Ethics: the Keys to Morality (to Kill a Mockingbird) Essay

Scout depicts the theme of human dignity by following Atticus' words of wisdom and putting them to use in her everyday life. She demonstrates the immense understanding that humans are to be treated

"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." A quote by Atticus Finch a loving single father of two children in a novel by Harper Lee. The story takes place during the 1930s and the Great Depression, in a small (made-up) town called Maycomb Alabama. Scout now an adult is narrating what she experienced and felt in ages 6-9. She gives details of her family, school, and just everything she goes through. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, she also talks about her brother Jem, who starts as a careless young boy that slowly starts getting more mature. Jem changing throughout the story helps show a little bit more of how the story develops and why character development is important in making a good novel.

The church and God are synonymous with righteousness. Therefore, Atticus uses the widespread influence of religion to equate the moral teachings of God with how he dutifully carries out the defense of an innocent black man. These instances in which Atticus’s true character is revealed, both directly and indirectly, teach Scout and Jem that keeping a good conscience is the perfect antidote to “Maycomb’s usual disease”, which is just a small strain of the larger societal problem of prejudice.

After making fun of her teacher and being racist towards African Americans, Scout learns a tough lesson from her father. He takes her to the porch and sits her down, and shares his firm lesson with his daughter. "You never really understand a person until you really consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his shoes" (Lee 39). Atticus, quite plainly, stresses how important it is to not judge one on their appearance or on their position within the social classes. This makes Scout think more before she acts, and it puts their actions into perspective. A small town’s gossip and the power of assumption can change someone’s life in an awful way in some scenarios. One character in example, is Boo Radley. Everyone assumes he

In books, many characters go through moral development. The book To Kill A Mockingbird shows many examples of characters that go through this development and characters that help others develop. While there are many different characters in the book, the focus is on the development of Jem and Scout Finch with the help of Atticus and Calpurnia. The kids are introduced when they are young and over the span of the book, the adults teach and help them, making them have a different understanding of the world only two years later. With the guidance of Atticus and Cal, Jem and Scout go through a big moral change.

Black and white, right and wrong; do decisions that simple and clear even exist? Does a decision ever mean gaining everything without giving anything up? Many characters in To Kill A Mockingbird are forced to make difficult, heart wrenching decisions that have no clear right answer. Harper Lee presents many of these important decisions in To Kill A Mockingbird as ethical dilemmas, or situations that require a choice between two difficult alternatives. Both of these alternatives have unpleasant aspects and question morals and ethics. A person is put in an awkward position, with their mind saying contradicting things. These dilemmas are presented in many different ways. The

Imagine a time where a certain group of people were persecuted and discriminated against no matter who they really were.  Where if a Black man so much as tipped his hat in a white woman’s direction he could be charged and found guilty of rape.  This is American society 85 years ago.  In To Kill a Mockingbird,  by Harper Lee, Jem is a young boy finding his way in society oblivious to the discrimination that goes on in his town but as he starts to grow up he realizes that his society isn’t so perfect and he starts to grow morally.   Moral growth as Kohlberg explains it is in 3 levels.  Level one is where we make decisions based on how the consequences will affect us personally. Level two where we strive to meet the expectations of our peers,

The main character of the novel, Scout, was the only character that suffered a loss of innocence and responded in a way that did not ruin her life. During the novel Scout gradually lost her innocence due to the fact of her ever-increasing knowledge of the world. Being the child that she was, Scout had a kind of blind faith in her community that it was as good and as moral as she believed it to be, but she realized after the trial how wrong she was. Throughout the

For example, together they work to try to convince Boo Radley to come out. Boo Radley is a man who lives on the same street as Scout and Jem and is described as a “half-human, half-monster” type of guy, and he is always inside his house. “Jem attached the note to the end of the fishing pole, let the pole out across the yard and pushed it toward the window he had selected.”(Lee 63), by trying to reel in a letter to Boo Radley they were just trying to help, and although it was unsuccessful, they still put in the effort. Along with that, Scout and Jem consistently defend their father, Atticus. When Atticus started defending Tom Robinson, a black man several people in Maycomb began calling him racist terms. Besides this Scout physically attacks her cousin after calling her father out for defending a black man. On a regular basis, these characters strive to make things fair for

Lastly, Atticus emphasizes how vital inner peace and making the moral decision in a given situation is to maturation. For instance, in a conversation with his children, Atticus comments, “Before I can live with other folks I got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by a majority rule is a man’s conscience.” (Lee 105) By emphasizing the importance of having personal integrity and doing the ethical thing in any circumstance, Atticus provides his children with wisdom that will carry them through life. Therefore, through unremittingly reiterating the importance of moral decisions, proving the need for pacifism and establishing the importance of multiple perspectives, Atticus verifies himself as a major contributor in Jem and Scout’s development into adolescence.

Scout rigorously was able to progress and mature, as well as adapt to new situations, visually changing her morals and outlook on her life. Scouts moral growth took off at the very beginning of the novel, early on during her issues at school with her teacher, Miss.Caroline. Scout professes her concern to Atticus on her learning, and her personal belief regarding Miss.Caroline's lack of teaching things of those similar to what Scout was learning at home. Scout felt although she was progressing more educationally at home when reading and writing with Atticus. After Scout talked to Atticus she truly realized Miss.Caroline’s point of view. In the text Atticus handled the situation with Scout by saying, “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) Scout definitely was able to gain new insight from this experience and from talking with Atticus. Atticus was as well able to accommodate Scout in learning these new skills. Scout additionally accomplished moral growth in her experience bothering Boo Radley. Scout and her rather childish ways began back at the beginning of the book when Scout took interest in Boo Radley and his life. Scout, being intrusive and invasive at the beginning, took concern in his life, which soon she quickly learned was not proper. Atticus provided the following saying to teach Scout the importance of developing and maturing from her preprosperous ways. “Furthermore had it never occurred to us that the civil way

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.

Children are like a sponge. They absorb the ideas and opinions of their surroundings that plant perceptions of people , thus creating ideas and opinions of their own. The novel to To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee in 1960 is a book which covers many real world social issues. But maybe the most prominent aspect is the views on ethics and the treatment of others; it is displayed by naive, innocent children unaffected by the biased views deeply held by adults.This creates a point of view that progresses as the kids grow up. We see how the moral values of the kids are affected by loved ones,human nature, and society.

Most people in society are striving themselves to have moral attitudes that contribute to the society. However, not everyone is raised in the same and that affects how they see the world. Harper Lee’s famous classic tale, “To Kill a Mockingbird” serves a perspective view of how people on different social status are treated in Maycomb. Maycomb is a religious town that most people followed God’s order and the Christian culture encourage people to have different views of the diverse culture of people outside of their world. The town has been facing much moral crisis and people in the community are unhappy with the situation that is occurring. As Scout matures, Miss Maudie and Atticus educate Scout about many life lessons that will eventually have an effect on how Scout develops the outlook for the community.

“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. . . but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” This simple quote is the underlying lesson of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. The story of To Kill A Mockingbird follows our narrator Scout Finch also known as, Jean Louise Finch, a young woman living in a time of prejudice and racism. Her family includes Atticus Finch her father, Jeremy Finch (Jem her older brother), and Calpurnia, the families cook. The family gains a member mid way through the story when Aunt Alexandra comes to visit. The story revolves around, the Finch family, and the different conflicts that they face. Our story follows Scout as her father takes on a court case where a white woman is accusing an African American man of raping her. The trial takes place in Maycomb County, a very prejudiced community. His heroic defense is lead by Atticus Finch, who defies the community’s close-minded ideas. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea that, morality is doing what is right even when it is not agreed upon by your counterparts.