To Kill A Mockingbird Essay On Courage

What is Courage? To be courageous is to have no idea what’s going to happen and being terrified, but then moving forward anyway because, on some level, one knows that to walk away or to stay frozen forever would be a huge mistake. Underlying every courageous action is leaden fear. I once thought that being brave was synonymous with being invincible, but now I’m not so sure. I think being brave is being very aware of one’s own mortality and ability to fail, and then continuing anyway. To have courage is to look forward and see nothing clearly, and then taking that step into murkiness because it is necessary. To march into a burning building, to fall in love with a stranger, or to speak up against the people we treasure and simultaneously disagree with all take courage. One might die, or break one’s heart, or lose everything. There’s no way to know, and that’s terrifying. And yet, people do those things every day. Why? Because they know they will regret it

Tom Robinson’s testimony, for example, was courageous. In the 1930s South, Tom’s denial of the charges brought against him and his alternate portrayal of events are more or less unacceptable. He knows this; he realizes that he has a good chance of dying because of what he is saying. Tom must be absolutely petrified, and yet he continues, because not speaking up and not defending himself are unacceptable for him. He is totally aware that if he says nothing, he will probably die, and if he speaks up, he will probably die. Tom knows what he is risking, but he will never forgive himself if he stays silent. He must deny the accusations, for his family and his name, and he has to shine light on what horrors occur in the Ewell house, for Mayella’s sake. So, that’s exactly what Tom does. Despite the horrific possibilities ahead of him and the terror he must feel, he continues anyway. That takes