“Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy” -Of Mice and Men. “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee introduces Atticus Finch and Scout Finch. Atticus is lead to success through his wisdom. He uses his knowledge to create a stable foundation for himself and his children upon which his honor and morals were built. Scout is able to reach success through many acts of courageousness. Throughout the story Scout begins to discover her morals and defend them. Her bravery and progression in understanding herself allows her to recognize the situations of others and use her courage to become an exemplary leader to others. Another character who was able to achieve success success is George Milton from the story “Of Mice and Men”. …show more content…
George’s life was changed when he met his friend Lennie. Lennie instilled hope and happiness into George’s life. George’s loyalty to Lennie allowed him to not only obtain a sense of fulfillment in his life, but also to be the person that fulfils Lennie’s life. Atticus, Scout, and George succeed because they are wise, courageous, and loyal. Above all, wisdom leads to Atticus’ success.
Wisdom is the quality of having knowledge and good judgement. It allows an individual to make ethical decisions and understand the circumstances of others. Wisdom can be used informatively to teach or parent values and ethics. Atticus’ wisdom allows him to guide his children, Jem and Scout, to success. After Scout’s terrible first day at school and not getting along with her classmates or teacher, Atticus uses his wisdom to give her advice. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (30). The simple wisdom of Atticus’ words in this quote reflect the manner in which he guides himself and his children by this principle. This excerpt demonstrates Atticus’ ability to understand others and their circumstances. He teaches Scout his values through this understanding and wisdom. By using his wisdom to make good judgements, Atticus is able to successfully pass on his values to his children. The trait that contributed to Atticus’ success was his wisdom and ability to acknowledge other people's circumstances and pass these values onto his …show more content…
children. Scout demonstrates courage throughout the story which leads her to success.
Courage is the trait which allows someone to have the strength to do something that most would be hesitant to do. A person who displays courage has the ability to do things out of their comfort zone. Courage requires wisdom. Great leaders have courage to stand up for others. Walter Cunningham, a boy in Scout’s class, was pressured by his teacher to take money from her which is not something he wanted to do. Scout was able to find courage to stand up to her teacher without second guessing if it was the right decision or not. “That’s okay, ma’am, you’ll get to know all the country folks after a while. The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back- no church baskets and no scrip stamps” (20). Scout’s bravery and courageousness is demonstrated in this quote because it shows how Scout is able to do something that others would be afraid to do. Scout exhibits courage through her nonconformity and her ability to stand up for what she believes in. By standing up for Walter and challenging her teacher, Scout embodies courageousness and displays leadership. Although Scout gets in trouble for defending Walter, her courage ultimately enables her to become an independent woman with strong beliefs. Scout’s ability to express herself and her beliefs and stand up for her morals demonstrates her courage which leads her to
success. George’s loyalty to his friend Lennie leads him to success. Loyalty is the quality of being supportive and faithful to someone or something. Loyalty is not only fulfilling a person's physical needs but also their emotional and intellectual needs. To be loyal, one must express commitment and dedication. George shares with Lennie a dream to own their own land. Unlike other ranch hands, Lennie and George travel together, keep each other company, and support one another. Although Lennie can be a weight on George’s shoulders, George continues to express loyalty to Lennie and support his needs. “Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you” (15). Lennie is incapable of surviving on his own and is dependent on George to support him. By looking after each other George and Lennie form a loyal bond. George is not only Lennie’s supporter, but his friend. His loyalty is displayed throughout the entire book because George ensures Lennie’s safety and happiness. Even though George could easily live on his own, he expresses loyalty to Lennie by upholding his promise to protect Lennie. George’s loyalty is revealed through his compassionate relationship with Lennie which leads him to success. Wisdom, courage, and loyalty enable Atticus, Scout, and George to achieve success. Atticus succeeds in teaching Scout important lessons about morals and ethics. He displays his wisdom through his understanding and empathetic views. Scout succeeds because of her courage. She is able to show leadership by standing up for Walter. In doing so, her courageous and outspoken character develops and flourishes. Finally, George succeeds because of his loyalty to Lennie. He possesses supportive qualities which are portrayed as George continuously supports Lennie’s needs and leads him to happiness. These characters embody the quote, “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.” Their courage to stand up for their morals and for each other exhibits great loyalty. Atticus and Scout grow in their wisdom as they begin to understand the situations of others. George’s loyalty produces a fulfilling and happy relationship with his best friend.
Courage is a deed that can be portrayed in many ways. In the Historical Fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, there are many acts of racism and problematic cases where acts of courage are demonstrated in different and unique ways that can only be deciphered if one reads in between the lines of the words. There are three characters in particular who show courage in diverse ways. First, there is Arthur Radley who anonymously shows courage by performing tasks that cause him to face the outside world where he’s been isolated from for so long. Secondly, there is Scout Finch who demonstrates courage through her adolescent age. Lastly, there is Atticus Finch who displays courage through his selfless and kind actions. Therefore, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses diverse characters to represent different acts of courage.
From all of these, she learns to look at the individuality of the others. For Scouts, courage is most often something with physical activity and involves personal danger. It is very difficult for Scouts to see that greater courage is often required in other places of life. Scout learns that the greatest courage can be found in a situation where a person knows that he is going to lose and still continues to fight. To prove this, Miss Lee first had Scout observe her father perform a physical act of courage when he shoots the charging mad dog.
...s will pass on these ideas to children and family. Even so, compassion emitted from Atticus towards his children are able to shield them from the disease and make them much like Atticus, someone who would see it like it is rather than be blindfolded by the pre-conceived ideas. Wisdom and life experience also are shown as very desirable traits to have as they can motivate you through the toughest tasks and drive you to do what should be done instead of abandon your duties. In conclusion, Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird highlights the horrible prejudice and ignorance towards black people in the southern town of Maycomb, but also shows wisdom and compassion as not only desirable but necessary traits to have to withstand the bombardment of pre-conceived ideas from the people surrounding you, and also portrays these qualities as a shield to people around you.
The most important thing Atticus teaches in To Kill a Mockingbird is the message about how to best educate a child. From the beginning of the book, it's plain to see that Atticus has been down on his luck most of his life. "It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyways and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do"(124). He strives to give Scout and Jem spirit, bravery and tolerance of others. "If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (30). He teaches this life lesson to show that it's actually achievable to live with principles without losing sight of hope or acting skeptical. Atticus is able to highly regard Mrs. Dubose's courage even though he disapproves of her continuous acts of racism. "She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe...son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her-I wanted you to see what real courage is instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand" (128).
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior, to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single parent in a small southern town in the 1930's, is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. Atticus renounces violence but stands up for what he believes in. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself as well.
"Courage isn't an absence of fear. It's doing what you are afraid to do. It's having the power to let go of the familiar and forge ahead into new territory." ~John Maxwell. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout (Jean Louise Finch), Jem (Jeremy Atticus Finch), and Atticus Finch display acts of valor that contribute, and in some cases encourage their rectitude. Harper Lee demonstrates that acting courageously can lead to an improved, sustained, or newly developed personal integrity.
Courage exists in several forms in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. As defined by Atticus Finch, real courage "…when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (149). The novel explores the how this real courage can be shown in different ways through the lives of many characters in Maycomb, particularly, Tom Robinson, Mrs. Dubose, and Atticus. Their courage is evident through their lifestyle, actions, and beliefs.
Courage is not something that we are born with, it is a skill that takes time to learn and only a few are lucky enough to have it. To Kill a Mockingbird is not only about life in a world full of hate, it is about standing up for anyone’s beliefs being brave enough to do it. In this story, Harper Lee 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” (Lee 112). In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates courage through Atticus Finch, Mrs. Dubose, and Arthur Radley.
Courage is having the strength to do something that is frightening to most people. It can be something large scale like the responders on 9/11 risking their lives for hundreds of people. Courage can also be something of smaller scale but just as significant like standing up for a black man in a town of racial prejudice. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, many of the characters she has initiated show courageous qualities. One of those characters is Atticus Finch, father of Jem and Scout who demonstrates courage many times throughout the novel. Standing up for his beliefs, restraining from the negligent tauntings of his neighbors and defending a man whose innocence will not be proved, all show Atticus is the most courageous character
Scout is courageous throughout the book, she was a tomboy from the beginning and is willing to fight against any boy or adult who questions her . While much conflict and absurdity was occurring around the trail, Scout had to be courageous and brave.Some of her bravery comes from having the negativity of being a child during a time of segregation amongst different races. People in the town of Maycomb would give the whole Finch family a hard time, just because Atticus was defending a black man. Scout would get hurtful comments said to her about her father, and was even attacked by Mr. Ewell, who tried to kill her, and her brother Jem. “ Your shaman him Miss. Caroline, Walter hasn't got a quarter at home to bring you, and you can't use any stovewood….Miss Caroline stood shock still, then grabbed me by the collar…” (Lee 28.) This quote demonstrates how Scout showed bravery and spoke out to Miss. Caroline to help out Walter, on behalf of the students. She is aware that Miss. Caroline yells at her for all most anything she says, but speaks out anyway because she is brave and wants to help Walter, knowing that their family does not have much. Scout is making Walter feel less embarrassed for the fact that he is poor. Scout shows bravery throughout the whole novel, and courage and bravery are what get her through all the conflict and dispute that is occurring in
Atticus is possibly the most courageous character in To Kill A Mockingbird. He often shows his courage by simply doing the right thing. For example, In the mad dog scene Atticus is called by Calpurnia to deal with a rabid dog. Atticus alerts the sheriff, and when they reach the Finch’s, the sheriff hands off the rifle to Atticus because he doubts his own shooting abilities. Atticus doesn’t want to show his children he can shoot because he likes to solve problems with non-violence, but he goes ahead and shoots the dog anyway. Atticus did the right thing because the mad dog needed to be taken care of efficiently and missed shots could mean the dog reaching them. Another example of Atticus b...
Scout believes at the beginning of the book that courage is all to do with physical feats like fist fighting. Scout and Jem though Atticus was courageous when he shot the mad dog, but Atticus just shrugged it off telling his children that that is not ? real courage?. The children soon see that moral courage is more valuable after Miss Dubose said "Your father's no better than the niggers and trash he works for!" Chapter 11, Page 113 after they walked past her house.
Jill McCorkle's Ferris Beach, a contemporary novel, shares numerous characteristics with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written in the 1960's. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, McCorkle's novel documents the life of a young girl in a small southern town. The two narrators, Kate Burns and Scout Finch, endure difficult encounters. A study of these main characters reveals the parallels and differences of the two novels. Jill McCorkle duplicates character similarities and rape from Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to show the reader how young girls think and develop.
Many people believe that to have courage, you must conquer something physically challenging. Courage is a quality in which the mind is able to confront any difficulty, whether that be fear, danger or even pain. Scout and her older brother Jem are both influenced by
Harper Lee achieved the most important dream of a writer; her book is timeless. The theme of To Kill a Mockingbird, courage, is one that no one can deny is a central idea not only in the novel but also in life. People believe that courage is something that everyone is born with, but I disagree. Atticus once told Scout, “"They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions," said Atticus, "but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.” Only courageous people can teach others to stand up for what they truly believe in.