Original artwork, not a still
To Kill a Mockingbird ‧ 1960
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. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway...you rarely win, but sometimes you do.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Atticus takes the Western idea of courage and turns it inside out: bravery is not a gunfight but a lost cause fought anyway. He is describing an old woman quitting morphine, and quietly, himself defending Tom Robinson, a man he expects to lose. It is the novel's most quoted statement of its moral and is the one most often handed to readers as a definition of courage, and for many it is the line that defines Atticus Finch.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for To Kill a MockingbirdShow the scene
In Chapter 11 of Harper Lee's 1960 novel, old Mrs. Dubose, the cruel neighbour who insults Jem and Scout every time they pass, taunts them about Atticus defending a Black man. Jem loses his temper and cuts the tops off her camellias with Scout's new baton. As punishment he must apologise and read aloud to her every day after school for a month. When she dies, Atticus tells his son that she was a morphine addict who fought to die free of it, and that he wanted Jem to see what real courage is. He gives Jem the box she left him, with a single white camellia inside.
Sources (2)
- To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 11 - LitChartsChapter summaryReference checked
- To Kill a Mockingbird - WikipediaThemes: courageReference checked
Context reviewed
