To Kill a Mockingbird: Courage

Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary states that courage is "mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand anger, fear, or difficulty." I have never been good at giving my personal answers to questions that have answers from a reliable source, such as a dictionary. I tend to always want to be right, so I don't answer what I think; I answer what I know (from other people/sources). Well, this is not what the directions for this post call for, so I'll have to give my opinion a try.

I think that the dictionary's definition of courage is very close to mine. Some definitions I found state that courage is partly overcoming fear or doing things with no fear, but I think you can be couragous and still have fear of what you’re doing. It's the fact that you are doing it that counts. I think Attucis, from To Kill a Mockingbird, feels the same way by what he says when in the context that he is referring to Miss Dubose:

"Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do" (page 116).