Three Life Learned Lessons

Dubose. She represents racism which is the main point in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, “‘ Your fathers no better than the niggers and trash he works for!’” (135). Here Mrs. Dubose officially describes her ways of thinking. She believes that black people are nothing and that they worthless. She uses strong diction in order to describe her perspective of Atticus and his work. Through her and her symbolism Jem and Scout learn about racism. Racism is a cruel thing and affects the people who encounter it. “ I had become almost accustomed to hearing insults aimed at Atticus,” (136). Scout has become used to the remarks given about Atticus and their family. Although the children are used to it that does not mean they aren’t annoyed by it. Many people took racism as a way of life whereas the Finches saw it as an injustice. Just like this quote, eventually Jem could not handle Mrs. Dubose and destroyed her garden. He did something about what he viewed as an injustice by Mrs.

One theme in To KIll a Mockingbird is people are not what they seem. Mrs. Dubose seems like a mean person. She picks on kids like Jem and Scout. She is racist. She is nosey and sticks her nose in other peoples’ business. Under all of that, she is actually struggling. She is addicted to morphine. She resists her addiction in a stubborn, courageous way. Before she dies, she gives Jem a flower as a thank you. To the children, Atticus is quiet and peaceful. He is scholarly and dislikes confrontation. They later found out he is known as the town’s best shot. He also took the Robinson case against the town’s wishes. Later, Atticus delt with the mob calmly to save the man he was defending. This shows that people are not always what they seem.

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, readers are able to see the ways in which Scout, Jem, and Dill learn valuable life lessons as they progress throughout the story. The book is narrated by Scout, a twelve-year old girl, who takes part in many adventures with her older brother Jem ranging from games at the house of their neighbor, “Boo” Radley, to witnessing her father, Atticus Finch, defend a black man, Tom Robinson, from being wrongfully accused of rape. While many may argue that To Kill a Mockingbird should not be taught in class, the values taught by the characters help to argue that it should be taught to classes.

As a result of Atticus's decision, Jem and Scout get into a number of fights with classmates and their cousin when they taunt them and call Atticus a "nigger lover." Life seems to be full of lesson for Scout and Jem. For example, when a rabid dog chases Scout, she discovers that her father, whom she previously thought too old to do anything, does possess some talents. Atticus turns out be a crack shot, killing the dog in one shot at a great distance. Another time the children learn to be tolerant of people who have problems even though they say mean things. A neighbor, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, derides Atticus and spreads lies about him, and screams insults at the children when they pass by. Jem gets very angry at her and cuts off her flowers from her bushes. Instead of siding with Jem, Atticus feels that what he did is wrong and as punishment, Jem has to read out loud to her every day to take her mind off her predicament. Atticus holds this old woman up as an example of true courage as she

Situations in one’s life change change his morals and values. Jem and Scout, main characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, learn new principles of life throughout an important court case their father takes on. To Kill A Mockingbird has many themes that relate to the real, modern world. Empathy, courage, morals, bettering oneself, and personal integrity each are a life lesson in the novel, and can be related to the world today.

Sometimes life lessons are learned the hard way. Unfortunately for me, this is how I learned mine. I do not mean to make this sad and depressing, but this is the truth.

Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, plays an immensely important role in the children’s maturing by teaching them valuable life lessons that benefit their character and knowledge of how to live in the world. When telling Jem and Scout why Mrs. Dubose acts the way she does, and how he thinks she is one of the most courageous women he knows, he says, “Courage is when you know your licked before you begin but you begin anyway”(128). The children learn that Mrs. Dubose was not a mean, old, wicked lady; she was a person trying to get rid of an addiction, even though it would cause her pain to do so. This entire conversation shows Scout and Jem that people are not always what one perceives them to be, and that one needs to understand why someone does the things they do before they judge

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates how it is a sin to kill or hurt an innocent being. Yet, throughout the novel, many innocent individuals are being injured either physically or mentally. They key symbols in the story reinforce its main theme: prejudice and ignorance tend to harm innocent beings. These lessons are taught by Atticus to his children and are frequently mentioned throughout the novel. He teaches the children about stereotyping, prejudice and racism. Other residents of Maycomb might think that Atticus is not a good father, for instance, he lets his children go to court the day of Tom Robinson’s trial. However, a brief character analysis of Atticus reveals that through Scout’s internal dialogue, Atticus is, in fact, a good role model and father.

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

When Atticus purchased Jem and Scout air rifles for Christmas he warned them about an unwritten rule. According to Atticus, Scout and Jem shouldn’t shoot mockingbirds, because, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 103). Atticus teaches his children not to hurt or go against anyone innocent which teaches them respect towards all types of people. Atticus is proving that he is a good parent, by passing down his core beliefs.

Atticus explains that “What Mr. Radley did might seem peculiar to us, but it did not seem peculiar to him” (65). Atticus is passing on good values to his children, as he is teaching them to empathize with Mr. Radley, instead of impersonating him in their games. Atticus shows his children a different perspective, by making him “consider things from [Arthur’s] point of view”, who may have different opinions. This allows Jem to understand that each person is different, and people do not often share the same perspectives, which is why Arthur’s actions “did not seem peculiar to him”. Additionally, Atticus tries to give his son an understanding of the irritable Mrs. Dubose. When Jem is angry at Mrs. Dubose, Atticus reminds him that, “She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman” (133). Although Mrs. Dubose makes several rude remarks, Atticus does not take offense to them, and he continues to treat her with respect. Atticus empathizes with Mrs. Dubose, as she is an “ill” “old lady”,while teaching Jem to “really understand” her current condition. Atticus intends to make his children aware of the different circumstances that others may be

The first lesson he teaches the children is about tolerance. Atticus is talking to scout about the Ewells, and how they are low class people that disrespect the laws of Maycomb. He talks about Mr. Ewell, and how he is an alcoholic that would hit his kids. Scout says, “Mr. Ewell shouldn’t do that---” (Lee 41). Atticus responds with “of course he shouldn’t, but he’ll never change his ways. Are you going to take out your disapproval on his children?” (Lee 41). The grievous Mrs. Dubose is scoffing Jem about how, “Your father’s no better than the niggers

Neer the middle of the book we get introduced to a character named Miss. Dubose. She is a very nasty woman who says really crude comments when Jem and Scout pass her walking down the street. On day Jem gets so fed up that he goes into Miss. Dubose's yard and proceeds to rip up her flowers. When Jem comes home Atticus tell Jem to go back to Miss. Dubose’s house and apologize and do house work for her. Jem refuses and then Atticus says this. “I want you to understand what really courage is then just thinking that is just a man with a gun”. What he means by this is that sometime the most courageous thing to do is admit when you have done something wrong and apologize. Miss’ Dabous was very nasty but that gave his no right to do what he did. Also I think Jem was a little scared to go to her house because he was afraid to confront her. It could also mean that the best courage is just putting yourself out there because when the opportunity comes some people are too shy are scared to do it. The second quote about courage is when Miss. Maude says, “Mockingbirds do not do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… they do nothing to hurt us”. In this quote she is talking about have people treated African Americans and how they are just like mockingbirds. I think most people do not even know why they are angry at them and they just kinda go with the flow. Mostly nobody wants to stand up for the African Americans because

Jem and Scout

Throughout our life we will always meet many people that teach us major life lessons,