What seems to be courage to one person may be different to another. You can view what courage actually is in many ways. To Kill a Mockingbird displays many different themes of courage.
             Throughout the book Jem shows courage in several ways. He was courageous when he went to Mrs. Dubose's house and read to her after he cut up her flowers. Jem had many illusions about Mrs. Dubose. Jem believed "she kept a CSA pistol concealed among her numerous shawls and wraps". (Lee 99) Jem was frightened by Mrs. Dubose and everything he thought she was. It took courage for him to conquer his fears and gain enough courage to find out who she really was.
             Mrs. Dubose also had a great deal of courage. She took advantage of Jem reading to her and used it to try o help herself. "Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict". (Lee 111) Every day when Jem came to read to her she would stop taking the morphine, and every day she had Jem read for a longer amount of time, until she didn't need it anymore. This took a lot of courage from Mrs. Dubose, she overcame her addiction. "She said she meant to break herself of it before she died, and that's what she did". (Lee 111)
             There are many other themes of courage in To Kill a Mockingbird, and there are also many other themes of courage as well. Courage can be many things and people display courage in many ways. Jem displayed courage by overcoming his fears. Mrs. Dubose displayed courage by overcoming an addiction. They are two different forms of courage but they both overcame obstacles and bettered themselves in the end. In Jems case his illusions gave way to reality and in Mrs. Dubose's case she died free. Courage isn't just a personal strength as it is, but it can also build an understanding, of things you don't quite understand around you.
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