Living a life of virtuosity in today’s world is hard because what is right may not always be popular, and what is popular may not always be right. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a lawyer named Atticus Finch takes on a black man named Tom Robinson’s rape case in the segregated town of Maycomb, Alabama in the year 1930. During the trial, Atticus’ children Jem and Scout have their innocence taken away as they grow up and learn about the prejudice and inequality in society through the case and the events it brings. Individuals tend to be evaluated based on their standards and social principles: Atticus Finch puts his prestige and well-being on the line to attend to his moral and ethical code by showing empathy through looking at the world …show more content…
In the beginning chapters of the book, Atticus is trying to teach Scout a valuable lesson about perspective. He tells her she should figuratively to “climb into the skin of people and walk around in it,” (Lee 39). Atticus tells Scout this because she was having trouble with her teacher, Miss Caroline says that she reads incorrectly. Calpurnia, the family’s black maid, takes Jem and Scout to her church service. Calpurnia is very polite, respectful, humble, and quiet when she is working at the Finch house. When she takes the children to church, they see a whole nother side to her. At the church, she is a more free person and talks with a Southern accent. This helps Jem and Scout understand Calpurnia’s double life, and how it is to live like her. One can see contrast of behavior Calpurnia adapts to so she can fit in with both the white and black communities in Maycomb as the children see it. This event in the story strikes empathy into the hearts of Jem and Scout, something their father wants them to assimilate. Empathy can be observed many a times in the world today. Recently while performing at the Golden 1 Center, Kanye West ended his show after performing only 2 songs, which infuriated the thousands upon thousands who had attended. Yes, their was a refund for the show tickets, but most of the people who came were still infuriated at Kanye for ending the show so abruptly. A couple days later, West checked into a mental hospital. After the news of that, an outpour of love came from the world through Twitter and other social media, praying for Kanye and his ill state of mind. This is a perfect example of compassion towards another. Everyone who attended the concert were so furious about the show, they never stopped to consider why he left early. When he checked into the facility, people
Today’s society is damaged with the results of people doing terrible things to each other. Peoples actions can make or break lives.The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is about a little girl, her Brother, their Dad, and the negro they all fight to defend. The main character scout and her older brother Jem, get into all sorts of dilemmas in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As they learn new valuable lessons about life, they also pick up that the small town they grow up in is not as clean and safe as it seems. The father, Atticus Finch is a kind hearted soul who was given the case of Tom Robinson, a negro accused of Raping a white woman. As soon as Atticus was given the case he aimed to defend Tom but a faulty jury made sure it did not happen.To
Although they are critiqued, some people do whatever they can do to improve our society. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch proves himself to be a hero. This small-town lawyer exhibits bravery, strength, and modesty when faced with objection during Maycomb’s quarrel for justice. Without a doubt, Atticus proves that anybody can stand for what he or she believes is right.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents Atticus Finch as a principled lawyer, committed but single father to Scout and Jem, and a law-abiding citizen. Atticus is a respectable gentleman in society and a role model for his children. Throughout the book we see evidence of his honorable intentions, though he doesn’t seem to reap the rewards. He is morally upstanding, even-keeled, and daring. Because of these things, Atticus is a man who deserves great respect and admiration.
Being at the top of the social hierarchy has been a must for every American of past generations, but can lead to fatal damages for some trying to obtain that goal and a cause to ruin people’s lives. In a remarkably triumphant story on compassion, Harper Lee explored the horrors of racial prejudice in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Set in the 1930’s, the poor town of Maycomb, Alabama has been hit by the depression hard, which created a vast, complex social pyramid, with distinct families and lifestyles. At the Finch household, composed of a little nine year old girl, Scout, a twelve year old boy Jem, and their father Atticus, proceed through a whirlwind of events throughout the next few years. Atticus, a lawyer who is a hardworking, honest man at the top of the social hierarchy of Maycomb, has to defend a colored man by the name of Tom Robinson. This happened to be very unusual for the time period, as the family has to transcend through the struggles in a racial prejudice town and learn the raw nature of the worst in humans, thus trying to overcome these events through compassion. The author utilizes metaphor, characterization, and mood to describe the situation of Maycomb, it soon then becomes very clear that the dangers of ruining innocence can lead to a vast road of horrors and evils.
We see how this empathetic approach is further transmitted to Jem and Scout in the scene when the children to go Calpurnia’s church and experience her way of life first hand. Before this experience, Jem and Scout had a narrow view of the African American community and the degree of segregation that existed. When they went to Cal’s church, the children experienced a sort of culture shock, where they quickly realized how different their lives were from people like Cal, where for the first time they were the minority. They also realized that Cal “led a modest double life” (lee 142), where the way she acted around them, was different from the way she acted around those of her community. The fact that Cal could read and speak “correctly,” yet didn’t put herself above others that were illiterate, was interesting to Jem and Scout. It wasn’t until they experienced her life by “walking in her shoes” that they were fully able to grasp the multitude of the issues that were currently being debated within their own community and the case of Tom Robinson. It allowed for them to see the disparities between different cultures through a new lens, while also
Atticus Finch, the 50-year-old father of Scout and Jem Finch, “was Maycomb County born and bred” and is related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in town. In comparison to the fathers of the other children at Scout and Jem’s school, Atticus is much older and repeatedly tells Jem that he is much too old to play football with him. He is a passionate, hardworking and unbiased defense lawyer; consequently, the town views him and his family as wealthy and educated people. It is seen as bizarre that he works in an office since the fathers of other children in the town have less refined careers. Scout describes that “he wore glasses…was nearly blind in his left eye” and also that he has “graying black hair and square face” and gradually the book paints a picture of Atticus. He is quite tall, wears a three-piece
Respect, the feeling of deep admiration for someone elicited from their abilities, is fought for throughout the world, from schools, to businesses, to governmental parties. Everyone strives so much for this attribute because from a very young age, parents teach their children that they should obtain dignity and respect. Yet, how does someone gain respect? In order to acquire respect, an individual must develop traits that are profitable and admirable. Developing these qualities, such as patience, kindness, sympathy, and responsibility, can turn into an onerous job. However, Atticus, a character from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, displays a variety of very profitable traits. Although many examples exist concerning Atticus’s virtuous character, three stand out above all others. These features, modesty, foresight, and bravery, are clearly presented in his character.
Imagine a place where the verdict of a rape trial stems from racial prejudice rather than the proper evaluation of proven evidence. This is Maycomb, Alabama, the strange, Southern town where Scout and Jem Finch grow up during the 1930s in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In short, the novel travels a thin line between a light-hearted narrative of the siblings’ childhood with their single father, a defense attorney named Atticus Finch, and the injustices that arise within their close-knit community. The complexities include extreme racism, a peculiar social hierarchy, and general misunderstandings of certain people within the small town. These are all seen as “Maycomb ways”, almost as if they are considered facts. Through her writing, Lee conveys an important message that an essential part of a child’s education often takes place in a home or community rather than a classroom by utilizing the characters, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape whom Atticus is defending.
As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.
The way and rate that people mature at can be directly attributed to the values and beliefs of the society that surrounds an individual. It is undeniable that society’s perspective on many controversial issues will generally be adopted by the younger generations in a given society. Moreover, the exposure to significant events, coupled with the major influence of family members, can have an enormous impact on how an individual matures. Additionally, family members greatly help each other develop into moral adults by instilling in each other values that will ultimately determine an individual’s character. In Harper Lee’s timeless classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, the constant reiteration of Atticus Finch’s values, in
Henry Kravis once said,”If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing. Morals are the principles on which one's judgments of right and wrong are based. The morality of a person defines what a person’s decisions will be, or could this be influenced by other things. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book written by Harper Lee about racism and justice during the Great Depression. In Maycomb County, Alabama, most people still are not over the Confederate days, but Atticus Finch, a very ethical lawyer, and his family have to undergo a case over a black man. The thematic statement found in this book is,”A person’s surroundings will affect their choices and disregard
As congressman Charlie Dent once said, “We live in a time of conflict - external and internal - when we sometimes concentrate too much on what divides us. Today, fly the Stars and Stripes with pride and confidence that what unites is far stronger (“Charlie Dent Quotes”).” Today, both in works of fiction and real life, individuals are affected by many different parental and societal teachings, creating stress and internal conflict. In To Kill a Mockingbird, renowned author Harper Lee explores racism and sexism during the 1930s, in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Told through the eyes of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers observe her father, Atticus Finch, hopelessly striving to prove the innocence of a black man unjustly accused of rape. Throughout the novel, Scout’s older brother Jeremy “Jem” Finch is torn between two forces; that of his father, which encourages him to broaden his perspective before making harsh judgements of people; and that of the town and society, labeling people as things they are not without reasonable explanation. His internal conflict is apparent through his views of racism and gender roles. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the character of Jeremy “Jem” Finch to portray that it is human nature to have internal conflict: whether to conform to societal views or follow one’s conscience.
In Harper Lees’s masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird, moral education is a theme that only seems to bloom within the Finch household and is severely lacking in all of Maycomb County. The main character, Scout Finch, is growing in an environment where manners and education matter, this is a quality that can be attributed to the teachings of Atticus Finch and Calpurnia. In a world that is corrupted by prejudice, moral education is form of behavior that stands out, Harper Lee provides examples of this in Calpurnia’s discipline at home, Atticus’s ethical guidance and explanations for the reasoning behind his defense of Tom Robinson, and Scout’s bewilderment at Ms. Gate’s hypocrisy. Moral education is a theme that plays a core role in the development of the title characters as well as the deterioration of the town’s moral standards.
In this book we have a little girl named Scout and her brother named Jem, her mom died and so they're father had to take care of them. He was also a lawyer one of the best he never lost and was a person that was knew around the town, but when a case he takes for a black man named Tom Robinson that was accused of rape and abuse. Atticus won’t let him down he will still try his best. When in court the father of the abused daughter was very rude to Tom Robinson when he saw Atticus trying to help he tried to attack Atticus kids when he was talking to Tom’s family out of the court. When Atticus lost the case every black person in the court stood up to show respect and gave him gifts the next day, but when they find out Tom was shot because he tried
In recent literary history, perhaps the strongest contender for the one character that has had the greatest influence on a generation is Atticus Finch, father of the protagonist in “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Both as a father, and a lawyer, he has served, and still today serves as a pillar of righteousness and morality. The ability for his morality to translate to all people, across ages, races, and cultures, is a feat preformed by Harper Lee in her masterpiece, “To Kill A Mockingbird”. She establishes Atticus Finch as the moral center of the novel by juxtaposing his actions and the relationships with those of the majority of Maycomb. In doing so, she has made him a cultural, and oftentimes personal icon.