- Matthew Kelly. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a tale of leadership and courage to others. Courage is one of the main themes of To Kill a Mockingbird. Courage is demonstrated throughout the novel in multiple manners, but especially in the characters. For example, Atticus Finch is portrayed a knowledgeable man and is shown to have the ability to handle bitter consequences thrown at him. Along with Atticus Finch, Mrs. Dubose was an exceptionally courageous person. Mrs. Dubose was nearing very old age, and she took good care of herself. She didn’t let anyone tell her how she should live her life. Finally, Arthur “Boo” Radley. Boo is a young man …show more content…
These characters possess courage inside themselves. The most courageous and influential person in this novel is definitely Atticus Finch. It all commences off with the way Atticus pictures people, he observes us all equally. In other words, he’s not a racist. Atticus is a lawyer and he is defending Tom Robinson, who is a coloured man. When he took that case, it meant he was going up against Maycomb, a town full of prejudicial people. He understood that taking this type of case, with a coloured man, would make him an object of ridicule. It got to the point to where even his own sister thought of him as a disgrace to the Finch family. He didn’t care about how his reputation would suffer. This shows that Atticus will fight for anyone, knowing that they might not have a hopeful chance because of their skin colour; as long as they have a good, believable reason. Although Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, he is also aware of the consequences. For this reason, Atticus had to physically leave his home and operate his car to …show more content…
Dubose. Mrs. Dubose was an old, bedridden, rude, woman. Even though she could be awfully rude to the Finch’s , she taught them a great lesson about courage and dignity. Through the eyes of Mrs. Dubose, we interpret multiple examples of courage through experiences in her life. Experiences such as her addiction to a drug like morphine, and racial prejudice. “It’s all right to take anything to make it easier, but it wasn’t all right for her. (p.148)” Mrs. Dubose had been addicted to taking morphine to ease her agonizing pain caused by a terminal illness in the passing years; but recently, she had succumbed to taking her drug. Atticus had considered her a great woman, since she felt she needed to stop her addiction before she passes, so she quit using her morphine before she passed. She had also exhibited respect to Jem and Scout. They had respected her for dying with dignity and freedom, because she didn’t take her morphine. She changed their point of view for her. What was once just a grumpy old woman who spread negativity to the people around her, is now an inspirational character to Jem and Scout’s lives. Jem did not enjoy his reading punishment. Once they noted the truth from Atticus, they had changed their tune about her. Additionally, she knew that she was going to pass soon, but that did not make her gloomy. She just idled away the hours listening to Jem read the book “Ivanhoe” to her. She had built