Essay/Term paper: To kill a mockingbird: courage

Essay, term paper, research paper:  To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird: Courage


In the novel, "To Kill A Mockingbird", we were presented with several
displays of courage. Some of the courage in the novel were displays of physical
courage. However, physical courage was not the only type displayed, we also saw
examples of moral courage.

I saw several examples of physical courage in this excellent novel. One
example of courage however insignificant to me or you is Jem's courage to run up
to the Radley's house, now to me or you that is nothing but to a young child
that has grown up not knowing this person it was a physical challenge to
overcome. Also another display of courage was the courage shown by the men in
the Finch neighborhood when Miss Maudie's house caught fire, they cared not that
they might get hurt when they ran into her house to retrieve her belongings.
Another example of physical courage was that of Atticus standing up against a
mob. The last example of courage was Arthur Radley fighting Bob Ewell and
saving the children.

In the novel we saw several example of moral courage. In my opinion
this is the best type of courage because it shows the character of person. The
first display of this courage was Mr. Cunnigham's constant payment of his debt
to Atticus; he had the courage to take something into this neighborhood. The
next display of moral courage was when Jem despite his misgivings constantly
went to Ms. Dubose's house and read to her. The next display of moral courage
was Atticus's decision to defend Tom Robinson in court and instead of just
walking in and walking out he tried his best to help him get out. There was
also Heck Tate's moral courage at the end of the book, his courage to keep
Arthur Radley from being a spectacle.

In short this book has many different displays of immense courage both
in the physical sense and in the moral sense. I also feel that had it not been
for these shows of courage this book would not have won the Pulitzer Prize it
did win.