Examples Of Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee explores the themes of justice and courage. The definition of ‘true’ courage was challenged throughout the novel by the actions of the citizens. Those who are courageous in relation to their principles, such as Atticus often found it hard to persuade others to act similarly. Society in Maycomb, in the 1930’s reflected values that regarded social order and reputation of more importance than moral conscience.

Harper Lee manages to askew the traditional view of courage and instead defines it to include different forms. Some courageous acts were not heroic in the traditional sense of courage being ‘a man with a gun’ but rather morally courageous. Mrs Dubose was shown in the novel to be an ill-tempered person

with a morphine addiction-an unlikely candidate for heroism. However she showed great moral courage when she chose to fight her battles to the end, even though she was “Licked from the beginning”. According to her views she died beholden to nothing and nobody and that took great personal strength and courage to see through to the very end. Courage is a subjective term but is traditionally equated with physical strength. Throughout the novel Scout and Jem are witnesses to the different forms of courage and thus learnt that ‘real’ courage is not always physical.
It is evident in the novel that society had a rigid structure that didn’t have places for concepts of justice or courage.

Racism has a strong influence in the society and the society itself is so conservative that Justice is lacking. The idea that people are more concerned with societal views rather than conscience is reinforced throughout the court case. The minds of the jury are riddled with prejudice and they could not see through their bias to come to a just conclusion. “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience,” this refers to the mob mentality and although the jury collective come to the decision each person still had their own conscience and principles. The jury convicted Tom on the basis of not wanting to differ from the norms of society and didn’t have the courage to use their own moral principles and conscience. There is a common mindset among the townspeople that negroes are ‘lesser people’ therefore in relation to the court case the fear of breaking society views and damaging reputations acts as a barrier to being courageous and

just.
Through the novel, Harper demonstrates how fear can place restrictions on acts of justice and courage.

The townsfolk are more concerned with reputation than social change. The fear of damaging that reputation outweighs wanting to be courageous or just. Atticus is a character who believes in a justice that contradicts the social order and others were not likely to emulate his courageous attitude. Whilst others were more concerned-even feared- the scandal that would arise had they been courageous to change a society. Atticus was more concerned with being true to his conscience, which was evident when he ‘aimed’ to defend tom, which in itself is a courageous act. “Before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself...” Atticus believed although people had a right to their own opinions he had to stay true to himself. Moreover the townsfolk could find no justification in him defending a black man “...He aims to defend him that’s what I don’t like,” he could not persuade others to be just or courageous when his views differed greatly from societies. What people don’t know or understand they tend to fear and to try and change people’s beliefis questioning the validity of their values. An example in the novel is Dolphus Raymond who had an interracial family something that differed greatly from the norms of society. Dolphus realised the futility of trying to explain his lifestyle and instead walked around town in a guise of being a drunkard to give people a reason for

his ways. The townsfolk who could simply not understand are instead grateful for having something to excuse the life Dolphus led-which was different from their ideals.
Justice and courage are not prevalent values in the deep south society of Maycomb. Social class is a rigid structure that allows no room for difference and social change is considered ‘different’. The idea of what courage and Justice are differs for each person therefore when Atticus believes in the justice of change and equality it is much harder to convince others of these values. Change requires courage and the rules of society are too restrictive to allow for that kind of courage. Therefore there needs to be bend in the structures of society which could allow for Justice and courage to grow.