There Are Many Themes That Are Woven Throughout To Kill

When Atticus took the case, he went up against Maycomb, a generally prejudiced town, in order to defend Tom. He understood that taking the case would make him an object of ridicule and that no one would forgive him for believing a black man's word over a white man's. Even his own sister expresses disapproval at his decision, practically telling him he was bringing disgrace to the family. Nevertheless, no matter how much his reputation suffered, he did not change his mind. Standing up for his morals and ethics was more important than what people thought about him. From the very start Atticus knows he will not win the case however he does his job and finishes what he set out to do.

As To Kill a Mockingbird progresses, Jem takes definitive steps toward maturity with his actions in the tire and flower incidents, for example. He would later go on to repair the flowerbed he destroyed, and take greater care to protect Scout. Through his actions, we can see Jem develop a sense of morals and responsibility that would prove to be a lifesaver.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that takes place in Alabama during the Great Depression. It is narrated by the main character who is a little girl named Jean Louise Finch aka “Scout”. Scout has a father named Atticus who is a lawyer and an older brother. The Finch’s are a white family and when Atticus goes to defend a black man, the whole town is shocked.This novel has tons of racism. Racism is an issue that is still current. Large amounts of racism are expressed in the novel still happens today through racial profiling, police brutality, and segregation.

There are multiple reasons Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson. One of the reasons is because he feels empathy for Tom Robinson. He fells empathy for Tom because he is being accused of a crime he didn't commit. Atticus wants Tom Robinson's name to cleared since he is innocent. Atticus also knows that Tom Robinson

When asked why Atticus was defending Tom Robinson he said “I couldn't hold up my head in town........ I couldn’t even tell you (Scout) or Jem not to do something again.” (78) Atticus cares very much about being a role model to his children so much, he took up a case because he wants to be a good role model and lead by a good example.

It took an unimaginable amount of courage for Atticus to take the Tom Robinson case knowing he and his children would be harassed by all the other townspeople. For instance, when “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an' that nigger oughta hang from the water tank” (105). Also, Atticus knew he had a very low chance of succeeding in winning the case, but he took it anyways. He knows the town will think differently about him solely because he is defending a black man. He also knows that his children will be shown a lot of hatred. Even knowing this, Atticus takes the case and tries his best. Not only did he know he would take hatred, he also knew he would lose. But, he knew this case would define who he was “every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally”(96). While talking to the Judge he knows that he will most likely not win, but that does not change his mind. He knows just because Tom Robinson is black that he will not win. The Jury will see the white man who claims his white daughter was raped and believe him with no doubt. No matter what Atticus says to try to change the jury’s mind, he knows he can only try his best. To summarize, Atticus shows courage knowing not only that the town would hate him, but also that he would lose the

He knows that even if the whole town is against him, he needs to be different, and stand up for what he knows is right. In this situation Atticus was being a nonconformist, and trying to do what was right. I think that most people, today, know that black people used to be treated very poorly, and someone in the ousts sticking up for them was hard to come by. If no one ever made the choice like Atticus, then our world would never change. It is like if everyone only liked pizza, and did not want to change their opinion about it, they would never eat anything else. At some point someone has to take actions and try to eat more foods, it would make everything so much better. This relates back to Atticus and Maycomb because if he had nev decided to take the case, and try, Maycomb would never even start to change and except black people like Tom. Would you want a world with no change? I don't think so. It is important to have a world with change, and this all starts with one voice, the voice of a non-conformist, an upstander. The importance doing this is huge in the book. When Atticus decided to defend Tom, it created a spark of change. He changed the minds of some people, including his kids, Jem and Scout. In the end it is easy to see that the “ways of Maycomb” are slowly starting to change, just little by little. The only way this could have started is by one person standing out, and that was Atticus.

Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem matures through three important stages of his life. Within these stages Jem’s experiences such as creating plays about Boo Radley, reading to Mrs. Dubose, and processing the Tom Robinson trial all taught him

When describing the reasoning behind his decision, he tells Scout that “The main [reason] is, if I didn 't I couldn 't hold up my head in town, I couldn 't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn 't even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (Lee 83). Atticus feels that he is morally obligated to accept the Tom Robinson trial because it is his duty to do right by the town, county and his children. He believes that if he did not take the trial he would be unable to preach values and morals without feeling hypocritical for not following his own words and advice. Atticus’s strong sense of morals and values allow for him to be

Beliefs are important to Atticus and many of his beliefs include of kindness, equal rights, and having courage. Doing what he believes in is highly important to Atticus, which is a reason that standing up for Tom Robinson was the right thing for Atticus to do. “ “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” “(Lee, CH.9). This quote shows us that Atticus had the courage and beliefs to stand up for Tom Robinson, and by defending him he stuck to his beliefs. Atticus’s courage to stand up for Tom was honorable not only for Tom and his community but also to the people against racism. Atticus always believed that being kind was the best thing to do and he shows this by standing up for Tom “ “...I do my best to love everybody…” “(Lee, CH. 11). This quote shows that Atticus is kind-hearted and that standing up for Tom was just another one of his acts of kindness. Since Atticus does his best to love everybody he felt it was a necessity for him to defend Tom Robinson. Atticus not only is kind for his benefits but also for his kids. He teaches his kids to be kind and to treat everyone equal and if he wouldn't have taken Tom’s case he would have been setting a bad example to his children. “ “I wanted you to see what real courage is…” “(Lee, CH. 9). This shows that Atticus is trying to be a good example to his

Atticus is a very determined character. Throughout the novel, he focuses on Tom Robinson’s case. "Link, that boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till the truth's told . . . And you know what the truth is" (146). This quote from the book shows that Atticus is really determined to prove that Tom is not guilty. He knows that the whole town is against him because he is defending a black man. Even though, everyone thinks that it is impossible for Tom to win at odds with the Ewells, Atticus is determined. He feels that Tom should have a chance, and he is determined to prove that.

In the book, Atticus was determined to win the Tom Robinson case, or at least try to. He doesn’t care what the outcome was in the past, and wants to change the outcome in the future. “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (101) describes that since Atticus was defeated in the past doesn’t mean that he can’t try again to get a different result. The quote shows courage as well because Atticus wasn’t afraid to go against his own townsmen to do the right thing, regardless of what they were thinking. During the Robinson trial, many townspeople wanted Attics to drop the case, but he refused among threats and taunting. In this book, Atticus stated, “...before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself” (140), and this is showing that he doesn’t mind what everyone else is saying and he’s content with his decision to keep the case despite the consequences. Also, this shows that Atticus has courage and would do what is right even if other people didn’t approve of or like it. Lastly, as one progresses in the book, one would realize early on that Atticus is very courageous, and isn’t afraid of what’ll happen to him to save someone. In chapter 15, a suspicious man yelled from the lynch mob “All right Mr. Finch, get ‘em outa here… you got

Atticus accepts the Tom Robinson case fully aware of the prejudice, but he finds that if he did not try he would lose important qualities that make up who he is. “...if I didn’t [defend Tom Robinson] I couldn’t hold my head up in this town, I couldn’t represent this town in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” (Lee, 100) Atticus proves that ignoring the case would change who he was and make him a disgrace his to profession and the family. His integrity, pride, and honor would be jeopardized, something he cared more about then what other people

Atticus becomes involved in controversy when he agrees to defend Tom, a young black man. Atticus chooses to defend him despite the fact that many people ridiculed him because he told his children not to discriminate black people and if he chose not to defend Tom, he would be a hypocrite and could never expect his children to respect him again. Atticus was a good man trying to change the way African Americans were treated in Maycomb. Atticus decided to defend Tom even though he would lose since he was an African-American, but the point was to show his children not to discriminate. In Chapter 9, Atticus states that “Every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally.” He is trying to say that there is no way he can

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows us how Jem changed his perspective and matured throughout the novel in his understanding of other people. Jem is 10 years old who lives with his father, Atticus and his little sister Scout. Although the novel is narrated by Scout the reader can see the perspective of how Jem matures. They are both put in situations that make Jem question his way of thinking. The people around Jem influenced him on how to gain a greater understanding of the world around him. At the beginning of the novel Jem is still trying to figure out his mentality and has a lot of moods because he is growing up.