Mychelle Estanilla
English Honors Per. 1
2/8/12
To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay on Courage
Courage is one of the most essential qualities in life. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, courage is the theme. Many characters in the book show courage, but the character that portrays a high amount of courage for such a young age is Scout. Scout is not a normal girl. She is very unique in many ways when it comes to intelligence and personality and her uniqueness is what makes her have that quality and theme of the book Courageous. Scout is a very sensitive girl when it comes to her family. If someone makes fun of her family, they should be prepared for something to happen. Scout does several of things throughout the book that proves she has bravery: She stands up for herself and her family, confronts a mob and walks with someone who is known to be the scariest person in the whole town.
The first way Scout shows courage is when she first starts school. When Walter Cunningham didn’t bring lunch, Miss Caroline offers him a quarter to buy lunch but she told him to pay her back the following day. But what Miss Caroline doesn’t understand is that the Cunningham family is poor and Walter will never be able to pay her back or bring lunch to school. After hearing this problem Scout tries to explain to Miss Caroline and to something that no kid her age would do. Instead of letting Walter stand up for himself, she stands up for him even though she’s very young. If someone her age would do that it proves that they have courage. People her age wouldn’t want to stand up to a teacher and try explaining the situations to them but she does. Scout also shows courage in an unexpected way. Also, Scout shows courage when she doesn’t even know it. Atticus went to the jailhouse to protect Tom Robinson from the mob he knew was coming for him. Even though he was alone against