Up to this point Jem had truly viewed courage as when a person has a weapon and the knowledge of victory, and Mrs. Dubose helped him see that real courage is when a person steps up to fight evil without sure knowledge of success. Although he realizes how hard it must have been for Mrs. Dubose to overcome her addiction, Jem still hates, but he respects Mrs. Dubose for her battle. Atticus" lesson taught Jem that courage is more a state of mind than a state of being and he learns about taking action to support what one believes is right.
Atticus, a character who shows courage through supporting what he believes is right, knows from the minute he accepts the Tom Robinson case, he will lose. He does not want to back down from the case just because the man he is asked to defend is black. After Scout asks Atticus why he defends "niggers", he responds, "The main one [reason] is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again," (Lee 75). Atticus believes he must "practice what he preaches." Atticus feels if he, himself, does not follow his own beliefs of doing right, he cannot be able to teach Jem and Scout to do what is right. Atticus also tries to change the town's prejudice against blacks in his closing statement in the trial. Atticus courageously asserts, " the assumption-the evil assumption-that all Negroes lie Which gentlemen, we know is in itself a lie as black as Tom Robinson's skin, a lie I do not have to point out to you. You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women-black or white," (Lee 204). Atticus is trying to show that Tom is being persecuted only because he is black. He also tries to explain that Mayella Ewell is trying to hide evidence of her showing and wanting affection from a black man by saying Tom Robinson violently rape her.
