Atticus's Lessons

In Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, the main character Scout’s journey of maturation is charted as she progresses in her moral education and gains a broader, more adult perspective of the world around her. Scout learns the vital need for utilising tolerance, compassion and empathy when dealing with others, no matter an individual’s reputation or the circumstance. She is also exposed to the terrible injustice and racial prejudice that overcomes Maycomb’s community, and sees how this outright bigotry has severe consequences. Atticus also teaches Scout the meaning of true courage, in both a physical and a moral sense, and how true bravery is often not appreciated by the majority. Harper

“You aren't really a nigger-lover, then, are you?" (Lee 107-09). "I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes—baby, it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you.” (Lee 107-09). This quote is one of many that show how racism is used in the story. In this quote Scout has heard someone call Atticus a nigger lover because he is Tom Robinsons lawyer and he is trying to his best job to help him as he can (Lee). Scout doesn’t really understand at first what a nigger lover is until Atticus explains it to her.

No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change...it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning’”(Lee 101). Atticus believes in pacifism and teaches his kids to behave the same way. He thinks Scout has the potential to be an intelligent child, but she needs to avoid physical confrontation and instead focus on using her mind to learn and mature. When Bob Ewell spits in his face, Atticus encourages his children to put themselves in the shoes of the Ewell family, saying, “‘If spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I’d rather it be me than that houseful of children out there’”(Lee 292, 293). This exemplifies Atticus’ lessons on empathy, teaching his children that “‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’”(Lee 39). By encouraging his children to resist fighting and instead use their sense to feel for others, Atticus teaches lessons on empathy and pacifism. In addition, Atticus’ teachings also include racism and morals.

Atticus teaches Jem and scout a number of important lessons which will help them in life. However tolerance is one of the most important, because if people tolerate one another then things like war or racism will not exist, and they are two of the biggest areas of conflict in the world. Atticus models tolerance for his children by taking the case of and accused rapist. He defends a black man even though most of the town is against it and treat him discourteously because of it. Scout went against her father’s wishes by not

In this lesson Atticus teaches Scout that you must understand where someone comes from in order to show true sympathy and compassion. Now before Scout judges someone she steps into their shoes. Allowing her to show compassion towards that person and many more. She has learned that the most compassion you can give someone is sympathy and understanding. Jem also learned these lessons but through experiences and challenges he had to face and go through.

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird racism was a problem in Maycomb. Atticus quoted, “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” “Lee #224)

Atticus teaches scout and Jem self respect by setting examples for them. When Atticus decides to take the Tom Robinson case he teaches his kids self respect. After asked why he took the case he said that Atticus has been asked to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. It is a case he cannot hope to win, but he tells Scout that he must argue it to uphold his sense of justice and self-respect. He also shows scout and jem self respect by not showing off his God given gift. He taught Jem and Scout to have thick skin. He made sure to have them not allow someone to get under their skin. An example of a moment where Jem or Scout have to have a lot of patience for someone is when was throwing around the N word, tho she retaliated she didn't pay it that much attention. Another example is again when Atticus took the Tom Robinson case.

There are many instances in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird that show how kindness and generosity are more effective than rudeness and disrespect. One example of this is when Atticus is talking to Scout about understanding other people’s point of view. He tells her, “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 36). This passage illustrates how Atticus is trying to instill good morals and values in his children. He believes that if you try to look at another point of view, you will be more successful in understanding others. Many people are closed-minded and unwilling to accept any perspective except their own. This can lead to a lot of misunderstandings and

When Atticus gives the children a gun during the novel, he reminds them to “‘shoot all the bluejays’” they want “‘but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’” (Lee 93). Shooting a mockingbird is as cruel as taking advantage of a defenseless person. When Boo Radley kills Ewell in an attempt to save Scout and Jem, Atticus wants it to be known that Jem killed Ewell in an act of self-defense because he believes it to be the truth. Instead, the sheriff states that the public’s notion of the occurrence will be that Ewell confusedly fell on his own knife. He formulates the idea with much consideration for Boo Radley, not wanting Radley to receive a tremendous amount of attention from the people in town for knowing that he truly murdered Ewell. Atticus understandingly fears that his children’s respect for him will dissipate if he follows through with the plan, but Scout consoles him. Shooting a mockingbird is as cruel as taking advantage of a defenseless person. Therefore, as Scout says, creating a hero out of Boo would similarly “be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird” (Lee 282). Her statement is an extremely climatic moment, allowing the reader to understand that she has fully absorbed the

To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on “Maycomb’s usual disease,” as a pivotal part of the book, but also shows that compassion and wisdom can exist in these most bleak areas. The prejudice and bigotry comes from the lack of knowledge of Maycomb, and their fear to change what they have grown up with. Pre-conceived ideas are the main reason that Maycomb is ignorant of black people as they are afraid what a change of those pre-conceived ideas will bring. Even so, compassion still exists, as Atticus is able to save Scout and Jem from the influence of ‘Maycomb’s usual disease.’ Wisdom is also embodied by Atticus, where his wisdom, which is not necessarily knowledge but life experience, is able to force him to do things which are right, shown in his

Have you ever thought of treating someone differently because their race or religion is different than yours? Well, that is what takes place in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Jem, Scout, and Atticus all try to stop the hate in this novel. They are all showing how strong and will powered they are.

When the mob appears in front of the courthouse a “ burly man,” (152) as Scout describes, says that he will send her brother Jem home, and then proceeds to grab Jem roughly by the collar, nearly yanking Jem off of his feet. Scout sees these actions and hits the man: ““Don’t you touch him!” I kicked the man swiftly. Barefooted, I was surprised to see him fall back in real pain” (153). Scout knew that in that moment she needed to stand up to the man that was hurting Jem. Another instance when Scout stood up for herself is when her cousin, Francis, called her and her dad a name she was unacceptable: “‘Nigger-lover…’ This time I split my knuckle to the bone of his front teeth. My left impaired, I sailed in with my right” (84). Even though Scout did not exactly know what this comment meant at the time, she knew it was not right. Scout asks Atticus what the slur means on page 108, and once he tells Scout, it confirms her feeling that the slur is unacceptable. Scout and her father were being insulted by someone in her family, she had every right to stand up to him and show him what he said was wrong. These events allowed Scout to realise that there are times when one must stand up for what is right. In these instances, Scout shows that some things, big or small, are worth fighting

One final reason for why Scout should have told what she knew about the death of Mr. Ewell is that Mr. Ewell tried to kill her. Atticus had just lost a case against Bob Ewell, which even though he had won Mr. Ewell wanted revenge on Atticus who made him look like a fool. Atticus could have lost his life but he defended Tom either way, because his moral code was far superior to Bob's and most of the towns. Boo saved her life and her brothers so it was only fair that she save his from the prying eyes of the

She is stating that Boo is also only a shy innocent creature and that showing his deeds to the public would give him a lot of unwanted attention. It would be sinful to ‘torture’ him like that when all he is doing is what he feels is his duty and he is just being kind. The language used here proves that Scout has matured a lot by seeing Boo for who he really is even before Atticus did and comparing him to a Mockingbird, showing that she cares for him and wants to do what is

Atticus is a great parent. He does many things that make him a great parent such as, being respectful, giving great advice, and he is very caring. To begin with, Atticus does not expect the respect of his children but earns it, this is shown many times, but the best example is when he tells Scout “We’ll go on reading as we always have.” (pg.41) he is showing he respects Scout because he believes she is smart enough to read and agrees more with Scout than her teacher. Secondly, he gives them great advice, when Scout is upset about her teacher telling her not to read, Atticus tells her that she will get along with people better if she can climb into their skin and walk around in it. He makes her understand what is happening in her life and resolves her issue. Lastly, Atticus is very caring.