"Real Courage" and Bravery
Atticus prepares to shoot Tim Johnson (Chapter 10)
In the text Harper lee refers to courage at many points, but continues to reinforce what it should truly be. As Atticus says at the end of Chapter Eleven,
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand."
In this line Harper Lee makes a reference to "One Shot" Atticus shooting the rabid dog Tim Johnson, uncovering his
thirty year old reputation of being the best shot in Maycomb, however Lee makes it clear that true courage is
"...When you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what..."
Some examples of this are Mrs Dubose's fight with morphine addiction and of course Atticus' fight for Tom Robinson, who he knew was dead the moment "...That Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed".
"I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand."
In this line Harper Lee makes a reference to "One Shot" Atticus shooting the rabid dog Tim Johnson, uncovering his
thirty year old reputation of being the best shot in Maycomb, however Lee makes it clear that true courage is
"...When you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what..."
Some examples of this are Mrs Dubose's fight with morphine addiction and of course Atticus' fight for Tom Robinson, who he knew was dead the moment "...That Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed".