To Kill A Mockingbird Character Analysis

Firstly, through the Finch family, Atticus teaches both his children that they should never judge a book by its cover, and that courage is one of the most important qualities one can have. Near the beginning of the book, Scout comes home from school, extremely flustered about the day. She then continues to rant about how awful the children at school are, as well as her teacher. Atticus, her father, replies “... 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”. Later in the book, Atticus sends his son, Jem, to an old woman’s house, whom he hates, to read to her. Unknowingly by Jem, he is being sent to help the woman out of a morphine addiction. After Jem has completed his service, they find that the woman has died and sent a gift to Jem as a thanks for all he has done. In turn, Jem is completely dumbfounded by the gesture to the point that “[His] eyes nearly [pop] out of his head”. Atticus comforts Jem, then continues to explain the courage of the woman and the heroism of Jem, and how courage is “... when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”. Not only does this show how Atticus’ core values as a parent, it also shows how he parents and how he wants his children to grow up to be. On the other side of things however, the Ewell family has incredibly loose family values, and certain members of the family are unwilling to help the family improve their way of life.

To have courage is to be brave in the face of adversity. After the death of Mrs Dubose, Atticus uses the fact to show Jem how she had influenced him in her lifetime. When Jem returns from tearing up Mrs Dubose’s camellias in a fit of rage, Atticus sends him straight back over to apologize to the old lady for his actions. In return to her for his mistakes, Jem was to make it up to her, by coming over and reading to her everyday for a month. As Jem makes his way through the long days, he finds it very hard to cope.

In the case of to Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee crafts a clear idea of family dynamic between the main characters, using the parent-child relationship between Atticus, Jem, and Scout as the main example. Atticus, who raised Scout and Jem as a single parent, passes his morals to his children in order to help them see the world in a more productive and open minded way. While talking to Scout about how to better get along with people, Atticus explains to her 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). This advice from Atticus affects Scout and her outlook on how she has dealt with others, and this change is how her family, mainly Atticus, impacts her and makes her a better person. This family influence also applied to Jem. For Example, when Bob Ewell dies and Heck Tate is trying to explain to Atticus why Jem should not come forward as guilty, Atticus tells Heck Tate that he needs Jem to be treated fairly: “ ‘If this things hushed up, it would be a simple denial to Jem of the way I've raised him. Sometimes I think I’m a total failure of a parent, but I’m all they've got. Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so that I can look squarely back at him…” (Lee 366). Atticus wants Jem to be treated like an adult because Atticus raised Jem to take responsibility for his actions, and although he questions how he raised Jem and Scout, he wants to stay committed to what he is trying to teach them. This family relationship shows how Atticus taught his children, but also

Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.”

Everyday, people of all ages lose their innocence and develop morally through their daily experiences. Children deal with mishaps on the playground, conflicts with friends and family, and trouble in school. Similarly, Adults deal with conflicts within their own families, problems at work, and the loss of a loved one. In each situation, the person is learning important lessons that impact the way a person thinks, acts, approaches situations, and treats others. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem loses his innocence and grows morally through his daily experiences in three stages of understanding in Maycomb, Alabama.

The character of Jem Finch, in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, noticeably matures and changes throughout the story. His father Atticus has just been assigned a case in which he must defend an African American, which gains him and his family negative attention from most of the town. However, he still finds time to raise Jem and his younger sister Scout, which includes him teaching them about what is takes to possess courage. Jem’s original idea of courage was measured by physical as opposed to moral means. As Jem ages, he learns that courage can also be defined as not just doing something for the attention but doing it because it is the right thing to do.

In the story, Jem is a very brave and mischievous child who does not want to disappoint his father, who he looks up to, with his actions. He learns a lot about bravery from his father who he has seen face challenges such as having to defend Tom Robinson. He was one of the most hated men in the town and never treated anyone with disrespect. This was something that Jem really looked up to Atticus for and wanted to follow in his footsteps. Mainly, Atticus taught Jem that you should not focus on the color of someone's skin.

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.

Most young boys are not as courageous as Jem are in the second half of the novel. Specifically in chapter 15, Jem and Scout come to the aid of their father as a mob attempts to attack Tom while he is in the cellar. As the mob tries to move the children, Jem stands tall and does not give in to their wishes, he “… finds himself confronted for the first time with the wrongs of the world” (Bloom, page 32). Jem, Dill, and Scout all display an act of courage at this particular moment and it all started from Jem. Jem held his ground and didn’t move. It was a chain reaction and due to Jem’s response; Dill and Scout decided to follow Jem’s lead. These two often look up to and follow Jem. This reaction and Scout’s words together decreased the tension and forced Mr. Cunningham to call off the attack on Tom. “Atticus and Jem were well ahead of us, and I assumed that Atticus was giving him hell for not going home, but I was wrong. As they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged Jem’s hair, his one gesture of affection.”(Scout) Scout sees her father rubbing the head of his son as a symbol of compassion and respect for his son. Atticus sees Jem as not only a leader to the rest of the children, but also a new, courageous side of him as he is developing into a strapping young

Experiences are what shape and define who people are, what they have done, and what they will do. Throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee writes about just what kind of experiences can shape the main characters of her novel. Not everyone will be influenced by others, but many personas will change drastically from beginning to end. This is true in the real world as well when we forget who we are and allow the public to change us to how they see fit. The main examples of this are shown in Scout, Jem, and many other secondary characters. Scout will change the most through her father, Atticus. Jem however, does more changing by himself when he sees the

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.

Atticus is dedicated to his children. His parenting style is of good moral guidance, strong sense of morality and justice. Atticus knows right from wrong and tries to teach scout the same. Scout looks to her father for advice when Jem hits puberty and acts stern towards her. He tells her "consider things from his point of view" (39). Atticus realises that Scout is young. But he teaches her that people should not judge. Be compassionate towards others by stepping in their shoes. Scout calls her father

However, he is still willing to do so out of his love. Moral education wise, Atticus passes on knowledge of many critical and beneficial ideals to Scout. For example, Atticus makes Scout and Jem read to Ms. Dubose as "punishment" for Jem smashing her flowers. During this period, the children learn a lot about Mrs. Dubose's situation, as well as her underlying character/persona; they realize she is a compassionate, brave, and tenacious woman. (In the end she give Jem the single White Camellia as token of her gratitude.) Afterwards, Atticus tells them "I wanted you to see something about her - I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that it’s a man with a gun in his hand." (Chapter 11, Page 112) Here, and throughout the whole experience he put them through, Atticus is teaching his children about the ideal of courage; it is not simply the use of violence, rather, it is the determination and persistence to succeed even against seemingly insurmountable odds. This is how Atticus shows his love for Scout by educating her in a variety of fields. (And through various methods)

* Scout’s moral development throughout To Kill a Mockingbird has to do with how she is taught to see “the other”, her exposure to racism and injustice, and that she had Atticus as a parent to guide her through her childhood. These factors together create a stable learning environment for Scout to grow and develop in.

In 2015, there were 5,818 incidents of single-bias hate crime reported by the FBI ("Latest Hate Crime Statistics Released."). This shows that while times have changed since the 1950s, prejudiced behavior is still an enormous issue. With this in mind, the question arises: is prejudiced behavior inherent or acquired? By majorly focusing on racism, this complicated idea is displayed through Harper Lee’s captivating novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and other literary sources. Prejudiced behavior is learned, not born.