“A man of courage flees towards the start of indifferent things.” In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are many dissimilar examples of courageous behavior. There are many different definitions of courage. Some people say that courage is being able to face their fears. Others say that courage is a person with a tough heart. In the novel, Lee describes courage as being “when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (p.112). Courage is the ultimate weapon against racism, war, sexism and unfair circumstances. It can overthrow the man in the highest position and defeat the harshest of words. Courage. It’s what many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird have and know how to exploit. Courageous people make other courageous people and Scout Finch has made that impact on many. Mrs. Henrietta Dubose starts out cold and distant, but then we later realize that she is just overcoming a stage of becoming courageous. Atticus Finch also happens to be one of the boldest people that I have come into contact with. Scout, Mrs. Dubose and Atticus all have the elements of the most courageous people in the novel.

     Scout Finch has the spunk and brutality of a boy her age, but in the same aspect a warmer heart than most girls. She starts out being quite a tomboy. She beats people up when she doesn’t know what else will resolve her conflict, for example: when she beats up Walter Cunningham because he made her look bad. She plays with boys, including her brother Jem and friend, Dill. She has a lot to handle at such a young age for just growing up in the society of the 1930’s. Scout can conduct herself in such situations that most wouldn’t be able to manage, yet when she has her buttons pushed, she turns to the one thing she uses to express her grief, using her fists. Despite the fact she is a hitter, she uses her words to defend her father. When Mr. Cunningham was outside of the courthouse mocking Atticus for what he is planning to do for Tom Robinson Scout stood her ground for her father and reminded Mr. Cunningham of the fact he, too, was a man like Atticus with a family to care for, children that need him and a man trying to make a living. Scout had the courage to stand up to Mr. Cunningham, a grown man, when most children wouldn’t even consider talking to him in a time like this.

     Mrs. Henrietta Dubose is wicked, cruel and cold but she has the courage to fight off soldiers one handed. Mrs. Dubose is never nice or warm towards to children yet Scout and Jem are always nice and thoughtful when passing by her abode. She is always telling them to treat her with respect and admiration, but who knew she her actions were really worth all of that respect? Mrs. Dubose was battling a fight against her addiction to morphine that she has accumulated through medical treatments, but no one knew that from just looking at her. The fact that one of her goals in life is to be off of morphine when she dies is courageous enough but Mrs. Dubose follows through on it and stands strong against her dependence.