To determine the amount of courage, you must first explore the many definitions of what it means to be courageous. To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Lee Harper in the 1960s during the civil rights movement. In the book, Scout Finch talks about her adventures in her hometown of Maycomb County and all the events that happened in the summers before and after she started first grade. The dictionary defines courage as the strength to overcome fear and pain, but it is different depending on the novel. Harper Lee uses the novel to show that true courage is standing up for what you believe in despite the consequences through the characters Tom Robinson, Jem Finch, and Mrs. Dubose. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay During the 1930s, racial injustice was a major part of society. Blacks were discriminated against and considered trash. Tom Robinson, a black man, was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a member of a family considered inferior to the black community. His family is not trustworthy, but the police still believe Mr. Ewell when he accused Tom of raping his daughter. Atticus knows that Tom's case is doomed to fail because any black man accused of raping someone, especially a white woman, will be convicted due to racial injustice. Yet, Tom still testifies against Mayella. She tells the jury that he didn't rape her, but she actually approached him. In his testimony, Tom says "I felt sorry for her." Tom showed mercy to Mayella. He knew the prejudices of the world and did not want her to suffer as he had. Tom was brave because he fought against inequality by revealing the truth behind Mayella's accusations and ignoring the consequences. Along the way, Jem looked at Tom's courage with young eyes. Just like Tom, Jem also had courage. Jem began the book with a small idea of ​​what courage was. At first he considered it courageous to touch the Radley house. His actions proved the definition in Webster's Dictionary, but he would later become a man of true courage, what Harper Lee would call courage. When the lead ends, Mr. Ewell vows revenge against Atticus and everyone else who tried to make him look like a terrible person. The night after a school play, when the children are returning home, they are both attacked by Mr. Ewell. He tries to stab Scout, but Jem pulls Mr. Ewell away from her even though Mr. Ewell is armed with a knife. Jem was a twelve-year-old boy and would not win in a fight against a grown man with a knife. Even though he knew the possibility of dying, he protected his sister. Jem knew what was coming, but he continued anyway. He believed that defending one's loved ones outweighed the possibility of death. When Scout needs comfort after her play, Jem helps her and Scout comments "Jem was getting almost as good as Atticus at making you feel good when things were bad." Atticus was the symbol of Jem's courage. He went from being a child with little knowledge of what courage truly was to a man who had all the traits of a courageous individual. Jem adapted his courage to Atticus, and to Atticus, Mrs. Dubose was a courageous woman even if her morals were not the same as Atticus. Dubose was a sick woman in both mind and body, but she was still courageous. She was diagnosed with cancer and took morpheme to relieve the pain. In those days, the morpheme was a highly addictive drug that would keep people alive until, eventually, the morpheme.