When Was Atticus Right

Imagine having to do something in which you knew you would fail but you did it anyway. Atticus Finch does this in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus demonstrates one of the main themes in the novel, which is “courage is doing what is right even when the odds of succeeding are poor”. Atticus does this by defending Tom Robinson, a black man who has his odds stacked against him only because of his skin color. Atticus faced much backlash, from other whites for defending Tom. Since Tom was a black man, Atticus was doomed to lose, but Atticus did it anyway because it was the right thing. It took courage from Atticus to take Tom’s case because he knew that either way the case went, he would be hated by the fellow whites in Maycomb. Lastly, Atticus defended Tom because he knew that Bob Ewell had beaten his daughter, and the fact that Tom raped Mayella was fabricated. Atticus had the courage to defend Tom, not only to protect him, but to protect the law. Atticus’ pride was on the line when he took Tom’s case because the odds were stacked against him because of his skin color. Miss Maudie tells the children, “I thought Atticus won’t win, he can’t win.” Everyone in Maycomb knew that Atticus would lose the case. The odds
Bob Ewell spits in Atticus face, after Bob Ewell asked him if he was scared to fight him, Atticus says, “No too old.” Atticus had the courage to walk away from Bob even when he could have been injured by Bob Ewell. Bob hated Atticus, and Atticus did nothing but keep going on his path, showing courage. Before, and after the trial many of the residents of Maycomb are saying mean things at the Finch family, and Scout can see people whispering about them. It took the courage from Atticus to defend the law, because he and his children would be in danger as well. Atticus knew that the society would hate \ him because he was trying to defend