To Kill A Mockingbird Courage Quotes

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Courage can be defined as the ability to do something that is frightening. Courage must be worked on and practiced. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many life lessons including many about courage. Displaying acts of courage are not second nature to Atticus Finch, Calpurnia, or Tom Robinson. However, they all overcame fear to do valiant things to show and tell Jem, Scout, and Dill how to stand up for what they believe in.

The first character who showed an exceptional amount of courage in To Kill a Mockingbird, is Atticus Finch, Jem and Scout’s father. On page 31, Atticus says, “...we’ll go on reading every night just as we have.” This quote shows the kids, especially Scout, that sometimes they will need …show more content…
Scout was the first to encounter Cal’s courage in a conversation on page 24, “‘Cal, he’s just a Cunningham---’ ‘Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny…’” Cal makes Scout realize that no matter the circumstances, she should not be rude to guests. In this lesson, Calpurnia also stood up for what she believed was right; all people in the household being treated equally, and in that, Cal exemplified courage. A second example of Cal showing courage is on page 119, “‘You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here--- they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?’ Calpurnia said, ‘It’s the same God, ain’t it?’” This quote is a conversation between Lula, a member of the First Purchase African Church, and Cal. The conversation shows that Calpurnia believed the kids were just as welcome in the black community church as she was. This conversation also showed Jem and Scout that they need to have courage about things that they feel are important. A third example of Cal’s courage can be found on page 115 when she takes care of the children while Atticus is at the emergency session of the Alabama State Legislature. The willingness of Cal to take care of the kids is astounding because Atticus entrusted his kids to her. It would take a lot of courage for …show more content…
He denied Mayella’s testimony and swore “...to tell the whole truth...” (p. 194), and he did exactly that during the trial. Tom modeled courage in the courtroom by denying a white woman’s trial which was almost unheard of. He knew that he did not rape Mayella and he wanted everyone else to know that too, that is genuine courage. Another example of Tom showing courage was during the questioning portion of the trial. “I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ‘em---” (p. 197). Saying that in a courtroom made him look like the scum of the Earth. Black males were never supposed to feel bad for white women because women were supposedly better off than black males in the time period of To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom took a big leap of faith and was courageous by making his opinion known in the courtroom. It was essential for Tom to stand up for himself for even the possibility of not going to jail to still be viable and he had to do it all without lying about anything. That would take an extreme amount of courage to do. A final example of Tom’s indirect lessons of courage to the children can be found on page 236. Tom was “...tired of white men’s chances and preferred to take his own.” He tried to escape prison that day, something almost unthinkable in the town of Maycomb. He did not try to escape out of cowardice, but he tried to escape because he knew that

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