The Theme of Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example

Courage strengthens your beliefs in the face of adversity as one can blaze a new trail to better the world. Inequality is inevitable in a society that reveals prejudice and racial discrimination. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses character, conflict, and setting to reveal how moral values drive courageous decisions.

In a society where racism overpowers equality, courage and morals drive Atticus to make to act upon his moral instincts. Through the character of Atticus and his courageous decisions, he decides to take a leap of faith for an innocent man known as Tom Robinson. Atticus, a lawyer, takes on a case (white vs. black). He defends a black male, Tom Robinson, allegedly accused of raping a white woman.

Although knowing he has a “slim to no chance of winning” the case, he tackles the challenges as he needs to set a moral “example for his kids” (Lee 115). Atticus’s strong sense of morals drives him to take on the case even though he knows he won’t win.  With this in mind, he decides to fight for equality, something significant to a man of courage.

Atticus has always given an equal opportunity to his kids and everyone around him as he wants to represent his beliefs through his courage for his kids and his moral values. Henceforth making him decide to take on the case. He set an example of courage and morality for his kids as he wants to make a change in society.

Furthermore, his beliefs bring upon a moral sense of value as he makes his decisions based upon his intelligence and well understanding of the society he lives in needs symbolism. On the other hand, In the community, Atticus is believed to be one of the fairest people as he exemplifies this to his kids. Scout assumed Miss Caroline understood everyone’s family background from Maycomb, which led to a misunderstanding between Scout and her teacher.

Furthermore, if Scout learned a simple trick, she would get along a lot better with her classmates and teacher because one never really understands a person until they “consider things from [there] point of view—until you climb into [there] skin and walk around in it” (39). Too much and too repetitive commentary. Furthermore, Atticus telling Scout this idea reveals how looking at things from a different point of view will enable one to understand other people’s perspectives. Furthermore, Atticus is teaching his daughter a lesson on gaining perspective.

Atticus explains to Scout that she needed to consider that Miss Caroline was new to Maycomb, and Scout couldn’t expect her to understand everything about the Cunninghams on her first day. Atticus uses the analogy of climbing into a person’s skin and walking around in it to explain to Scout how she should look at situations from other people’s points of view. Atticus’s morals display themselves as he advises his daughter to better her view of the world around her. Atticus was able to overcome and talk about his morals as he exemplifies this through his kids and his court decision, which drives him to take on the courageous act of the Tom Robinson case.