Atticus And Scout 1's Cases example essay topic

To Kill A Mockingbird Courage, the mental or morale strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty, is displayed in many different ways throughout Harper Lee^1's only published novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. To some, the courage manifested by the characters in this book is either offensive, or frivolous, but to those who realize the true meaning of this word, the fortitude and bravery exhibited by certain individuals is considered uncustomary. In fact, To Kill A Mockingbird revolves around courage, as the author of this book describes Jem and Scout^1's (the two main character^1's in the story) childhoods living in Maycomb County, and how, as they grow older, they learn to realistically define heroism. To distinct courage in this book however, is not an easy task to accomplish, for typically, courage is displayed in the smallest or most unnoticeable fashions. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus, a man who provides the morale guidelines in the story, and also Scout and Jem^1's father, demonstrates courage in a variation of different ways, but the biggest of all the tasks that he had to overcome was when he was given the opportunity to defend Tom Robinson in court.

Atticus did not treat this litigation such as any other case that he had ever dealt with before, for he new that this one would most likely change his life. The reason: Tom Robinson was a Negro. At the time, segregation was very common among the citizens of his town, and therefore he knew that he stood no chance in winning this indictment, especially based upon the fact that Robinson was charged with a transgression such as rape. Atticus was courageous in this situation for many different reasons, but mainly because he stood up for what he believed in; in this case it was that blacks should have equal rights as whites in a court of law. A quote that fascinated me while reading this book was: ^3 Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win. ^2 (p 76) Atticus was the one to have said this, showing his acknowledgment of the fact that he was going to be on the losing end of the lawsuit.

Still, he prepared for this case, willingly putting his heart into it, disregarding the insults and attacks thrown in his direction by white supremacists. Although he lost, he came out victorious in the end, as he received gifts provided by those who understood what he had been through and appreciated this altruistic man^1's good work, for he did in fact convince everyone that Tom Robinson was not guilty. When her father asked her to refrain from fighting, Scout understood, assuming that accomplishing this task would be as easy as throwing a berry in the breeze and having it land in her mouth. At first, she was right. Scout thought that this relevance would only last until someone physically challenged her though, which was wrong, for after she promised to her father that she would no longer engage in battle, she turned down all opportunities to fight. The first to determine if Scout was going to abide by her father^1's rules was a member of her class, as well as an on and off companion, called Cecil Jacobs.

He accused Atticus of defending niggers, for as I have already mentioned he decided to defend Tom Robinson in court. The day after the inculpation, Scout faced Cecil in the schoolyard, threatening to attack him. She then remembered what her father had said about grappling, and therefore, she left the scene of the quarrel. It was the first time she ever walked away from a fight. In this case, Scout displayed courage for fighting was a way for her to prove that she was as ironhanded, callous, and stalwart as a boy, and that because of this, she should be treated such as one. Backing away from the fight led others to understand that she was in fact a girl and also a coward.

Though in her mind she thought that she was damaging her reputation, she knew that somehow she was doing a favour to her father, and that she owed him at least this, for he demanded very little out of her and Jem. When one dies, it is most likely that they would prefer leaving this world feeling good about themselves, as did Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, who had to go through a painful process to be successful in doing this. Mrs. Dubose was an elderly and frail woman who was despised by all children in Maycomb County, as she was harsh and unpleasant to be around. Though she was abhorred by everybody, she had developed a slightly larger grudge with Jem and Scout, whom she was eminently intolerant and unrelenting with. This is what caused Jem^1's mis behaviour one spring day. He destroyed her garden, accompanied by Scout, cutting the tops of every camellia bush she owned, paying her back for implying that his father is no better than the niggers he works for. (p 102) In order to express his forgiveness to Mrs. Dubose, he was told that he had to read to her every day for two hours, during a period of a month.

Awkward he thought, but little did he know that he was in fact helping Miss Dubose kick a morphine addiction that had lasted for several years; this is why she was so obdurate. Day after day, without Jem knowing it, she would increase the time that he would read to her by ten minutes, meaning that she was slowly increasing the amount of time that she was spending without taking the drug. Eventually, by the time that Jem was no longer obligated to read, she had accomplished her goal; she was going to be free when she died, as she did kick her habit. A suffering and feeble woman going a month without consuming a drug that she has been addicted to for over five years is undeniably courageous. Mrs. Dubose could easily have died taking morphine to soothe her pain, but instead she did what in her mind was right, suffering for a month on earth, permitting her to be untroubled for eternity in heaven.

Defending a Negro, resisting the temptation of fighting, and kicking a morphine addiction. All three of these acts of courage can somehow relate to the quote: ^3 Real courage is when you know you^1 re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. ^2 (p 112) This quotes continues, implying that you rarely win, but sometimes you do, such as in Mrs. Dubose^1's case. In both Atticus and Scout^1's cases though, they lost, but neither winning nor losing is important, as long as inside you know you have done the right thing.