Learning from Experience in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird taught viewers a lot of lessons about racial prejudice, prejudice, and bravery, and that caused the critics to praise the film. An example of racial prejudice in the film is when Atticus is sitting outside the jail protecting Tom Robinson because there was a concern of a lynch mob coming for Tom. Everyone in the mob believes Tom is guilty because of the color of his skin. Then, Scout, Jem, and Dill run up to defend Atticus from the mob. Scout spots Mr. Cunningham among the group, and asks him how his entailments are coming along. Scout also says she goes to school with his son. When Scout tells Mr. Cunningham that entailments are bad, the group and Mr. Cunningham look ashamed. Then, Mr. Cunningham tells the group to clear out. The group of people that came to lynch

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

Dubose insults atticus ruthlessly but he finds a way to have empathy for her. Ms. Dubose says that Atticus is ruining the Finch family name and is a disgrace. In ch 11 Ms. Dubose brings her insults to an extreme as she tells Scout “[her] father’s no better than the… trash he works for”(134). Ms. Dubose’s insult highlights how terrible of a person she is and how hard it is for Atticus to empathize with her. Atticus knows Ms. Dubose is ill but many people taking this extremity of an insult in Atticus’s place would retaliate and not empathize with Ms. Dubose. However, Atticus still does not hate her, and by not hating her Atticus is able to empathize with her and find out how courageous she really is, which shows Scout that she can empathize with even the most racist people in the world. Atticus praises Ms. Dubose and says: “ I wanted you to see something about her - I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand”(Lee 149). Atticus’s quote on how Ms. Dubose displayed real courage is very significant. The quote is extremely ironic as Ms. Dubose is portrayed as a racist and someone who is not very courageous. Atticus not hating Ms. Dubose is a very important demonstration for Scout, who again is forced to empathize with people she does not like. Overall, Atticus shows that by not hating people, you can find much more about them and even empathize with

During the story Atticus is appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of raping a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Even though many of Maycomb’s citizens disapprove, Atticus agrees to defend Tom in hopes he could give some justice to Tom. Later in the plot it is made abundantly clear that Mayella did not have relations with Tom, and was only trying to cover for her dad, Bob Ewell, who had beaten and raped her before, but before this information was found Tom was convicted and murdered. The trial and conviction serve as high points in the story because soon after the readers learn Tom is convicted purely based on his color of skin. “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee, page 251-252). The written discrimination put a black man behind bars based on false information and nobody blinked an eye. The lesson that Scout learns is applicable to all types of prejudice because people who are different from ones self may feel separated and that in order to hold ones power, processions, and status, privileged races or people much like Bob Ewell will justify their behaviors in order to keep the other races

Atticus supports equality, and that does not bode well with the townspeople because of their years of being raised on racism and bigotry. “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” (Lee 295). All through the book, Atticus teaches Scout and Jem right from wrong, and to always be moralistic. He continually shows integrity, respect and honour. Nevertheless, this is not a good thing to the residents of Maycomb, who shame Atticus for supporting Tom. Atticus is hurt with his beliefs, because the town of Maycomb does not support him defending Tom, although he was assigned the case. “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 87). Atticus tell Scout that people should not judge you for loving others, and that proves that they are the ones with poor character. He speaks from experience, from the adults who bully him, just like the other children bully Scout. His mindset affects him and his children, even though he’d rather protect them from the criticism and hurtful words of the townspeople. They, in turn push their own

Have you ever have been judged by anyone? Did you ever judge anyone, according to how they look or act? Quotes such as “Every single person on the planet has a story. Don’t judge people before you truly know them. The truth may surprise you” and “Don’t judge a book by its cover” were established long ago, as a result of lessons learned. The comments you make before knowing someone, can contradict the person’s personality. Therefore, it’s impolite to evaluate someone before knowing them. Such quotes not only relate to our everyday life now, but they are also related to a novel written in the 1960s. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout lives with her father Atticus, her brother Jem, and their cook Calpurnia in the old Alabama town of Maycomb. This book takes the readers to the

Scout and Jem are powerless against the Tom Robinson case’s verdict. Jem believes that in court, justice will always prevail. He is positive that Tom Robinson would be found innocent because Atticus made it evident that Tom could not have beaten and raped Mayella Ewell because his left arm was of no use. However, it all comes crashing down when the prejudice and bigotry of the jury’s decision is read aloud, “‘Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…’ I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them” (282). Jem loses more of his innocence as he is unable to comprehend such a horror and realizes he could not do anything about the guilty verdict. Later, Scout hears Miss Gates tell Miss Stephanie Crawford that it was about time somebody taught the African Americans a lesson since they were overstepping their boundaries. Scout asks Jem how

English essay on To Kill a Mockingbird In 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Atticus finch is presented as a respectable well-known man. Before Atticus Finch there was a customary tradition at the Finch's landing, which has been in place since Simon Finch made it his home and died there. The customary tradition was ' the men in the family remained on Finch's landing and made their living from cotton'. In the twentieth century Atticus Finch went to Montgomery to read law and John Hale Finch, Atticus' younger brother studied medicine in Boston.

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (page 103) Harper Lee explains that it is a sin to kill someone, (mockingbird) when all they do is sing and/or never harmed anyone. Single story is shown in To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, with the characters Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Dolphus Raymond. Tom was accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell. The town looks at Boo Radley as the “killer of the night” when they don’t know anything about him, and it’s just an excuse. They look at Dolphus Raymond as the town drunk when really it’s just a cover up for hating the white society, and would rather live among the coloreds. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, a single story runs

Scout’s unique point of view, which is an unbiased first person with two perspectives, is developed in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee through the use of a flashback structure, plot development, and the specific point of view. To start off, the frame story within the flashback structure helps shape the story’s point of view. In this specific frame story, an older Scout is positively looking back on her childhood, with her younger self telling the experiences that led to her brother, Jem, breaking his arm. At the beginning of the novel, she said, “When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident” (Lee 3). This quote specifically takes the readers to a moment where

They see people like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson as demons. They do not realize how harsh and ugly the world outside their home is. The children mature and gain knowledge and understanding about things they did not know before throughout the novel. They especially learn about the ugliness of prejudice and racism. They thought Tom Robinson would not be found guilty, but he was found guilty as charged just because he was black. Atticus proves that Tom could not have raped Mayella because he cannot even use his left arm, but the jury still finds him guilty. The children learn about injustice and racism from their father. Atticus tells them that a black man’s word cannot be taken against a white man’s word. Scout is upset when she hears the comment made by Miss Gates when leaving the courtroom that it was good Tom was convicted because it would keep the blacks “in their

Atticus tries to teach his children Jem and Scout through his actions to always do the right thing no matter what people might say. When Atticus finds out that Jem destroys Ms. Dubois flowers because he was frustrated about her negative comments about his father. Atticus tells Jem "Son, I have no doubt that you've been annoyed by your contemporaries about me lawing for niggers, as you say, but to do something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable. I strongly advise you to go down and have a talk with Mrs. Dubose, and "Come straight home afterward." (page 119) Atticus tries to teach Jem not to fight back and teaches him to put himself in Ms, Dubois shoes . When Jem spends some time with Ms. Dubois he learns that she is very brave in dealing with her addictions and people have both good and bad qualities/.Secondly, Atticus tries to show his children his belief in the justice system by defending Tom Robinson. Atticus tells his children “ The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” ( page 75). By defending a black man Tom Robinson Atticus teaches his children that everyone should be treated equally in the justice system no matter what their skin color is. Like his father, Jem also believes in the justice system and feels sad when Atticus loses the case and feels like he is physically attacked. This is evident by the quote “ I peeked at Jem; his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerk as if each”guilty” was a separate stab between them” ( page 50 ). Jem learns to accept the court decision but confused as

First of all, Atticus is an ingenious teacher who uses lessons to allow Scout and Jem to properly develop in a respectable way. One of the lesson that Atticus teaches about “real courage.” Atticus explains, “It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (Lee 149). Atticus illustrates to Jem the bravery Mrs. Dubose had to have to want to overcome her morphine addiction. This lesson can also be transposed to explain Atticus’s reasoning for performing so well on Tom Robinson’s trial. Another lesson enforced by Atticus is that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. This topic comes up when Scout and Jem receive air rifles. Atticus says, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit

Atticus Finch is a great example of an individual who instructs his children, Jem and Scout, precious life lessons about accepting all people. In chapter eleven Atticus tries to explain to Jem, why different people have a different view on things by saying, “She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe… son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I’d have made you go read to her… she was the bravest person I knew” (Lee 128). This conveys that Atticus wanted Jem to understand and accept her rather than just judging her. Sometimes getting to know people isn’t so bad because you never really understand them until you enlighten a person. Not only does Atticus takes his time to understand Mrs. Dubose, but he also takes his time out to defend Tom Robinson. Scout is troubled from the rumors of her dad being the defendant of Tom Robinson. Lee explains why Atticus defends Tom Robinson despite of the ridicule when she writes “... the main one is, is I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (Lee 86). Atticus accepted the case because he suggests that his morals for children and others are far greater than his reputation. Although the people in Maycomb is racist, Atticus is there for Tom Robinson and being a role model for his children to accept people for who they are.

Education can be acquired through life events experienced. Throughout the novel, the narrator, Scout, learns many lessons from everything around her. She and her brother, Jem, both learn from their neighbor, Miss Maudie, why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people's gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us” (Lee 199; ch.10). The mockingbird is referred to throughout the book, symbolizing Tom Robinson, the man accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Atticus and Miss Maudie both explain how even though he may look different, Tom does not do anything but help everyone around him. Scout and Jem realize and understand this, just as Scout learns throughout the novel of good hospitality. When she sees Boo Radley as a friend and not a freak, she wants others to see him the same way. From this, she shows Boo how to present himself. “I would lead him through our house, but I would never lead him home… I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm … [and] if