Atticus's Actions

The underling prejudice and social hierarchy of Maycomb County, sentenced Tom to life in prison, where he was shot and killed, for a crime he never committed. The class structure in Maycomb has a massive effect on the community and its people; even though it was evident that Tom Robinson was an innocent man, he was unjustly accused of something he did not do just to his class level; and finally, even with a fair trial it was show that a black man will never win against a white. Although the class system limited the chances of Tom’s freedom, his trial and the trial of man other Negroes will lead to a change in attitude and legal rights for Negros, for the rest of

a) The Lynch mob left the jail on Mr Cunningham’s command. Scout, who misunderstanding what’s going on, reminded him of his own human dignity. By asking question about his son Walter, Scout luckily struck a cord with Mr Cunningham and embarrassed him into leaving and dispersing

While Atticus is the true hero scout is also a hero in the book too. Scout is a girl that is about to turn 6 when the book begins and 8 when it ends Through Harper lee’s display of scout we see her understanding of life. Through the book, Scout successfully Finds herself in a difficult situation at the jail. A Large crowd of Maycomb white men storms into jail looking for Tom Robinson. Scout, Jem, and Dill are told to stay home by Atticus while he Visits Tom at the jail. Scout Jem and Dill arrive at the Jail soon after they see the crowd and cease the argument on killing Tom. The mob stop fighting and Mr. Cunningham notices what he has done wrong. Scout shows courage in the book through standing up for what she believes is the right thing to do. Throughout the book, harper lee displays scout begin curious and brave. Scout Jem and Dill go to Boo Radley's house, a man in his thirties that has not been seen since he did some bad things. Scout Jem and Dill show courage and go over to their house for the summer they wanted to see what Boo Radley looks like. The kids play games in their yard, Like who can touch the door and run back. Scout shows courage in the book to see if Boo Radley wanted to play games with them or not and also see what he looks like. In the book, there is a lot of Put yourself in other people’s shoes First. Scout

Atticus shows Jem and Scout how to handle others’ actions. Atticus was threatened by Bob Ewells, the plaintiff’s father. He was calm and didn’t give in to the threats. Bob Ewells, a malevolent man, was trying to belittle Atticus, but Atticus wouldn’t let him bring him down. Also, when he didn’t give in to the threats, he shows his children not to be afraid of other people. He teaches them this because if you are afraid of others than you are giving them what they want. Atticus did not give Bob what he wanted because Atticus showed no fear. Atticus believes that he does better in teaching them by showing instead of shouting at

In Part 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee introduces Atticus Finch as a father who rejects ideas or practices of racism. At school, Scout hears Cecil Jacob shout that her father, Atticus, is defending ‘niggers’. Later that day, when Scout asks her father what Cecil meant, Atticus explains that he is defending a Negro named Tom Robinson. Scout was stunned by his unexpected response. When Scout asks why, Atticus responds, “I’m simply defending a Negro… for a number of reasons. The main one is if I didn't I couldn't hold my head up in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” (86) By accepting Tom Robinson’s case without a single argument, Atticus really shows his civility towards Negroes, even when they are not respected by anyone else in the state. Atticus seeks to treat Tom as an individual while rejecting racism in all forms, both language, and behavior. Not only does this show his belief in racial equality, but it also shows his courage.

After Scout fights with Cecil Jacobs at her school for calling Atticus a ‘nigger-lover’, she is told by her father to “ just hold your head high and keep those fists down.” (Lee, 76) Atticus is expressing that one should not let others get to them and stand up for themselves. She takes up the courage to do so the next time she is yelled at by the boy, although with much difficulty. Through this account, Scout’s willingness to learn and grow is portrayed. Also, Scout is able to stand by her morals when she confronts the mob with Jem and Dill. She demonstrates this by kicking the man who harmed Jem and eventually repressing the mob to leave the county jail, in order to protect her brother and Atticus. The ultimate fear Scout conquers was her unease of ‘Boo’ or Arthur Radley. In the beginning, she identifies Arthur as a mysterious and frightening person who lives on the other side of the street. After Arthur saves Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell’s attack, she realizes that Arthur wasn’t so frightening anymore and learns to embrace her fear. She does so by walking Arthur home and when she stands on his porch for the second time, not with fear, but with understanding. Scout was able to progress as an individual, stand up for her beliefs, and embrace her fears throughout the

Next, Scout learned about courage from Atticus. He had a court case that was causing a great deal of controversy in Maycomb County. “Scout Finch’s daddy defended n*****s,” a boy from school, Cecil Jacobs, had exclaimed to the whole schoolyard (Lee, 99). This was the start of a massive amount of rumors and prejudices among the white people about Atticus Finch and his family. On the other hand, the African Americans in Maycomb County were grateful for Atticus defending one of their own, who had done nothing wrong, against a despicable white man and his daughter, on charges of rape. “I looked around. They were standing. All around us and in the balcony on the opposite wall, the Negroes were getting to their feet. Reverend Sykes’s voice was as distant as Judge Taylor’s: ‘Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’,’”(Lee, 283). Scout had observed that the Negroes all were standing due to the fact they respected Atticus for trying to defend even if he knew there was no way of winning. Throughout all the judgement from the whites

In chapter fifteen, Jem, Scout, and Dill follow Atticus to the jail where they are keeping Tom Robinson only to find themselves in the middle of a lynch mob scene. Scout, not realizing the situation they were in, makes casual small-talk with Mr. Cunningham about how she goes to school with his son and that entailments are bad. By doing this, she gets Mr. Cunningham to look past his mob mentality; he now can see that Atticus is not just an obstacle in the way but a man with a family and a lawyer simply defending the case he was assigned. Mr. Underwood’s occurrence at the end of the chapter also shows how people can overcome their personal opinions and do the right thing. He says, “Had you covered all the time, Atticus” (Lee 206).

Jem asked Atticus how the jury could convict Tom Robinson when he was obviously and undeniably innocent, Atticus retorts with,”I don’t know but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it again tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it-seems only children weep”(213). Unfortunately due to the creed and outlook of the rural community, Tom was convicted due to the reason he was black even though he was proven guiltless. Most if not all the jurists knew Robinson was not guilty, yet convicted him of a crime he didn't commit because the mindset of blacks are bad and whites are good is much more meaningful than law and integrity. Atticus was apprehensive with the case and Harper Lee had him foreshadow the outcome of the trial when he said,” couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells”(88). He is saying that the cards have been stacked against anyone who is defending a black person against a white person in a court case; he realizes he is going to lose the case by default. “ Maycomb’s usual disease”(187) was expected to take Tom Robinson’s life by Atticus and the reader. Although, some people like Atticus and the rest of the Finch family never surrendered to the prejudiced way of thinking that everyone had seemed to adjust

Also as the lynch-mob arrives to murder Tom Robinson, Atticus refuses to compromise and stands his ground. This event shows Jem and Scout how brave their father is to have stood up for his client the way he does without means of violence and without using guns. up to this point The children believe that it is a man’s gun that makes him, they now see courage in a whole new light. Thanks to her father, Scout gained the courage to confront Mr. Cunningham the same evening and is successful in causing Mr. Cunningham to call off his Old Sarum mob. She talks to Mr. Cunningham on a personal level “Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I'm Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one early morning, remember? We had a talk. I went and got my daddy to come out and thank you. I go to school with your boy. I go to school with Walter; he's a nice boy.”(chapter 15, Lee)

Although the jury convicts Tom Robinson, it takes them a few hours to finally decide on a verdict, as Atticus points out to Jem: “That was the one thing that made me think, well, this may be the shadow of a beginning. That jury took a few hours. An inevitable verdict, maybe, but usually it takes ‘em just a few minutes” (Lee 297). The trial of Tom Robinson is one of the biggest court cases in Maycomb at the time, and people from all over the county come to watch. Due to Atticus’s efforts, by the end of the trial, the white population of Maycomb knows that Tom Robinson is convicted purely because of his race. Atticus forces the

Atticus wants Scout to be less hot headed and more diplomatic. Her first instinct when placed in a situation where she has the disadvantage is to beat that person up. Atticus wants to teach Scout to deal with harsh, rude remarks calmly so they don’t boil up inside her. He wants her to learn to work out problems nicely because she has a logical mind if she would use it correctly. She rebels against what she’s taught when she’s thinking too quickly but if she took time to sort things out, a peaceful solution could be reached. Cecil Jacobs, a boy at Scout’s school, announced that Scout’s father defended n’s and was a disgrace. Scout was infuriated by the way he said it. She was ready to defend herself and Atticus with her fists but decided against it and walked away. She listened to Atticus’s advice because she didn’t want to let him down. Even though she was called a coward, she retained her dignity through Atticus’s approval. In general, anyone who has to deal with a bully shouldn’t fight fire with fire. Retaliation and physical fights are not the answer. Maintain pride in yourself and your beliefs. Don’t stoop so low as to want to hurt someone. As an alternative, find a solution that will make sure that problem isn’t aroused again.

Throughout this novel, Scout gains insight into herself by learning to cope with racism. Scout first discovers that her father is defending Tom Robinson, an African American in the Maycomb community after she gets into a brawl with Cecil Jacobs when he calls her father a “nigger-lover”. “Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting anymore … the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be”(Pg. 74). This quote shows how Scout has to cope with different ways to deal with the racism directed toward her father for defending a black man. Moreover, Scout learns to refrain from showing belligerence to those who insult her family and, instead turns to ignoring them and not giving them a reaction. When Scout acts out and harms those who are racist toward her family, it shows how she finds racism morally incorrect. Though she does not know what the term nigger-lover means, she still acts out because she is aware that it is an offensive term. Scout believes that people should not be discriminated against and her bursts of anger support this concept. Racism provides maturing children insight into themselves because whilst Scout

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a classic filled with different lessons that the children learn as they grow older. The main idea that we see as we read is that sometimes you have to do wrong to do what’s right. One of the first lessons that the kids learn is to get to know a person before you start judging them, they also learn that everyone deserves a chance no matter how bad their situation seems. And finally, they learn that you have to let people think what they want to think in order for you to live the life you love.

Atticus teaches the children how to not only recognize this problem of prejudice, but also how to defeat it. When a mob of men try to lynch Tom Robinson at the jailhouse and Atticus protects Tom, Scout innocently involves herself in the situation and as a result forces Mr. Cunningham to put himself in Atticus’s shoes. In his moment of realization, he disbands the mob, which saves Tom’s life. Atticus later explains to his children that “A mob’s always made up of people, no matter what. Mr. Cunningham was part of a mob last night, but he was still a man. Every mob in every little Southern town is always made up of people you know - doesn’t say much for them, does it?” (Lee 179). Atticus says this in order to give his children a better understanding of the events of the previous night. He also wants the children to understand that all chains have a weak link, and finding that weak link in Mr. Cunningham