Bravery is considered to be a courageous act or characteristic. It is not thought of as a dangerous action. Bravery is an excellent action to posses, but it can lead to many dangerous situations as shown by various characters in "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Thomas E. Wartenburg's, book, "Big Ideas for Little Kids: Teaching Philosophy Through Children's Literature" expresses how bravery can be dangerous. This book teaches children how to learn about philosophy through children's literature books. It also teaches children why it is important to be able to learn and answer philosophical questions at a young age.

Wartenburg expresses that bravery is "acting despite one's fears..." (33). Although bravery is known to be a noble quality, it can also be a dangerous quality. If a person's "fear is too great, one will be overwhelmed by it and thus be unable to act..." (76). A person's fear could consume them, and the bravery that they had will vanish. Secondly, if a person's fear "is not strong enough, one might ignore the threat that the danger poses to one's well-being and suffer injury" (76). An overconfident person might miss the possible danger that awaits them. Lastly, bravery requires judgement and self-confidence. Someone who lacks judgment and has a low self-esteem is "rash, for [they] will face dangers [they] [could] do well to avoid" (76). However, a person who has a firm judgment but lacks confidence "will be overwhelmed by every danger [they] [face]" (76). Without the right balance of judgment and self-confidence, the person's bravery will cause them to meet dangers that could have been avoided.

Bravery is a common theme that appears in "To Kill a Mockingbird". Atticus and Jem Finch exemplify how bravery can be dangerous. Atticus' bravery of defending Tom Robinson's case is causing his life to turn upside down. His bravery is causing his family to turn their backs on him, his children have to deal with students tormenting them, and multiple people are harassing him. Scout and Jem are always worry about Atticus. When the group of men were in the Finch's yard, Jem told Scout that he was "scared about Atticus. Somebody might hurt him." (197) Jem was afraid that someone would hurt Atticus because of the case that he handling. Atticus' bravery could cost him his life, and his children could lose him as a father.

Jem's bravery in wanting to see what Arthur Radley looked like almost cost him his life. His bravery caused him to almost die, when he, Scout, and Dill were in the Radley's yard, they hear a "roar of a shotgun shattered the neighborhood." (71) Mr. Radley almost shot the children, and they could have been seriously injured! Also, while retrieving his pants from the fence, he told Scout that when he went back, he saw that his pants "were folded across the fence... Like [the Radley's] were expectin' me." (78) Jem was so paranoid about the Radley's knowing about him going into their backyard, that he realized his bravery almost got him in trouble, and almost cost him his life.

In conclusion, bravery is something that is wonderful to posses, but it can be something that can lead to terrible consequences. Also, bravery can now been seen as a negative feature because of its occasional negative results. A person should evaluate the situation that they are in, and make sure that what they are doing is for a great cause. Being brave is very courageous, it is a bold action to have. Bravery is an excellent quality to possess, but it can also be a dangerous quality that can lead to many dangerous situations.