To Kill A Mockingbird Quote Analysis

“Stand up for what is right, even if you're standing alone (Anonymous)”. This quote applies to the novel To Kill a Mockingbird because the characters of the novel faced difficult situations and had to display courage to endure them. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, a eight year old girl named Scout Finch and a twelve year old boy named Jem Finch learned more about their town. Scout lived in a small Alabama town called Maycomb, where everyone knows everyone, and social circles are strict. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, and a lawyer, is presented with a rape case in which he defended a African American man named Tom Robinson. Atticus was against a white man named Bob Ewell, a poor landowner, and Mayella Ewell, a nineteen year old girl who claimed

that she was raped by Tom. The book was set in the 1930’s, a time where people’s views toward African Americans were not of equality, but of inferiority.

Scout observed the actions of the town and her father’s involvement in the trial and learned the hard truth of the world; that things aren’t always fair no matter what some believe. These truths, even though disturbing and unjust, required courage to endure. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author used Arthur Radley, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson to demonstrate courage.

Arthur Radley demonstrated courage toward the end of the novel in a startling and unexpected event. Arthur was known throughout the novel as the elusive man who had supposedly done a profusion of absurd and appalling acts. The young Finches were fascinated by the man for the intriguing stories they heard about him, such as the circumstance upon his youth when he stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors. These rumors placed Arthur under prime criticism for the town in the novel, fabricating the vision of a psychotic man who never

socialized or ventured from his house. Despite the rumors, the end of the novel gave insight into his true morals. Following the conclusion of the trial, Bob Ewell threatened to kill Atticus, but with weeks gone by Atticus had trusted that Bob would keep a sane mind, though this wasn’t what accurately occurred. After Scout’s play at her school, Jem and Scout took the familiar trail home at night through the woods. As Scout and Jem Finch walked they heard footsteps following them. Earlier in the novel, Scout’s schoolmate, Cecil, scared the siblings on the very path they were walking, so the two dismissed it as their friend trying to scared them once again. But after calling his name, and no response echoing the children knew their initial thoughts fallacious. Soon after the announcement of Cecil’s name, Bob Ewell attacked the children, aiming to stabbed them dead with his pocket knife, but Arthur thwarted Bob’s attempt as stated in the follow quote, “Mr.Ewell was tryin’ to squeeze me to death, I reckon… then somebody yanked Mr.Ewell down”(Lee, 270). Arthur, in turn, killed the deranged Bob and saved the children, returning them both home alive. Facing potential danger, and doing what’s right by saving Scout and Jem, Arthur demonstrated courage by defending the children in a moment of peril.
Atticus Finch demonstrates unparalleled courage during the trial and throughout the novel while facing criticism from the town. The choice in defending Tom Robinson was one example of his courage because he was risking his family name, and potentially his life when he accepted the case, due to people’s resentment toward African Americans. A moment that clearly represents this courage was when Atticus sat out in front of Maycomb county jail to protect Tom from an angry mob. During the altercation in front of the jail Atticus keeps his composure in response to the crowds warnings of violence, despite the fact the men were drunk and filled with a vengeance. Atticus simply states to the men, “You can turn around and go home again, Walter” (Lee, 153), a simple line, but effective in terms of keeping peace. An additional act of courage could be regarded when Bob Ewell threatened to kill Atticus for accusing Bob of beating his daughter and stalwartly defending Tom during the trial. Instead of residing to violence or antagonising over the threat, Atticus remained impartial by responding, “No, too old”(pg.291), as Bob tried to induce a fight. Throughout the novel, Atticus honorably defends others and expresses courage in small situations such as when he had to shoot the rabid dog, along with the moment he stood up against his sister Alexandra about raising his children. His attitude in adjunct to the way he responds to situations and others truly defines a person of courage.
Tom Robinson, a courteous African American, expressed his courage the most during the trial for his life.

Tom was charged with rape against a white women and the word of her father, in the South, with a bias all-white jury, and still answered everything Judge Taylor asked him truthfully. In his testimony, he rose to defend himself explaining how Mayella was the one who advanced on Tom, even though this was disregarded as preposterous in the decade the book is set. One moment that took courage for Tom to say was a comment he voiced about Mayella Ewell, “I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em” (Lee, 125). An African American of that time period would not be caught uttering something of that nature. This statement expresses true courage because during the time period the book transpires, African Americans were discriminated against and statements such as this would have resulted in a beating or possible worse. By saying this Tom was implying that he felt Mayella, a white young lady, was living a life below standard of his own. Furthermore, when Tom tried to escape the prison farm he was held in he took his life from the hands of whites and placed it back it’s his own hands. Tom Robinson courage shone as he broke down racial barriers and stood up for his own

fate.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author used Arthur Radley, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson to demonstrate courage. No matter what background you reside from, what race you belong to, or what personality you have, courage can shine through in everyone. The author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, demonstrates the truth of the world and how people were once treated, which proved to be difficult to undergo for some characters . In hard times it would have been easy for the characters to give up or back down, but they instead the stood up for what they believed in. The dictionary defines courage as the ability to do something that frightens one, yet courage in this novel can be defined more accurately. Arthur looks beyond his image and saves the Finch siblings. Atticus treats all with the integrity and the respect one would treat their idol, even if the person is unpopular among the social hierarchy of Maycomb. Finally, Tom put existing prejudices surrounding his race aside and told the unfashionable truth. Courage is defined in this novel as standing up for what is right and obstacles in the way, whether it be a person or idea, are just small setbacks to be conquered.