How Does Atticus Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

During Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout starts to understand the entirety of racial injustice. We see this when Scout meets the lynch mob outside Tom’s cell before the trial, and she stopped them by talking to and embarrassing Mr. Cunningham. It was not until after that night

In the beginning of the novel, Scout is introduced to a case that her father, Atticus, is doing for an African American named Tom Robinson. Scout learns that Tom Robinson has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell. However, Scout does not fully understand the meaning of rape. Scout then asks her father, “what’s rape?”, resulting in Atticus giving her a complex definition of how "rape was carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent" (180). Throughout the novel, Scout progressively loses her childhood innocence as she is exposed to the many injustices of life, such as learning about rape through observations and conversations during and after the trial. Most importantly, Scout learns a great deal about violence during the case due

A town in itself has a personality like that of a living being. Its personality is a result of its past experiences, its occupants, and surrounding influences. These forces combine and act in a complicated way to move a city, like an organism, through growth and change. Significant forces such as the great depression influence attitudes, such as racism, toward others as individuals compete to survive. In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, the daughter of a lawyer by the name of Atticus Finch, tells the story of growing up in the small southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. Through her eyes, the reader discovers many of the struggles of the period faced by its inhabitants and resembled

The mentality of the town can wear off on the children. After learning that Scout’s father, Atticus is defending a black man, Cecil Jacobs gets annoyed. While at school Cecil Jacobs says to Scout “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that nigger oughta hang from the water tank” (Lee 102). This show how one of Scout’s classmates verbally attacked her. This quote gives you a look at how racist Maycomb is that even children portray it. Scout would not have gotten all this hate if the person her father defended was something other than black. Although it may look one sided both sides have racial views against each other.

Atticus was feeble: he was nearly fifty. When Jem and I asked him why he was so old, he said he got started late, which we felt reflected upon his abilities and manliness. He was much older than the parents of our school contemporaries, and there was nothing Jem or I could say about him when our classmates said, ‘My father – ’

Scout in the book showed in a child’s point of view of the hatred in Maycomb such as, when scout was watching the trial of Mr. Tom Robinson. She noticed during the trial that there was an all-white jury and all were men. She thought that this was just the way and that was that but discrimination is wrong and Scout knew it. Scout asked Atticus why the court did that and Atticus said that black man wasn’t considered the same as a white man. During the trial Scout noticed that Mr. Ewell and Mayella Ewell talked in a tone that just seemed evil and she could see pure hatred in their eyes, especially when they talked

Atticus Finch was a lawyer and a father in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the height of the great depression. He is a beloved character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. He accepts a case in which he serves as the criminal defense lawyer of a black man who is on trial for rape, in a time where racial discrimination was still very much alive.

Another character that helps Scout to become accepting is Tom Robinson. He teaches Scout how pervasive racism is and the importance of fighting it. When Tom Robinson gets shot by trying to escape, Scout begins to experience for the first time, how strong racism and prejudice is between whites and blacks. After reading Mr. Underwood’s article, she realizes that Tom Robinson is a “dead man” once Mayella Ewell “open[s] her mouth and scream[s]” (Lee 241). Society is so unjust; Tom is stuck in a situation, where it is impossible for him to win the case, since a black man’s word will never be more respected than a white woman’s. After the trial, Scout is more aware of the need to treat all races equally. One day after Scout and Jem visits Calpurnia’s church, Scout asks if she can “‘come see [Calpurnia] sometime’” (Lee

In the story Scout is a hero in many ways. Scout is not caught up in all of the racial prejudices of Maycomb County. Many children follow after their parents and hate black people for no reason but Scout thinks all people are the same. Scout said, “Now, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” Scout is telling Jem that she thinks all people are the same. Our skin color doesn’t make us different, we are all the same. Scout knows that Tom Robinson is innocent and she does not care about the color of his skin. Scout quoted, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no

In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” Scout Finch is the narrator (DBQ Project, p.7). She tells about the different things that happened in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s (DBQ Project, p.7). She also talked about the people in the town. Scout talked about a specific trial that completely rocked the town. The case involved a white girl named Mayella Ewell and an African American man named Tom Robinson (DBQ Project, p.7). Mayella Ewell had no friends, she was poor, and because of her gender was not looked at as superior, although under those circumstances she was able to have influence within the case based on her class, gender, and race (DBQ Document A, p.13).

Before she witnesses the court system through her own eyes, Scout strongly believes that the system is fair in the town of Maycomb. As time goes on, she begins to realize how the court system is actually biased. From racist juries, judges, and witnesses, the African Americans were greatly discriminated against in the court. As Atticus says, “In our courts, when it’s a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (Lee 295). This quote from the story showed Scout, Jem, and the reader how the court system truly was not equitable in Maycomb at the time. Had there been a fair court system, Tom Robinson would have never been ruled guilty. Atticus acknowledges in his speech at the end of Tom Robinson’s case, “Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me on this jury” (274). This, being another well-said quote from Atticus, shows again the discriminatory court system. Through the large case told about in the story, Scout learns that it is an illusion that court systems are just. Realistically, the system was unfair and intolerant. Through the court system, one can see how racist people were back then towards the African American people and how the white people believed humans of the opposite color are terrible people. This leads to another illusion that Scout eventually learns the truth

Rickey Williams says, “I don’t think people change. I think the essence of what I am today is the same as when I was five years old. It’s just maturity.” (Ricky, Williams). In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the characters face many challenges in their society and experience lessons that made them different, than from the beginning of the book. Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, is a lawyer in Maycomb County during the 1930’s. Atticus is given a special case where he has to defend a black man, which creates many problems for him and his family against their town, dealing with racism. In the novel Atticus, Scout, and Jem are all wise people that symbolize a mockingbird.

The lack of justice between black and white people and the mistreatment of Atticus’s family were the first few moments in which Scout and Jem’s were introduced to an evil Maycomb. The realization that Tom Robinson has been accused of raping a white girl with no real evidence and only because he is black, completely shocked Scout and Jem, especially when in reality, Bob Ewell was hurting his own daughter and made her purposely accuse Tom. Although Scout was sure that Atticus is a great lawyer and that Tom will be set free, she is dumbfounded and filled with hatred when the verdict was that Tom is guilty. When Scout asked Atticus explain everything and why happened, he said, “I don’t know but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it—seems only the children weep,” (Lee, 213), meaning that the only one’s that actually care about how Tom was found guilty is children like Scout, Jem, and Dill and not the other people of Maycomb. After seeing Tom Robinson wrongly convicted, Jem and Scout discover that their nation is completely prejudiced and cruel, making them lose their

As Jem was eating Miss Maudie’s cake, she explains to him how Atticus had to have defended Tom because “he’s the only man in these parts who can keep a jury out so long in a case like that” (183), showing that Atticus had to be appointed to the case for a reason, and that reason was he's the only person who could get an all-white jury to really think about the conviction of a black man. Normally, an all-white jury would convict a black man for any crime in a significantly shorter amount of time since it’s always a white person’s word against a black person’s word which doesn’t hold strongly in court; nevertheless, Atticus seemed to be able to get to them because the jury took longer than usual to convict a case that would have been quick and effortless. Since he wore out the jury out for that long, Atticus is recognized as the person the good people of Maycomb solely trusts to create the change that their town so desperately needs. As it turns out, Scout thinks “[they’re] making a step—it’s just a baby-step, but it’s a step” (183). This depicts how although Atticus lost his case, he did make the jury question if they should really convict a black man which to Scout and presumably other residents of Maycomb is a step in the direction towards change in the deep

Earlier in the novel, Scout relates that Atticus views the Ewell family as “the disgrace of Maycomb” (33). However, as the Ewells are a white family, they are having a higher social status. During the trial, it is declared that Mayella seduces Tom Robinson, and her father, Bob Ewell, thought that his daughter would shift her warm feelings for a black man. In addition, Bob Ewell’s reaction to his daughter kissing to Tom Robinson displays the fear of miscegenation. Atticus, however, strives for justice. Atticus explains the ugly truth to Jem and Scout: “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (251-252). Atticus shows disgust with white people taking advantage of a black person’s ignorance” (252). Tom Robinson is facing a trial and the death sentence because he is black. Furthermore, Atticus makes it clear to his children that racism exists and tells Scout and Jem: 'In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always