Editing To Kill a Mockingbird (section)

=== Courage and compassion ===
The novel has been noted for its poignant exploration of different forms of [[courage]].<ref>"Nelle Harper Lee." ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2007.</ref><ref name="jolley">Jolley, Susan [http://jstor.org/stable/822224 "Integrating Poetry and 'To Kill a Mockingbird'"], ''The English Journal'' (2002), '''92''' (2), p. 34. {{doi|10.2307/822224}}</ref> Scout's impulsive inclination to fight students who insult Atticus reflects her attempt to stand up for him and defend him.  Atticus is the moral center of the novel, however, and he teaches Jem one of the most significant lessons of courage.<ref>Mancini, p. 19.</ref>  In a statement that both [[Foreshadowing|foreshadows]] Atticus' motivation for defending Tom Robinson and describes Mrs. Dubose, who is determined to break herself of a [[morphine]] addiction, Atticus tells Jem that courage is "when you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what".<ref>Lee, p. 128.</ref>
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?326872-1/after-words-charles-shields ''After Words'' interview with Shields on ''Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee'', July 11, 2015], [[C-SPAN]]}}
[[Charles J. Shields]], who wrote the first book-length biography of Harper Lee, offers the reason for the novel's enduring popularity and impact is that "its lessons of human dignity and respect for others remain fundamental and universal".<ref>Shields, p.&nbsp;1.</ref>  Atticus' lesson to Scout that "you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb around in his skin and walk around in it" exemplifies his compassion.<ref name="jolley"/><ref>Lee, p. 33.</ref>  She ponders the comment when listening to Mayella Ewell's testimony.  When Mayella reacts with confusion to Atticus' question if she has any friends, Scout offers that she must be lonelier than Boo Radley.  Having walked Boo home after he saves their lives, Scout stands on the Radley porch and considers the events of the previous three years from Boo's perspective.  One writer remarks, "...&nbsp;[w]hile the novel concerns tragedy and injustice, heartache and loss, it also carries with it a strong sense [of] courage, compassion, and an awareness of history to be better human beings."<ref name="jolley"/>