In the novel "To Kill Mockingbird" by Harper Lee an important idea is that true courage is moral, not physical. Throughout the book these two types of courage are shown and through the children eyes and Atticus' teaching I learned about it and realised that it was a very valuable lesson.
             During the early chapters of the book, the children are involved in the stories and adventures they make up around Boo Radley. They are afraid of his reputation, and so childish fears need to be overcome by courage, for example walking instead of running past the Radley place and Jem returning to find his trousers. These are examples of physical courage and are important in showing the development of children, because, at first, they think this is what true courage means. It is also important to show the contrast between the physical courage and the moral courage shown in the book.
             Atticus surprises the children with his physical courage when he shoots the rabid dog. They have always thought of him as old and not as strong as other fathers and so are surprised and very proud when he performs such a feat. Jem, however, understands better than Scout as to why their father does not boast about his abilities, he believes that "courage is not defined by a man with a gun in his hand." This is the beginning of Atticus' teachings about moral courage and this event made me realise that there is more to courage than just the physical aspect. After this Atticus tells his children about his beliefs in moral courage. It is made very clear that courage is shown by people who stand firm in their beliefs and those who take on a task even if they know they will not succeed. Atticus tells Jem courage is "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" Atticus also role models his sense of bravery by refusing to carry a gun to protect Tom Robinson from angry farmers and refusing to c...