Atticus Finch Evolution

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

In the story, Lee shows how Scout is perceiving a different point of view: “I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle”(320). Seeing differences through other people’s perspectives is greatly needed to grow up. Scout had finally “stepped” into Boo’s shoes and had seen everything from Boo’s point of view. Scout points out that she is acting on the impression of Mr. Raymond: “Cry about the hell white people give colored folks, without even stopping to think that they’re people, too”(Lee 229). Scout realized from what Mr. Raymond and Atticus had told her that black folks get everything worse than white folks. Coming-of-age requires seeing problems through different

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch says, “...You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” This quote applies many times in the book where the narrator, six year old Jean Louise (Scout) Finch, tells us the story of her father, Atticus Finch, who tries to prove the innocence of Tom Robinson, a black man charged with rape of a young girl in the town. Though Atticus tries his best to convince the jury that Robinson is innocent, he is still convicted of the crime. The story shows the root of humanity including kindness, cruelty, innocence, and more to the townspeople, including the young, like Scout and her older brother, Jem. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how prejudice

As children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray

Not only through the use of Tom Robinson as a character and his unjust trial, but also through the use of the Finches coloured housekeeper, Cal, and the prejudice against Boo Radley because of his past crimes. Tom Robinson has done nothing wrong yet is still accused and even Atticus Finch, Tom’s lawyer, knows nothing can be done to defend a black man against two dishonest whites. The children’s naivety plays an important role in presenting the theme of prejudice in the book, especially the narration and how Scout, Jem, and Dill did not truly understand what was happening at the time, which creates an almost dramatic irony in the fact that the reader is able to comprehend more than the characters created by Lee.

Matt Berman from Common Sense Media commented, “This richly textured novel, woven from the strands of small-town life, lets readers walk in the shoes of one fully realized character after another.” To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the major messages is identity. Harper Lee lets the people look into the perspectives and identity of some of the characters that make it seem very life-like. In the novel, many characters possess both admirable and dislikable qualities which are shown through their actions. With the nurturing of her father, Scout contains the charming qualities of being courage and mature for her age. The father that instilled these characteristics in Scout, is Atticus Finch. While dealing with the stressful case of Tom Robinson, Atticus maintains to keep the likable aspects of sympathy and strong will. The antagonist in this novel fighting against Tom Robinson is Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell has instilled, in him, the terrible qualities of cruelty and racism. These life-like characters that Harper Lee illustrates gives people a clear vision of who the characters portray.

Atticus decides to take on a highly controversial case in Maycomb, where Mayella Ewell, a 19 year old white female, accuses Tom Robinson, a black man in his thirties, of rapeing her. During the trial, Mayella, Bob, and the sheriff state that Robinson hit her on the right side of her face; however, Atticus contradicts the Ewell’s story by showing the jury that Tom Robinson only has one useful hand. Jem then whispers, ‘We’ve got him’” (Lee 202). Although, Maycomb’s society would never allow for Tom Robinson to win the trail, Jem’s innocent perspective enables him to believe that race does not come before the facts. Shortly after the trial, Jem says, “‘Doesn’t make it right. You can’t just convict a man on evidence like that-—you can’t’” (Lee 252). Jem displays an understanding of the racism and divisions in society within Maycomb in this quote. He knows that the conviction of Tom Robinson is bias and that the treatment of all blacks is unfair. Jem shows moral growth in this quote and has a more mature mindset about equality than most of the folks in Maycomb.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird follows the childhood of Jem and Scout Finch, who both encounter and experience many things that cause them to grow up during the book. One of the main events in the book that is a major factor into their growth is the trial of Tom Robinson. The trial consists of Atticus Finch, their father, defending Tom Robinson, the defendant, against the Ewells and Mr. Gilmer, the plaintiff. Atticus and the Finch children have faced much criticism since Atticus wants to defend Tom, a black man, while he is white. Much of the trial boils down to racism and prejudice. But, by Atticus’ skill, by Atticus’ determination, and by Atticus’ speech, he almost succeeded. Before the event of the trial, Harper Lee uses many symbols

Jem starts to become more responsible and mature. Jem begins to learn about the case and it interests him. He discovers that Tom Robinson is being discriminated causing him to lose the case, and Jem responds by saying, “It ain’t right,” he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting” (Lee, 212). Jem is heartbroken and realizes that Tom is innocent when he lost the case. Jem reveals that he is maturing and learning about how society treats black people.

Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird Lee discusses the effects of ignorance and the toll it takes on people such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout herself, and many more. Through her examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the populist of poverty stricken Southerners, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of ignorance are the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story. A good example of this injustice is the trial of Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white girl and is found guilty. The book is from the point of view Scout, a child, who has an advantage over most kids due to her having a lawyer as a dad, to see the other side of the story. Her father tells her in the story, “you never really know a man until

In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the main characters Scout and Jem, embark upon a three year journey of moral development in which they gain wisdom and understanding, allowing them to mature. In the book, they are taught by their father, Atticus, to be good, moral people. Atticus does this because he does not want his children to be instilled with the racist beliefs of Maycomb. Scout and Jem deal with the townspeople’s backlash against their father, who defends an african-american, Tom Robinson, in court, and they confront Mr. Arthur ”Boo” Radley, who they believe to be a monster. Even though Scout and Jem experience many of the same pivotal moments, the ways they deal with, cope, and understand their maturation differs greatly.

Scout displays her maturity, as she soon starts to undertake the moral lessons of Atticus, developing a new understanding of the society within Maycomb County. Due to Atticus’ teachings, Scout was taught that each vision is distinctive to one another, in terms of religion, race and class. Nevertheless, they share one thing in common, which is that they treat people as groups, demand conformity, and give no respect nor credit to individual, They’re all forms of prejudice, addressing the notion of prejudice being close-minded and dangerous yet ridiculous. “After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so can

Jem is exposed to the racism and prejudice of the South through Tom Robinson’s trial, and it makes him question what he never thought twice about before. [insert lead-in] “‘...if the jury’s still out, you can wait with us. But I expect it’ll be over before you get back.’ ‘You think they’ll acquit him that fast?’ asked Jem. Atticus opened his mouth to answer, but shut it and then left us.” (p.277) Jem sees Tom Robinson’s trial through eyes untainted by prejudice and discrimination. To him, Tom is obviously innocent. Atticus, on the other hand, is older and more cynical. He knows about racial discrimination, he knows it strongly influences a person’s judgement, and he knows Tom will be found guilty. Jem realizes this when Tom Robinson is convicted. As a result, he learns that racism can cloud a person’s judgement to the point that they will convict an innocent man. Jem’s loss of innocence

Racism was one of the largest lessons in the novel. In the story, Atticus defends a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white women. The entire Finch family is affected by this in different ways. Jem and Scout for example, are both ridiculed by their cousin, and by other adults because both them and their father are considered “n-lovers.” Atticus shows in many ways that he is

When you write about a family with two young children obviously you can expect ‘coming of age’ themes to be prevalent in the text. Scout Finch is not your average 10 year old girl, she is not afraid to voice her opinions with her actual voice and her fists. Atticus tells her that this trait is not very proper and she should consider other peoples views before concluding her own.