertively and bravely as one of the first things he says to them is simply, “Don’t wake [Tom] up” (202).