Norman Schwarzkoph says, "True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job anyhow, that's what courage is." Most people, who are courageous, have qualms about doing whatever they are doing but they continue on and persevere until the very end. Whether its Rosa Parks standing up to a white bus conductor or an army marching into enemy territory, these people all exhibit courage by not looking back to do what is right. The story starts with Jem, a boy who is in 6th grade at the time, and Scout, Jem's sister, first meeting Dill, a immature boy. Atticus, the father of Jem and Scout who is a lawyer, accepts the case of Thomas Robinson. Thomas Robinson, an African American with a crippled left arm, allegedly raped a girl named Mayella. Mayella is part of one of the most dishonorable white family at the time, the Ewells. Her father is named Bob, who is a drunkard without a job. He makes his way by excepting welfare checks that the state gives to him. After Atticus loses the case with Tom Robinson, Bob starts harassing some of the characters in the book. After trying to kill Scout and Jem, Bob is killed by Boo Radley, a mysterious man with many rumors associated with him. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, true courage is exemplified as by not giving up without worrying about the consequences and doing what is right even if it puts yourself or a loved one in danger. Cowardice is shown as not facing up to your fears.
Many characters in the novel show courage by not giving up without worrying about the consequences and knowing that he/she will lose. For example, in the summer, Atticus was summoned to take Tom Robinson's case about rape. Atticus takes Tom's case and later explains to his kids why he took it. He says, " The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold my head in town, I couldn't represent this country in this legislature"(Lee,75). For Atticus, the case of Tom Robinson is very important and he feels like he could really evoke a change on the segregation and racism of African-Americans. He takes this case because he thinks Tom is innocent. He shows courage because he faces strong opposition and discouragement in Maycomb while he knows he will not get a fair trial. Atticus regards justice more than he cares of defending a man of a different race. Atticus also sees the case as his civil duty as a lawyer and has the courage to step up and defend the case to the best of his abilities. Another quote about courage is, when poor fragile Mrs. Dubose decides to stop us morphine to take away pain from her illness. It all starts when Jem and Scout were going to the toy store. While they were walking, they see Mrs. Dubose and she calls Atticus a "n*****lover." Jem is infuriated and while he and Scout are going home, they see that there is no one at Mrs. Dubose's house. Then, Jem stomps on Mrs. Dubose's garden. When Jem comes home, he sees Atticus in an irate semblance. Atticus tells jem that you have to read to her after school and on the weekend. She uses Jem and Scout to take her mind of her fits, her drooling "cords of saliva" and shaking her head side to side. Since she knows she will die soon, she decides to come clean and not take any drugs until she dies. Atticus reflects on Mrs. Dubose after she dies, "Its when you know 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"(112). Instead of picking the painless way to die, she chooses the slow painful way of death so she can be "beholden to nothing and nobody"(111). She challenges death until her death bed because of her dedication of stopping drugs. She won the battle because she completed her resolution by stopping to take morphine even if she died in the end. Finally, another quote showing that true courage is not worrying about consequences, which is portrayed in Calpurnia when she does not listen to Jem about the Radleys not coming out. Instead she runs to their front porch and tells the Radleys about the mad dog on the street. First Jem says, " 'They won't come out anyways, Cal'... ' I don't care, I'm going to tell 'em.'... She ran to the front porch 'You stay in that house...'"(93). Calpurnia shows courage by warning the Radleys about the mad dog on the street. She dispels all the rumors of the Radleys, and without worrying, she does what she believes is right. She goes to their front street and warns the Radleys, even if they do not listen to her. In a way, she risks her life, to make sure that everybody in the street are safe from the mad dog. Calpurnia is a great example of a character who exemplifies true courage because she musters up courage to do what she believes is right. Characters who muster up their courage to go against their fears without worrying about the consequences and knowing that they will lose show true courage.
Courage is also putting yourself or loved one at risk to do what is right. Atticus is the main character who faces up to his fears while putting himself and his family at risk. For example, Atticus stays with Tom Robinson in his cell. He knows that a mob will come out but he is not afraid. He even tells Scout that I might be bruised a little after this. Luckily, Scout stops the mob and tells Walter Cunningham about how much of a good boy his son is. Then Atticus says, "They've gone...Get some sleep Tom. They won't bother you anymore"(155). Since Atticus knows that Tom Robinson is an innocent man, he stays with Tom to make sure a mob does not hurt him. That shows that Atticus regards justice more than his fear of dying. He puts himself and his loved ones in danger. He takes a risk to do what is right, in this case to keep Tom Robinson safe from any danger before the trial. Another quote about putting loved ones at risk, was at the end of the book when Boo carries Jem home. After the fight, Scout finds Bob Ewell dead, Jem was passed out and Boo Radley carrying Jem. After everybody was at Atticus's house, Sheriff Heck Tate comes to their house saying that Bob Ewell is dead. He says that Bob Ewell fell on his knife. Instead Atticus says we will tell the town so that Jem doesn't have to live with this guilt in silence for the rest of his life. Even though Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell, Atticus thinks its Jem. Atticus says, " Thank you from the bottom of my heart, but I don't want my boy starting out with something like this over his head. Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open... I don't want him growing up with a whisper about him, I don't want anybody saying, ' Jem Finch... his daddy paid a mint to get him out of that"(273). Even if it means putting his own son in danger, he does not want his son to live with being guilty of murdering Bob Ewell. He is doing what he believes is right even if his own son has to suffer by being voted guilty by the jury if it goes to court. Atticus knows that people will think of Jem as a guy who was bailed out by his father. Finally, one example of courage is when Scout tries to save her brother. While Bob Ewell was trying to kill Jem, Scout jumps to save Jem. Instead Bob squeezes the breath out of Scout. Scout "...ran into the direction of Jem's screams and sank into a flabby male stomach... He slowly squeezed the breath out of me. I couldn't move"(262). Scout valiantly goes to save her brother after she hears Jem scream. Her first instinct was to run towards him instead of running away. Despite that she was no match for Bob, she still risks her life to save her brother's life. This shows that Scout's love for Jem is more than her fear of Bob Ewell. She puts herself in risk by facing a grown man. She shows that to do the right thing she doesn't mind putting herself in danger. Scout and Atticus are examples of characters who show true courage by doing what is right even if it puts him/her or his/her family in danger.
In the novel, many characters portray cowardice by not facing up to their real problems or their fears. For example, Bob Ewell pesters other people to get to Atticus. He ends up breaking Judge Taylors window and making fun of Tom Robinson's wife as she made her way to work through a route that passes Bob's house. Sheriff Heck Tate says to Atticus, " He had guts enough to pester a poor colored woman, he had guts enough to pester Judge Taylor... He'd never have met you face to face"(269). First of all, Bob Ewell couldn't face Atticus because he was afraid of him. Then, he has the cowardice to pester Tom Robinson's wife behind a window seal. Instead of facing her face and harassing her, he hides behind a window. Finally, he annoys Judge Taylor by scratching his window. The summit of his cowardice is that he did this in shadows where the Judge couldn't see him until he scratches his window and then runs away from the Judge like a little kid does when they break something. He shows that he has the courage of a little kid and harasses the Judge and Tom's wife instead of facing Atticus man to man. Another example of cowardice is, after the case, Bob Ewell shows animosity at Atticus for even taking the case. He expresses hatred to Atticus first by spitting in his face and now going after his kids. Bob Ewell is fighting with Jem. Scout hears, "More scuffling, and there came a dull crunching sound and Jem screamed"(262). Bob Ewell has reached the epitome of cowardice. He doesn't have guts because he runs away from his fears of facing Atticus. The fact that he would wait for two little children to come home from a halloween party at night, to strike, is just total cowardice. Then, he carries a hunting knife to butcher two innocent children. No children have a chance against a grown man in fist to fist, but carrying a hunting knife is just morally wrong. Bob is the character in the book who doesn't confront other people whether it is Atticus or even Mayella. The main family in this book who shows cowardice is the Ewell family by not facing up to their fears.
Courage can be when you do what is right no matter what. It is also facing your fears without worrying about what will happen next. True cowardice is the opposite, when someone does not face up to their fears. Learning what true courage can help influence choices. This will help people be courageous more often and help learn that words are more powerful than the fist. It is an old proverb " the pen is mightier than the sword." This can help prevent violence so that we live in a world where people stand up to each other with words instead of with fighting. True courage always doesn't neccessarly mean that there will be violence.
