To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses characters’ actions and literary elements to show that courage can be seen in unlikely people. To Kill a Mockingbird is filled with examples of courage, from Mrs. Dubose's fight against her morphine addiction, to Atticus's determination to win an unwinnable case, to Mr. Underwood's eagerness to write his own feelings on Tom’s trial. Mrs. Dubose is a good model of courage because she realizes that she has a problem which needs fixing. She is addicted to morphine and wants to die free of her addiction. She goes through a time of withdrawal that is difficult for her to go through, Lee uses a hyperbole to illustrate the severity of her addiction, "Her head moved slowly from side to side. From time to time she would open her mouth wide, and I could see her tongue undulate faintly. Cords of saliva would collect on her lips; she would draw them in, than open her mouth again. Her mouth seemed to have a private existence of its own."(111). She dies free from her addiction, although she has taken help from Jem reading to her every Saturday as a way of distracting her. It still takes a great amount of courage to be able to recognize that one has a flaw in which needs fixing. Atticus is another perfect example of courage in this novel. He tells Scout,“I wanted you to see what real courage is… it’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what” (112), the tone used by Lee in this excerpt proves how Atticus is a morally allegiant person. He is an erudite lawyer and he abnegates his time to selflessly defend Tom even though he knows the whole town will hate him and his family. He knows that he wouldn't win Tom’s case, but he has the certain amount of candor within him to do what is right, showing how his courage was illustrated throughout the novel. Mr. Underwood is also used to illustrate physical and moral courage. He was prepared to protect Atticus with his shotgun when the mob...

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