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Golden Code In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In ancient times, if a doctor injured the patient during surgery, his eyes will be gouged out. Reciprocation has been present through the ages, though varying severities have been implemented for the same crime. During Hammurabi’s reign (1792 BC to 1750 BC), he executed a code of laws with his main policy being “an eye for an eye”; if a person stole a piece of bread from someone else, the arm they used to steal the bread would be cut off. An eye for an eye was later known as the golden rule. Other rulers in the future, such as Laozi the Taoist (604 BC - 531 BC), believed in policies similar to that of the golden rule, but it was not the core belief. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee depicts a mannerless society where only one person has proper …show more content…

A person born in Maycomb has different manners than others in different societies. For example, the citizens feel no need to reciprocate to the same degree if a black man did the same act as a white man. The golden rule is no longer relevant due to more lenient methods of parenting and less empathy in today’s society. The lack of integrity in today’s society is attributed to the golden rule’s irrelevance. In modern societies, the intolerance of cultural differences accounts for almost all the clashes throughout history. Many of the most horrible acts in history are caused by the bigotry of religion or attributes that a person cannot change, such as skin color. Hitler’s persecution of Jews forms the basis of modern hatred towards religion. Since the golden rule was based off of religious beliefs, there is a direct connection between religious activity …show more content…

Societies around the world have different sets of ethics and moral codes. While one may agree to some of these codes, he may not agree with another. When the golden rule is executed, one moral code that would be appropriate for one society would not be appropriate for another; the whole system begins to break down. Apart from separate societies having different viewpoints on ethics, the harshness of parenting also has a role in determining the righteousness of the child. In Asian countries, ancestors play a brobdingnagian role in upbringing, and every action taken is directly related to family honor. As a softer style of parenting is present in today’s modern society, the current generation has less empathy than previous generations. When Jem talks to Atticus about the Tom Robinson case, he gains insight on Atticus’s view of the people of Maycomb. "There's nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who'll take advantage of a Negro's ignorance. Whenever a white man does that to a black man, the white man is trash." (Page 224-225). Atticus is the only one in a town of many that contains what is typically a fundamental human emotion- empathy. By taking advantage of another race, the white men elevate their position in society. The white men need to be respected to maintain their position over those who are inferior. The idea of

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