Theme Of Diction In To Kill A Mockingbird

At the time in the 1930s, racism was everywhere. There were segregated everything, bathrooms, parts of the bus, and just about anything you could think of. This mentality was very common at the time, and influenced many people greatly. This is seen in the book To Kill A Mockingbird as well, through people’s behavior, and attitude to the african american population. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, extraordinary courage is shown by many people, and is expressed by the author by using diction and characterization.
The author utilizes diction to portray extreme courage through the book. Firstly, talking to Jem about true courage Atticus says “Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin
anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” (149). This is a use of diction where the stakes are raised substantially to give a sense of great stakes. The idea of being able to come back from anything, and successfully do something previously failed is another form of courage. Secondly, Scout in an attempt to help Atticus asks Walter Cunningham, in the middle of strange men, “Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How’s your entailment gettin’ along?” (204). Scout jumps into a crowd of unknown men, and doesn’t back off, instead starts yelling at Mr. Walter Cunningham. She does what Jem and Dill didn’t do just because she wanted to help Atticus. Finally, Atticus knows what really happened when Bob Ewell attacked Scout and Jem, and lets Arthur Radley know just how grateful he is “Thank you for my children, Arthur” (370). Atticus in the first part of his talk with Jem says, “Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand.” and this is exactly what Arthur does to save Scout and Jem. Risking his life to save two people because he knows it is what should be done. Courage is showed, by almost every person helping Tom and or Atticus in their case. People are courageous not by nature, but it is a choice, and one many make in this novel. The author also uses characterization and in the beginning creates ideas that come with certain characters.
While Scout and Francis are talking Francis says in direction to Atticus “He’s nothing’ but a n***** lover.” (110). Francis is portrayed as a bully, yet boring when he is first introduced, and Scout in order to save her father's reputation challenges him. She gets in a fight, because she knows that Atticus is doing the right thing. Jem doesn’t understand why Atticus would take the case and asks him, “If you shouldn’t be defendin him, then why are you doing it.” (105). Atticus is known as honest, and willing to do anything he deems just. He shows his bravery very modestly, and stands up for Tom against the racism of the county. In addition, when Aunt Alexandra is talking to Atticus about his mood after the case, he says, “There’ll be an appeal, you can count on that.” (284). Atticus will show his courage in the way he mentions with Jem, and he promises he will go back to court to free Tom. He is fighting a lost battle again, and shows his courage because of this. Using the characters ideas that come along with them, and the author uses this to show the courage in the characters. Courage is seen through the book, and is highlighted by diction, and characterization. Through the book Atticus makes many enemies, and his courage is the only thing that takes him through the trials. Not only does Atticus display enormous amounts of courage, but Scout and Jem as well, stopping
at nothing to help Atticus in his trial.