To Kill a Mocking Bird and Kaffir Boy Theme Comparison

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John is in the ready position, waiting for the referee to shoot the gun in the air. He hears the gun go off and sprints down the track. He keeps his pace right behind the person in the lead. John sees that the person in front of him is getting tired, so he runs with all his might and takes the lead. But he was running too fast and suddenly his left foot hit the front of his right foot. He falls and slams onto the ground and all the racers pass him. His leg is scrapped badly, but John shows courage and gets up. He runs all the way to the finish line even though all racers are already at the finish line. He showed courage, courage that is trying even though failure is inevitable. Harper Lee and Mark Mathabane exhibit this courage throughout their books To Kill a Mockingbird and Kaffir Boy. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee shows courage through Atticus when he takes up Lee and Mathabane illustrate that courage is defined as people who put effort to achieve something even though failure is likely.
To Begin, Lee exhibits that courage is people who keep trying even though success is not possible every time. While explaining Mrs. Dubose’s death to Jem, Atticus states, “I wanted you to see what real courage is instead of getting the idea courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you began anyway and see it through no matter what” (Lee 199). Lee juxtaposes “man with a gun” with “getting licked before you began” to show what real courage is and what courage is not. Lee further takes “getting licked before you began”, when Atticus is explaining the case to Scout. Atticus says, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Lee 101) L...

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... said numerous times that only education is the only way out of apartheid. This shows he tried till he died to get out of apartheid even though success was not likely. This all adds up to show Mathabane’s courage, but also his people’s courage.
To conclude, Lee and Mathabane both illustrate courage as someone who ventures and endeavors to achieve something that is impossible. Lee exemplified that courage is not a man with a gun, but someone who has been licked before, they even began. Mathabane shows courage as trying to become a good tennis player even though virtually impossible for a black. Mathabane also shows the courage of his fellow blacks when he talks about and illustrates the struggle against apartheid, even though education is the only way out. Lee, Mathabane, and even John show that courage is more about trying even hough success may not be possible.

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