Jem and Scout are kids, and they have a rather
undeveloped persepective on what courage is. We know (in ch. 10) they believe their dad
is an old man and "can't do anything"; and they wish he had a really cool and important
job--
"Our
father didn't do anything. He worked in an office, not in a drugstore. Atticus did not
drive a dump-truck for the county, he was not the sheriff, he not farm, work in a
garage, or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of
anyone."
They're most
impressed with him when they find out he's an expert shot with a rifle. Knowing that,
their unrealistic view of courage has to develop by experiences with the people they
come in contact during the course of the novel. Here are a
few:
- Mrs. Henry Lafayette DuBose, who kicks a
morphine addiction at the end of her life simply because she wanted to prove to herself
that she could. - Miss Maudie, who stands up to the
bullying of the "foot-washing Baptists" and town
gossips. - Boo Radley, who risks his life for
them. - Tom Robinson, who shows compassion for Mayella
despite the potential risk to him. - Helen Robinson, who
walks to work with her head held high, even though Bob Ewell is a menacing presence as
she does so. - Dolphus Raymond, who lives the life he
chooses, regardless of the town's disapproval. - Mr.
Underwood, who speaks his mind in an editorial about the prejudice in Maycomb and risks
losing his business. - Dill, who crosses the country on his
own. - Judge Taylor, who does his best to give Tom the
fairest trial he can in the circumstances he's
in. - Atticus, who is the same in his house as he is on the
street, who believes in a black man's innocence and tries to free him, who sits outside
a jail cell to ensure his client's safety...and on it
goes.
There are plenty more, as you know once
you start thinking about examples like these. The kids' view of courage is developed
and "fleshed out" as they encounter the characters in their world during the two years
of this story.
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