Influence Of Evil In To Kill A Mockingbird

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's strong sense of morality and justice motivates him to defend Tom Robinson with determination, giving it all he has. He shows this when he says, "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try and win." (pg.82). He says this to Scout after she comes home from school angry at Cecil Jacobs for making fun of Atticus in the schoolyard. Atticus tells her to fight with her head instead of her fists. He wants the people of Maycomb to hear the truth about Tom, "That boy may go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told." (pg.159). Atticus is putting everything a man holds dear, dignity, respect, honor and status, on the line to protect Tom. He later shows more bravery when he goes to the jailhouse to

Atticus and his children both had to deal with the adversity against them because of the communities differences in opinion. They kept their integrity through it all with Jem and scout having their father’s moral advice and support to help them. Though many succumb to the pressures put on us, there are also many Atticus’s out there that have a moral and ethical conscience backing them up. They become a role model that breeds integrity through their moral practices. “Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.  The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.” (Lee, pg.108)

1) Atticus is an empathetic person who tries to make sure people are treated equally, and in the case of his children, that people should grow up and make a positive difference. Atticus shows his empathy by telling Scout to try to understand what Miss Caroline is going through. Harper Lee is trying to show that with empathy, everyone benefits, and there would be less hate and injustice. Atticus says, “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). Atticus is telling Scout to look at the world through Miss Caroline’s eyes, to see why Miss Caroline reacts the way that she does. Atticus believes that if Scout can see how scared Miss Caroline is, with teaching a new school in a new way, then Scout can understand what makes Miss Caroline act the way that she does. When Scout asks Atticus why he is angering the town by defending Tom Robinson, he says that he must, or else he would no longer be reputable. Atticus says, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (Lee 101) Atticus leads by example, and that if he did not hold himself to the same standard that he wants Scout and Jem to be at, then he is no better than the rest of the town. He knows that he is going to lose, but wants to show his children that it is important to do the right thing no matter the consequences or result, and

“Human nature is evil and goodness is caused by intentional activity” - Xunzi. Humans by nature have natural tendencies to evil however not everyone acts on those emotions.

But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends and this is still our home,” ( Lee, 76 ). By stating that he can not be selective about his cases and that he must uphold the law at all times, Atticus shows Scout that he will not compromise his integrity for the sake of his community; furthermore, Atticus will not bend his moral code even for those closest to him. This shows the magnitude of how far Atticus is willing to go to not stray from his morals and emphasizes how necessary he finds it to stay true to himself . This also alludes to the abstract idea that he is willing to sacrifice himself in order to follow his sense of integrity and avoid undermining it. When the town’s men gather at the jail Tom is residing in, they come armed with weapons for their “snipe hunt” (Lee 151), to ensure that Tom does not make it to his trial. Atticus, who is standing there as Tom’s shield, does not waver in front of the mob of angry white men. Instead, he is ready to fight for his beliefs. Scout describes the scene unfolding before her as: “somebody’s man would get jumped” (Lee 152), that man being Atticus. This illustrates the image as to how far their society is ideologically split. The town’s men blindly direct their anger towards the black sheep of the herd, while Atticus stands beside the black sheep proudly. Although Atticus recognizes the relationship he has with his town, because of his

As Scout begins to consider people?s opinions about prejudicial behavior she soon feels obligated to understand these racial judgments. Scout, being the curious and forthright girl she is, feels that only way to do so is by interrogating these estimations. ?As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem?s skin and walk around in it? (57). At this specific point in the novel, it is clear that Scout has learned a valuable lesson. The social lesson accomplished is never to judge anyone before determining their past experiences or hardships. Not only Scout?s social well-being, but her mental and emotional well-being progress extensively throughout the events of the novel. This is clearly defined by the following quote. ?Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting anymore, I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold it in, the better off everybody would be?(74). The quote stated by Scout proves that she is willing to mature at such a crucial time as the trial. She discovers that it is more important for Atticus to focus on the defending of Tom Robinson, a Negro accused of raping Mayella Ewell, instead of focusing on her minor problems. This particular sacrifice portrays the fact that Scout is beginning to realize the amount of prejudice in the town and wants her father to help people accept racial differences. As Scout?s journey through racial

When Scout got home, she began to question Atticus about many things related to him defending “Negroes,” and it was later discover he is defending a man named Tom Robinson. This case has an emotional and meaningful impact towards him. Although Atticus did predict for sure that he would have loss the case despite his efforts towards it, he mentioned one final message to Scout where despite how bad things get within society, they are still our community and it being our home. Keeping this in mind, by the next day the argument was still going between Cecil and Scout and as she said, “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, ‘Scout’s a cow–ward!’ ringing in my ears. It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight. Somehow, if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down” (Lee 102)., excerpts like “‘Scout’s a cow–ward!’” can already suggest that Scout does not like being called a coward where she would have acted upon her own judgement and fought Cecil if it weren’t for the final message that Atticus had given to Scout the day before. In another quote, phrases such as “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away” can probably suggest that the values that she may have

The whole community is so dissatisfied by Atticus’ involvement in the Tom Robinson case that they have even passed on their feelings to their children. “Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers.” (99). Young Cecil most likely did not formulate this opinion on his own, but his parents probably put their disapproval of Atticus’ involvement into his head. He later tells Scout that his parents say that Atticus is a disgrace. Atticus has made Scout promise that she will not get into any fights on his behalf. She has been doing well in keeping her promise, but when Cecil says that Atticus “defended niggers” she instantly forgets. Emotions get the best of her and she is prepared to brawl with the boy, but she remembers what her father made her promise. For the first time ever, she walks away from a fight. This shows how much she has grown from dealing with adversity. With the help of Atticus, she begins to understand that a black person is no less significant than a white person. No matter what the people in town say. Scout does come across a few bumps in the roads while figuring this out, like at Christmas when she fights with Francis. “I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the

To demonstrate, when Scout stated “Somehow, if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down. Atticus so rarely asked jem and me to do something for him, I could take being called a coward for him (Lee 88)”. This shows that Scout is taking Atticus’ request to heart and not wanting to embarrass him by fighting again. It also shows that Atticus messages and talks with scout about justice and judgment had gotten to her if she didn’t want to let him down by fighting another girl. To show sequence, For example, why Atticus is defending a man of colour, “You mean if you didn’t defend that man, Jem and me wouldn’t have to mind you anymore?” (Lee 86). The lessons that Atticus gives Scouts are essential to living in the “real world”, like respecting all races, and the fact that he’s defending a man of colour shows his children to treat people

G.K Chesterton quotes, “I say that a man must be certain of his morality for a simple reason that he has to suffer for it.” Harper Lee’s novel To Kill Mockingbird tells the story of a character who makes moral and ethical decisions while facing many problems. Atticus Finch is a man of unshakable morals. This is demonstrated through him teaching his children morals and him fighting for what is right.

Using two articles “On the Origin of Good and Evil” by Richard Taylor and “Why Morality Is Not Relative” by James Rachels from the book Moral Life: An Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature, author, Louis P. Pojman and Lewis Vaughn, this essay will first try to identify what each of two articles says about the nature of good and evil, and is everything on morality is relative. Taylor from the article “On the Origin of Good and Evil”, states that morality is not inspirational, but a natural reality which that mean that we are conative being, and if there are no desires, there are no values and no good or evil. His argument takes place on purposeful and cognizant living being, like ourselves, who reacts to the world in good and bad ways that relate directly to our needs. The six topics Taylor illustrated in the article are men as conative beings, which he talked about men are rational or cognitive beings that men have needs, desires, and goals, they have certain wants and generally go about trying to satisfy them in various ways; conation as the precondition of good and evil, which it is about any distinction between good and evil, and between right and wrong can be made; the emergence of good and evil, the emergence of right and wrong, that if there no good and no evil, there is nothing but bare facts of this kind or that; the emergence of right and wrong, which he explained about ethical notions as right and wrong or for moral obligation as long as we imagined a world

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.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s “On the Genealogy of Morality” includes his theory on man’s development of “bad conscience.” Nietzsche believes that when transitioning from a free-roaming individual to a member of a community, man had to suppress his “will to power,” his natural “instinct of freedom”(59). The governing community threatened its members with punishment for violation of its laws, its “morality of customs,” thereby creating a uniform and predictable man (36). With fear of punishment curtailing his behavior, man was no longer allowed the freedom to indulge his every instinct. He turned his aggressive focus inward, became ashamed of his natural animal instincts, judged himself as inherently evil, and developed a bad conscience (46).

It has been said that man is inherently good. It has also been said man is inherently evil. I will leave it to someone better versed in philosophy to explain the views of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. I would not do it justice. However, being somewhat philosophical in nature, I often ponder the good and bad decisions I have made as well as the decisions of others. If my work has one universal theme is that we make decisions constantly and each of those empower or weaken others by effect.