Before you can judge someone, you must walk a mile in his shoes
In his book, Life, The Truth, and Being Free, Steve Maraboli wrote “Judging is preventing us from understanding a new truth. Free yourself from the rules of old judgments and create the space for new understanding.” This quote can be used to describe the changes many in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama felt after Tom Robinson, a black man, was killed for a crime he obviously didn’t commit. The people of Maycomb began to realize that the blacks of their community were judged, but no one thought of their lives from their perspective. The theme, before you can judge someone, you must walk a mile in their shoes, can be seen in both To Kill a Mockingbird and modern day society.
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He chooses to do this because he wants acceptance from a community who would refuse to accept his lifestyle of having mixed children otherwise. “Some folks don’t-like the way I [Dolphus Raymond] live. Now I could say hell with em. I don’t care if they don’t like it. I do say I don’t care if they don’t like it, right enough-but I don’t say hell with em, see?” (Lee 268). Dolphus Raymond only acts as a drunk so the community won’t mind him doing what he does. Scout thought Dolphus was an evil, lying man, but was so fascinated by learning from his point of view. “I had a feeling I shouldn’t be here listening to this sinful man who had mixed children and didn’t care who knew it, but it was fascinating. I had never encountered a being who deliberately perpetrated fraud against himself” (Lee 268). Scout began to realize that looking at things from another's perspective could be much more fascinating and cause you to understand them more. Dolphus is judged because no one thinks of his life from his perspective, where he is villainized by most of the
Power, it is something that everyone wants, it classifies us. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is about a powerless black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Because of Mayella’s class and gender she is powerless, but her race makes her have a little more power.
There are many instances in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird that show how kindness and generosity are more effective than rudeness and disrespect. One example of this is when Atticus is talking to Scout about understanding other people’s point of view. He tells her, “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 36). This passage illustrates how Atticus is trying to instill good morals and values in his children. He believes that if you try to look at another point of view, you will be more successful in understanding others. Many people are closed-minded and unwilling to accept any perspective except their own. This can lead to a lot of misunderstandings and
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird there was a lot of quotes that really made you sit back and think about life. One quote Atticus said that was my favorite was, “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.” I like Atticus’ quote because it is saying to not judge someone by the way they look, judging a person defines who you are, and judging is sometimes false information.
Prose appeals to ethos in this essay by appealing to the reader as a mother, educator, and student. By writing from the perspective of both a student and educator, Prose shows how both are affected by assigned literature. By discussing her own two sons, she appeals to readers who are mothers by expressing her concern about their education.
The book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee is about Scout Finch and her older brother Jem living in Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression. Scout and Jem spend a lot of their time watching over Boo Radley's house with Dill, their friend. Scout and Jem's Dad, Atticus, agrees to help a black man, Tom Robinson, by being his attorney where Tom is accused of Rape. The theme, Do not judge a person before actually getting to know them, is show in many different ways.
“Knowledge is power” Sir Francis Bacon. Atticus, a character in To kill a Mockingbird, understands that his knowledge has the power to do many things, including influence the lives of many people. Atticus does his best to influence his children, and educate them every chance he gets. Atticus does his best to teach his children what is right and what is wrong, and in doing this Atticus made one point immensely clear. It is a sin to kill a Mockingbird.
Research shows that children are more susceptible to commit crimes, fail in maintaining long lasting relationships and develop depression as well as other psychological disorders from the effects of bad parenting. In fact, many people grow up treating others the same way their parents have treated them with reference to their parents’ values, behaviours and attitudes. Harper Lee, an American author, expressed her childhood experiences in Alabama through writing the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In this novel Harper Lee highlights the prevailing racist attitudes that existed in Alabama in the 1930s. Lee does this by having the parenting style of Atticus, and its impact on his children, stand in contrast to these prevailing racist attitudes. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys that Atticus Finch is a great parent because he is not a hypocrite, he has a sense of fairness and he has good morals and values.
Do you know what it feels like to be powerless? A white nineteen year old woman named Mayella Ewell Falsely accuses a black man of raping her in Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s, and is rendered powerless, due to being recessive in her social class, race, and gender. She does so in hopes of escaping her abusive father, and a chance to have a better life. Although Mayella is white, she has been shunned by African Americans and other white people. Mayella is a very young woman that does not own anything nice, nor clean, besides geranium flowers. During the 1930’s, men were the dominant sex, as a female, Mayella has to obey her father, Bob Ewell. As a result, Mayella was mistreated and abused.
This quotation quite literally means that when someone does something, they do not realize how it affects the person unless they experience it themselves. Atticus is saying “treat people the way you want to be treated” in this quotation. The mob that night was filled with regular people Atticus and the children saw on a daily basis, but there they were not themselves. Scout snapped them back into reality and let them know they were not doing the right thing. The use of wild animals symbolizing the mob truly showcases how strange they were acting due to a single court case. To me, the deeper meaning is that sometimes people do not do the correct thing and it makes them seem like animals, yet at the end of the day they are just like us. (Making a Connection/Interpreting)
“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is not reason not to try…” said Harper Lee’s beloved Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird. This quote refers to moral courage, or real courage according to Atticus. Moral courage is picking, “...the hard right over the easy wrong,” (Kidder and Barcy), doing what is right by moral standards, even though it may be different from or discouraged by others. This courage is defined by heart, persistence, and character; having the conviction to try, the will to keep going, and being able to do the right thing when no one else is watching. Moral courage is important, to the individual and society as a whole for several reasons.
Who would destroy something that contained a heart filled only with good? The answer to that can be found in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee in an unjust time of unequal opportunity. The story follows the retelling of an 8-year-old girl named Jean Louis and those around her moral growth. She lives in Maycomb Alabama during the Great Depression. She has many chapters of growth including changing from afraid of a person to wanting to meet them, seeing people put on masks in order to avoid judgment, and watching an innocent man go to jail. Scout learns that to Kill a mockingbird is a sin for they have done no wrong, that people make that most meaningful mockingbirds, and the true significance of them because of the moral growth they bring about in people.
Mockingbirds will only sing their hearts, not cause any damage or give their lives to pleasing others. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird great examples are shown of different types of mockingbirds. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur (Boo) Radley are great examples of representing a mockingbird.
Since To Kill a Mockingbird took place in the 1930’s and was in the South, prejudice against African American people was typical. In Atticus’s closing statement, he portrays what society really thinks of the standard black man. “The evil assumption that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted…” (Lee 273). Not only does this quote illustrate what it’s like to have the social class of a black man, but its shows the implicit bias higher social classes have for black’s. Implicit bias is an extremely common idea in Maycomb County and it is the starting factor of topics like racism.
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, during chapters seventeen through twenty-one, one of the leading characters, Atticus, has to defend a black man in a court case against two white people. Before the jury is sent to make their decision, Atticus gives a closing argument speech. During his speech, Atticus uses three main types of persuasion called: ethos, pathos, and logos.
December 14. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” What is not to love about the holiday season? The endless gift shopping, the putting up of the Christmas tree (or decorations of whichever holiday you celebrate), the dinner that makes you feel as though you’ve gained another ten pounds. But best of all, for the little kids who celebrate Christmas, the ambivalent suspicion perpetually lurking behind their shoulders every day and night, suspense building up like the climax of a movie on the 24th, and excitement finally rushing free like a waterfall of elation on the 25th after a glance under the Christmas tree or inside the hopefully coal-free stockings: Am I on Santa’s nice list or naughty list?