Theme Of Courage In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'
Innocent to Experience: Jem’s Courage Definition
To Kill a Mockingbird Courage cannot be defined with simple words but rather by an individual’s actions. Despite many different definitions courage is someone’s internal fortitude to do something that may frighten others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem’s definition of courage changes from the beginning to the end of the book. At the beginning of the book Jem’s definition of courage is from an innocent perspective and by the end of the book Jem has an experienced definition of courage. Jem learns the real definition of courage from it being demonstrated in his everyday life in Macomb. At the beginning of Harper Lee’s ,To Kill a Mockingbird Jem shows a naïve, innocent view of courage because of his fears. Dill dears Jem to touch the Radley house, which has always been one of his worst fears. Jem displays courage by touching the Radley’s and hides his angst when reporting back to Dill and Scout. Jem dreads touching the Radley house only because of his scary childlike imagination. Lee writes,“Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, …show more content…
The Mad Dog is beginning to approach in the distance when Officer Heck Tate throws Atticus the gun. Atticus takes the gun and walks to the center of the street showing no hesitation. Even though Atticus hasn’t shot a gun in 30 years he kills Mad Dog with a single shot showing an outrageous amount of courage. Lee states, “In the fog, Jem watched our father take the gun and walk out into the middle of the street” (127). Atticus has an abundant amount of courage, even to something that he hasn’t done in 30 years. Although Jem thinks Atticus shooting the dog is courageous, he learns the real definition through the actions of Mrs.
To Kill a Mockingbird Courage cannot be defined with simple words but rather by an individual’s actions. Despite many different definitions courage is someone’s internal fortitude to do something that may frighten others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem’s definition of courage changes from the beginning to the end of the book. At the beginning of the book Jem’s definition of courage is from an innocent perspective and by the end of the book Jem has an experienced definition of courage. Jem learns the real definition of courage from it being demonstrated in his everyday life in Macomb. At the beginning of Harper Lee’s ,To Kill a Mockingbird Jem shows a naïve, innocent view of courage because of his fears. Dill dears Jem to touch the Radley house, which has always been one of his worst fears. Jem displays courage by touching the Radley’s and hides his angst when reporting back to Dill and Scout. Jem dreads touching the Radley house only because of his scary childlike imagination. Lee writes,“Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, …show more content…
The Mad Dog is beginning to approach in the distance when Officer Heck Tate throws Atticus the gun. Atticus takes the gun and walks to the center of the street showing no hesitation. Even though Atticus hasn’t shot a gun in 30 years he kills Mad Dog with a single shot showing an outrageous amount of courage. Lee states, “In the fog, Jem watched our father take the gun and walk out into the middle of the street” (127). Atticus has an abundant amount of courage, even to something that he hasn’t done in 30 years. Although Jem thinks Atticus shooting the dog is courageous, he learns the real definition through the actions of Mrs.