Read the passage and answer the question that follows:
I slumped into her class and sat in the back of the room.
"Oh, class," she said. "We have a special guest today. It's Arnold Spirit. I didn't realize you still went to this school, Mr. Spirit."
The classroom went quiet. They all knew my family had been living inside a grief-storm. And had this teacher just mocked me for that?
"What did you just say?" I asked her.
"You really shouldn't be missing class this much," she said to me.
If I'd been stronger, I would have stood up to her. I would have called her names. I would have walked across the room and slapped her.
Instead, it was Gordy who defended me.
He stood with his textbook and dropped it.
...Gordy showed a lot of courage in standing up to a teacher like that. And his courage inspired others.
Based on the above passage, how can Gordy be characterized?