Hero's in To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men

There is sometimes a thin line between noble, benevolent character and character that aspires to do good but ultimately fails. Although the man of character who cares about others may look similar to the man without character who cares, their decisions under pressure reveal who they really are. Atticus in Lee Harper's To Kill A Mockingbird and George in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men are two such men, Atticus being the man of character who cares and George being the man without character who cares.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus comes under pressure as a man of character for defending Tom Robinson, a black man, but he braves the pressure and does his best to win the case. Heck tries to persuade Atticus not to accept the case, telling him that he has got "everything to lose," but Atticus is determined and answers, "Heck, that boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told" (Lee 35). Atticus' character com

Related Essays

Comparison of "Spotted Horses" &"The Bear" "S .... It is interesting that the kill turns out to happen jointly. .... to find himself as a man among men, becomes a bit extreme in his moralizing, even a tragic hero. .... (1656 7 )

The Tragic Hero .... hero's self-knowledge tells him that a god may kill him but .... He is a hero in the war, but he is deeply flawed .... Halfon, Mark S. Integrity: A Philosophical Inquiry .... (1112 4 )

Oedipus & Hamlet .... in Oedipus' curse upon the responsible individual(s) "Whoever he .... Arthur Miller's definition of the tragic hero, who evokes .... me now upon,--He that hath kill'd my .... (1992 8 )

The Old Man and the Sea .... Nevertheless, he realizes he must kill the marlin anyway .... According to Hemingway biographer Kenneth S. Lynn, The .... of disillusionment with the concept of the hero. .... (2712 11 )

The Ku Klux Klan .... New York Governor Horatio Seymore against war hero General Ulysses S. Grant. .... willfully, and feloniously, with malice aforethought, kill and slay and .... (2530 10 )

Dashiell Hammett .... about MF, it is also true that its hero engages in .... the way: "Oh, Sam," she moaned, "did you kill him?" (Hammett .... when Spade is called into the DA's office and .... (1768 7 )

Category: Literature - H