They just need to stand up for their beliefs in times where there is so support whatsoever.
An unlikely hero in the book is Mrs. Dubose, who strongly overcame her morphine addiction. At first, Mrs. Dubose is seen as an evil and prejudiced character that hates Jem and Scout. Atticus reminds them to see it from her point of view before judging her which leads to them learning about her drug addiction. Mrs. Dubose needs the children to help her through it, yet she suffered in silence. Moreover, she is very ill and close to dying. The real courage comes from the fact that although she knows that she will die, she still tries to overcome her addiction, no matter how painful and difficult it is. Atticus" description of true heroes is "when you know you"re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what (112)." In the end, Mrs. Dubose is able to die honourably and free from her demons. Even though it didn't matter much, it was still important to her, and that's what makes her a true hero.
Atticus Finch is the real hero of the book because he takes the biggest risk, despite knowing that he will definitely lose. Atticus shows in many cases, the definition of a true hero but no situation was more important than the Tom Robinson trial. In Maycomb, the thought of taking a negro's word over a white man's is ludicrous to the citizens. Especially over a matter as serious as a black man raping a white woman. Regardless of this information, Atticus still takes Tom Robinson's case and tries to make as big of a difference as possible. When Scout asks him if he thinks that he will win the case, Atticus calmly replies "No, honey (76)." Atticus goes on to explain that "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win (76)." Basically, Atticus believes that just because it is unlikely that he will win, doesn't mean he has to give up before trying.