To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
To be educated is to obtain or develop a certain knowledge or skill by a learning process. There are many distinct learning processes, some more explicit than others. In the first part of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, education, in one form or another, is very significant. Both inside and outside of the classroom, Scout continually gains experience through education from both her brother, Jem, or by her wise and tolerant father, Atticus Finch. Although the education of children is more apparent in this novel, the education of adults is not otiose.
Scout and Jem learn that Calpurnia, the faithful Negro cook, is their friend. She has been largely
…show more content…
Scout finds out that Boo Radley's father has locked him up for being arrested many years ago for swearing in front of a woman. Scout learns that religion, especially "foot-washing" Baptists, can lead to cruelty, even inhumanity. This is significant as she starts to pity Boo who we later find out is a "mockingbird" character, much like Tom Robinson.
Compromise is better than conflict as Scout prefers to have Atticus keep reading her stories as well as learning the "Dewey Decimal System." Conflict results in problems and it is obvious to Scout that in order for her welfare it is better to avoid problems. As Jem tells Scout, the new way of teaching which Mrs. Caroline is practicing is one which the entire school will use eventually, and one in which " You don't hafta learn that much out of books that way." State education is therefore restrictive, not stimulating. Mrs. Caroline is miffed that Scout can read and blames Atticus for "doing it all wrong." Scout also learned how to write as Calpurnia taught her while working in the kitchen. It seems rather ironic, as Calpurnia doesn't fir the stereotypical image of a black woman - rough and illiterate.
In the beginning of chapter 9, Cecil Jacobs, a young boy, announced "Scout Finch's daddy defended niggers." Although Scout had promised not to fight she couldn't resist the temptation
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout’s father, Atticus demonstrates his self-control and empathy towards Scout and her problems which makes him a positive role model in his daughter’s life and maturation growth. After school, Scout exclaims to Atticus that she does not want to attend school anymore due to the fact she had a dreadful first day of the first grade. She complains to Atticus about her teacher, Miss.Caroline and how she disapproves of Scout’s competency of reading and writing. Miss.Caroline expresses to Scout that she should not be literate at her age and now has to undo the damage that has been done by her father; this statement is ironic because teachers are supposed to encourage learning and help further advance their
Education is a very important factor in the Finch household, not only because Atticus is well educated, but because it is something that Calpurnia strongly believes in. She believes the children should have vast individual knowledge on the world. Scout once said at a young age “She would set me a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of the tablet, then copying a chapter of the Bible beneath. If I reproduced her penmanship satisfactory, she rewarded me [. . .]” (24). She feels that the Scout should have well-rounded individual vast knowledge in life, being well educated will allow Scout better opportunities in the future.
Atticus is a lawyer, so when he takes on a court case Scout often listens to her father and pays attention to what he is working on, she takes in the information and expands her knowledge beyond what a six year old is supposed to know. Also, she inherits her ability to read from Calpurnia their cook, who often cannot handle Scout when she is trying to cook, so she sits her down and has her copy the alphabet and a chapter from the bible. When Scout started the first grade her teacher, Miss Caroline tells her, “ tell your father to not teach you because it would interfere with her reading” information found on Lee seventeen in chapters five and six. Scout replies by saying, “my father doesn’t teach me”, it was Jem, who taught her to read the The Mobile Register, information found on (Lee 6-7). Scout goes home and complains to Atticus about this situation and Atticus makes a deal with her where at home, she can read, however at school she cannot also, she must listen to the way the teacher
Throughout the course of your life, there are people who you look up to that teach you right from wrong, guide your beliefs, and open up your mind to what is important in life. In the novel “To kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, there are three individuals that contribute to the development of Jem and Scout’s morality and life values. Atticus, Boo Radley, and Aunt Alexandra, are three influential people in the novel that shape who Jem and Scout will become as adults. Atticus teaches Jem and Scout accepted behaviour in society. He taught Scout how to read and continued to do so, even though Miss Caroline claimed that if Atticus kept teaching Scout, it would interfere with her reading at school. Since Atticus continued to teach her, Miss Caroline got angry and told Scout that her father does not know how to teach
Firstly, in Chapter 11 of the book, Scout and Jem visit Calpurnia’s church one Sunday for a service. This event shows how people can be accepting and welcoming, no matter the skin colors. When they enter the black church, Scout, Jem, and Calpurnia are warmly greeted by most of the church members, who let the three sit amongst them for the church service. The church service also reveals Calpurnia’s secret double life. With white people, she speaks properly acts like one of them.
The public school system can be ineffective and closed-minded. Moral and social understanding is a skill the school system is unable to teach. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scout learn many life lessons through their relationship with their father, Atticus.When Scout starts first grade, Maycomb's school system is portrayed as stubborn and powerless. The teachers she has throughout the novel seem to be unable to educate children, including teaching them life lessons. Lee suggests a person's education comes from life experiences rather than through the school system.
Blacks were horribly treated in America. At this time there was a huge rift between blacks and whites. Many whites were biased and hated blacks. After the civil war they were free, but not equal to the white man. They were looked upon with hate, like second class citizens.Both sides were on the edge of a precipice. Blacks were abused and hated, and this book takes a look through the eyes of kids at the injustice blacks faced. Harper Lee had many events in real life that greatly influenced the book, To Kill A Mockingbird. The Scottsboro trials, the Murder of Emmett Till, and Jim Crow laws influenced the events in this book and made it what it was.
Children sit in school for eight hours a day for at least twelve years in their lives, learning how to read and multiply. However, children learn the most important lessons in life outside of the classroom walls. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem discover powerful lessons about life through their father, Atticus, community and experiences. They view an unjust trial of a black man against a white woman, and find that the world is cruel and that they must treat all people with respect. They judged and bothered their neighbor Boo Radley, but he later saves the two of them. Through this, Scout understands not to make assumptions about people until she gets to know them. Also, through Scout’s experiences in school, she finds that
In the novel, Atticus Finch places a great importance on education. First, Scout was a great reader at a young age. For example, “Scout yonders been readin’
Harper. Lee goes on to illustrate or show us that education is not just specifically found in schools. The important and significant aspects of education that Scout and Jem learn from Atticus, is the one of if not the best piece of
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.
Prejudice has caused the pain and suffering of others for many centuries. Some examples of this include the Holocaust and slavery in the United States. In to Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee racism was the cause of much agony to the blacks of a segregated South. Along with blacks, other groups of people are judged unfairly just because of their difference from others. The prejudice and bigotry of society causes the victimization of people with differences.
This death brought tragedy to the black people and some white people, including the Finch’s, but, it also brought joy to the racist people that wanted nothing to do with black people. Race even goes back to churches. Calpurnia, the Finch’s cook, is a black woman that is also like a mother to Jem and Scout. She is a literate black person and is very intelligent. Jem and Scout went to church with Calpurnia and heard her talk different.
Harper Lee, the author of the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, emphasizes the point that education, whether it be moral or educational topics, can occur outside of the classroom. Lee reiterates this point as she develops the character of Scout Finch,a child raised in 1930’s south Alabama. Scout develops morally and mentally as the novel progresses. Atticus, Scout’s father, teaches Scout how to read at home by “reading the words while following along with his finger”(2). Reading not only becomes Scout’s passion, it becomes a necessity for her. After Miss Caroline, her teacher, declares she must stop Scout states, “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love to breathe”(2). This quote illustrates that reading
Calpurnia, one of the three marginalized characters, is held back due to her gender, but still displays heroism. Because Calpurnia is a black woman, many people look at her differently and do not treat her the same as others, such as Aunt Alexandra. When Aunt Alexandra demands “‘Put my bag in the front room, Calpurnia,’” it is clear that she does not consider Calpurnia as an equal (Lee 169). Also, Aunt Alexandra implies that she is not a good female role model when she explains to Scout that “‘Jem’s growing up now and so are you too…. We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence’” (169-70). This statement leaves Scout perplexed because Calpurnia is also a woman, yet Aunt Alexandra does not even consider her as a person. Even though many residents of Maycomb do