Courage To Confront Prejudice

"Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand's of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood" (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Some of the nation's greatest fictional characters epitomize this passage in their everyday lives. Jem, Scout and Huck not only have the courage to affect our nation, but they do so as children. They, along with countless others, show their courage through the actions of their hearts. According to them, courage is not the absence of fear, but the willpower to face it. These characters, from the novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, and To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, exemplify the positive importance to have the courage to confront all kinds of prejudice in society, family, and oneself.

Society proves to be a big faction in the lives of the characters of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill a Mockingbird. The characters are constantly obliged to be like the others of their communities, otherwise they have a chance of being rejected because they are simply different. However, they decide to stand up for what is right, and they act on the parts of those who really are different and cannot defend themselves on their own. However, prejudice is not only exposed to African Americans in the novels as many people believe. It is also made known to the people of different class or social ranks. In To Kill a Mockingbird, many people prove their own prejudice towards not only the Ewell's, but also to the Cunningham's, and the same thing happens in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where society tends to spurn Pap. Although, most of the time, the Ewell's deserve the prejudice that has come upon them, they sometimes do have the right to prove themselves to be the good, fine people that anyone can be. Pap is characterized as the drunken, no-good father of Huckleberry, but no one really gets a chance to find out what real potential he might have as a fine individual (Twain 1251-1253). The Cunningham's, nonetheless, are discriminated against because they are farmers and they are lower-class people. When Aunt Alexandra narrow-mindedly judges Walter Cunningham, Scout's friend, and groups his family as a "yappy" bunch, Scout stands up to her and says that even though he may not be like Jem, he still is a good person who deserves to be treated like one (Lee 223-224). Scout, here, begins to realize the hypocrisy and prejudice that some of her own family has against other people who are different from them.

The chief effect of having courage to face prejudice takes place while defending black individuals. In some instances, not even the main characters are the ones who stand up for these people and their rights. "[...] In To Kill a Mockingbird, the African-American characters are field hands, maids, and garbage collectors. Only two of them have ever been taught to read" (Johnson, Understanding 85). Although they might not be identified, the people who taught these two colored folks how to read had the audacity to treat these people as their equals, even though no one else considered them that way. They believe that since these colored folks are their equals, they should have the same, or near the same amount of education as that of a white person. Another occurrence in To Kill a Mockingbird when a secondary character helps a colored man happens with Judge Taylor. Jem finds out that Judge Taylor was also on Tom's side in the trial since he appointed Atticus to the position of defending Tom (Lee 215-216). Jem realizes that because of the judge's actions, Tom would have had a better chance of winning the trial, and therefore, proving that Judge Taylor did in fact stand up to prejudice in the courtroom. Another secondary character, Mr. Dolphus Raymond, also shows his courage to defy prejudice in society by marrying a black woman. He explains to Scout and Dill that no explanation, other than whiskey, would get the people of Maycomb to understand why he married a black woman (Lee 200-201). Jem reacts to this kind of prejudice by arguing, "If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?" (Lee 227). All of the youngsters become conscious of the fact that everyone is the same at heart, no matter what skin color, status, or age the person may be. For example, Dill, from To Kill a Mockingbird, realizes that prejudice is a major crisis in civilization, which he and many others have contributed to when he starts crying in the courtroom (Lee 201). In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, "Although Jim was black, Huck learned that race didn't matter, and that Jim really loved him and would protect him from harm" ("The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain" 2). Similar to the characters of To Kill a Mockingbird, Huck learns for himself that he shouldn't judge people based upon uncontrolled and materialistic facts.

Some of the characters overcome their fear of prejudice for friendship as well. Huck Finn learns that although society has taught him to regard black people as inferior, he believes he should listen to his own opinion, even if it means sacrificing his reputation and being labeled. He realized this when he befriended Jim and went out of his way to secure Jim's freedom, by risking his own safety and name ("The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain" 3). Another occasion when Huck defends his friendship with Jim is when he goes to shore as a girl to get news about his and Jim's disappearances. When he does this, he finds out from the woman he is talking to that a group of men have gone out to look for Jim, whom they know of only as a runaway slave. When Huck finds Jim, he defends his new friend by starting a fire as a decoy, but they leave so as not to get caught (Twain 1281-1282). Another event similar to this situation was when Huck finds two men searching for escaped slaves. Huck has the courage to lie to them by saying that the man that is lying down in the raft under the blanket is his father who has smallpox, but who is really Jim (Twain 1306-1307). Here, Huck is again faced with the decision of whether or not to turn Jim in, but decides that because of their friendship, he would have felt just as bad as he did for not turning him in than if he did. In all of these incidents, Huck prevails over racism which "is a barrier at first between himself and Jim, which they eventually realize and overcome" ("The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Mark Twain" 2).

Atticus is the main figure in To Kill a Mockingbird who braves prejudice. As a main character of the novel, Atticus not only withstands prejudice, but he attempts to rid it for good with an honest effort to win Tom Robinson's case:

Atticus is the man who faces up to