“To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee follows a young girl named Scout Finch and her interpretation of her father defending a black man accused of rape in a racist white community. This novel greatly influenced my views on educating children morally and guided me in speaking out more on my opinions. Because this novel follows a serious topic from a child’s point of view, it undoubtedly displayed the significance of helping develop social conscience from an early age. In the novel Atticus, the father of Scout, teaches his children the importance of empathy which in turn led Scout to be able to look at the overall situation in a more accepting way than many of the adults portrayed in the novel. Atticus as well as Calpurnia, an African American …show more content…
If we are able to raise our children with more open hearts and eyes then issues that we see in society today such as prejudice and hatred will not be as prevalent in the future seeing as the youth are the future of tomorrow. I now work at the YMCA to serve as a role model to kids in my community. Not only do I work with children, but I try to speak out more on what I believe is right and wrong in daily conversation. Before, when more serious topics started in the classroom or in a social setting I would keep my opinion to myself because I did not want my opinion to conflict with others. Because of this novel, I now feel that it is a good thing to have conflicting ideas and it is even better to discuss these ideas. This is because discussion makes you think and discussion is not solely about one person being right or wrong. Discussion is about being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes in order to look at a situation from both sides and gain a deeper understanding. The lessons throughout the book not only showed me importance of educating our youth, they were lessons that anyone of any age could take to heart. The book encouraged me to be a more accepting and involved member of society. I now enjoy giving my opinion but more importantly, listening to
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 children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray
Human nature comes to us naturally. To Kill a Mockingbird shows the power of human nature and how it easily affects people in their day to day lives. There were five main characters, and most of them show the extreme sides that human nature can grow to become. Atticus was a lawyer with two kids, Jem and Scout. They undoubtedly wanted to know Boo Radley, a neighbor that never goes outside or talks to anyone.
Lee’s characterization of Atticus Finch as just and moral displays that considering events from another’s point of view can help people understand others’ prejudice, and negative actions. When Atticus’ daughter, Scout, is six years old, she attends school for the first time. Scout confides to her father about her first day of school during which she became upset. As any parent would, her father gave her some advice, “‘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
To Kill A Mockingbird: The purpose behind Atticus defending an African-American Advocating for one’s diverse morals and ideology is what makes an impact on society. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates this idea through the noble character, Atticus Finch. As the father of two young children, Jem and Scout, Atticus tries his best to raise his children adequately. By schooling them to not judge based on one’s race or background, the children accumulate a considerable amount of wisdom. Their father’s character is persistent, calm, and patient when facing most situations, which may be a result of his line of work.
Selling 30 million copies internationally and subsequently becoming an Oscar award winning film, the 1960s classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, encompasses the trial and the vicious assaults on the Finch family by residents through the point of view of Scout, his daughter. Written by Harper Lee, this story trails an admired lawyer, Atticus Finch, who supports a black man accused of raping a white woman in the deep-south of America during the depression (Khan 1). Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, readers can conclude that Atticus Finch is the moral compass because he gives his children thoughtful advice, like to never eradicate the things of purity and elegance and to not condemn a person until they have been in their shoes, along with teaching to treat adults with respect, and showing his children to carry themselves with virtue and candor.
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.
“To Kill a Mockingbird”, an acclaimed novel by Harper Lee, is recognized throughout the world. The novel follows a lawyer and his children prior to and during a legal case to defend a black male. That lawyers name is Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch is not just an ordinary father. He teaches his children things no parent of the 1930s, or even the modern time period, would think of doing. His style parenting, compared to modern day parenting and parenting in the 1930s, is unique and is not traditionally the way a parent wants to raise their child.
It is rare to find a courageous and sympathetic person who is willing to stand against social injustice. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus represents this rare hero. He is a lawyer and a single parent to his kids Jem and Scout. He understands that society should not be black and white and helps those who are mistreated. Not only does Atticus demonstrate acts of courage and empathy, he is also an excellent role model to his children. Atticus represents the qualities of a true hero by exposing injustice, and through courageous and sympathetic activities, teaching his children moral values.
Today’s society is damaged with the results of people doing terrible things to each other. Peoples actions can make or break lives.The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is about a little girl, her Brother, their Dad, and the negro they all fight to defend. The main character scout and her older brother Jem, get into all sorts of dilemmas in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As they learn new valuable lessons about life, they also pick up that the small town they grow up in is not as clean and safe as it seems. The father, Atticus Finch is a kind hearted soul who was given the case of Tom Robinson, a negro accused of Raping a white woman. As soon as Atticus was given the case he aimed to defend Tom but a faulty jury made sure it did not happen.To
In recent literary history, perhaps the strongest contender for the one character that has had the greatest influence on a generation is Atticus Finch, father of the protagonist in “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Both as a father, and a lawyer, he has served, and still today serves as a pillar of righteousness and morality. The ability for his morality to translate to all people, across ages, races, and cultures, is a feat preformed by Harper Lee in her masterpiece, “To Kill A Mockingbird”. She establishes Atticus Finch as the moral center of the novel by juxtaposing his actions and the relationships with those of the majority of Maycomb. In doing so, she has made him a cultural, and oftentimes personal icon.
If you were a parent would you want the best for your kids? Would you want to teach them to search out for the true meaning of dignity and respect? This was the goal of one father, Atticus Finch. Being a nearly fifty-year-old man with extremely young children he wanted to share his wisdom and firsthand experiences with his children to shape them into a respectable young man and woman. Throughout his life, Atticus is taught many experiences himself about not judging someone, and to stand up for the helpless and defenseless. Some important morals that he carried through to teach his children in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is to never judge someone by their social class or race, and to fight for the justice of all the people of Maycomb.
When Atticus says “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s mind conscience”, he means that if your conscience tells you that your are doing the right thing, it doesn’t matter if all the people in the town is against him because they think that he is the one doing the wrong thing for the simple reason that he feels sure of the truth of Tom Robinson (a black person) is innocent. To Atticus to be a person of conscience means that you don’t care about what other people thinks about your conscience or believes. If you don’t think or believe the same as the majority of other people, the consequences are going to be people talking about you in your back or ignoring you because you think differently to them. Even your family
In Harper Lees’s masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird, moral education is a theme that only seems to bloom within the Finch household and is severely lacking in all of Maycomb County. The main character, Scout Finch, is growing in an environment where manners and education matter, this is a quality that can be attributed to the teachings of Atticus Finch and Calpurnia. In a world that is corrupted by prejudice, moral education is form of behavior that stands out, Harper Lee provides examples of this in Calpurnia’s discipline at home, Atticus’s ethical guidance and explanations for the reasoning behind his defense of Tom Robinson, and Scout’s bewilderment at Ms. Gate’s hypocrisy. Moral education is a theme that plays a core role in the development of the title characters as well as the deterioration of the town’s moral standards.
Throughout the course of our lives, we learn many lessons. One of those common lessons that we learn is the classic, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a book full of many lessons that we should follow. It is a novel that has touched the hearts of many students across the world. The novel tells the story of the lives of Scout Finch and her brother Jem, who live in Maycomb, Alabama with their father, Atticus Finch. Atticus has decided to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. Jem and Scout learn to view the world in a completely different way. One of the most important lessons throughout the book is “Don’t judge someone unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” The lessons are focused on the children rather than the