To Kill a Mockingbird

a. Atticus is a wise man, committed to justice and equality, and his parenting style is based on fostering these virtues in his children—he even encourages Jem and Scout to call him “Atticus” so that they can interact on terms as equal as possible. Throughout the novel, Atticus works to develop Scout’s and Jem’s respective consciences, through both teaching, as when he tells Scout to put herself in a person’s shoes before she judges them.

At the end of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout and Jem were almost brutally stabbed and suffocated by Bob Ewell. However, Boo came out of his house them. This took him so much courage as he was afraid of the world outside of his “prison”. His love for the children drove him to do this. Even though in the beginning he did a small bit of bad, he is truly a“mockingbird”. Boo was even referenced by Scout as a mockingbird after he saved Jem and her’s life by killing their attacker. When Boo’s actions were to be covered up, she stated, “Well it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird (by giving Boo undesired attention), wouldn’t it?” (Lee 370). Miss Maudie's quote morphed into describing Boo, just one of many ways it was seen in the book.

Atticus is guarding the jailhouse to make sure no one hurts Tom Robinson before his trial, when he is approached by Walter Cunningham and his fellow goons. Atticus shows his bravery by standing his ground for what he believes is right in front of his son. When Scout lashes out to her father’s side, Jem holds onto her and tries to stop her from interfering. Then Jem refuses to go home and stands up for his father’s side although the odds were against them, while trying to protect his sister from harm. In page 152, chapter 15, Scout says, “... but from the way he stood, Jem was not thinking of budging.” This shows us that Jem has matured from the boy who would do anything if dared, to a young man who can barricade his emotions and proceed with reason in difficult situations.

Next, Scout and Jem learn how to have empathy for those who are misunderstood. Scout and Jem learn this through experiences with Boo Radley. Everyone in Macomb makes Boo out to be a mysterious and extremely dangerous, animal-like individual. The kids hear new rumors daily about Boo, and they begin to get curious. Scout, Jem and Dill all try to spy on Boo. They are determined to get him to come out of his house so that they can see the monster that everyone claims he is. Atticus soon catches on to what the kids are doing. He tells the kids that they need to leave Boo alone. What they hear about Boo

In addition to his curiosity of the children, Boo also demonstrates acts of kindness and concern towards Jem and Scout. This is evident through two scenarios that occur; one involving Jem and the other involving Scout. When Jem leaves the Radley property after retrieving his pants that were stuck the fence, he realizes that the pants were mended and folded, as if someone was waiting upon his arrival. “When I went back, they were folded across the fence… like they were expecting me [...] like somebody could tell what I was gonna do. Can’t anybody tell what I’m gonna do lest they know me, can they, Scout?” (78). Jem’s realization of the situation signifies that Boo Radley does in fact pay attention to the children and wanted to do something nice for them. By mending Jem’s pants and folding them neatly for him, Boo had shown a kindness that they had not seen before. Boo had also shown his concern for the children on the night of the fire, when Miss Maudie's house was erupt in flames. The children were waiting outside for their father, and Boo realized that they must have been cold, so he went and put a blanket around Scout. Scout had not noticed this until she was back at home, when Jem suggested that Boo had put the blanket around her. “‘Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.’ ‘Thank who?’ I asked. ‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you’” (96).

Atticus is also the most courageous character in this novel because of what he believes in and what his actions are. "This case, Tom Robinson's case, is something that goes to the essence of a man's conscience-Scout, I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man." pg 140. In this quote, it shows that Atticus is an extremely courageous guy since he does the right thing even if he knows that there will be no success, he is passing this quality on to his kids because his kids look up to him as a hero.

“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird…Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.” In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch changes throughout the novel by becoming disliked by the town folks and disobeying the law.

Characterize Miss Maudie Atkinson (characterization = personality traits, actions, thoughts/feelings, other people’s points of view). How typical is she of Maycomb’s women? What do the children think of her?

Jem refuses to admit it, but he is terrified of Boo and the horror stories that lurk around him. When Dill challenges him to knock on the doors of the Radley Place, he unsurprisingly follows through because “he loved his honor more than his head” (13). The importance of preserving his reputation and pride overpowers his fear. After the incident, Jem becomes more assertive and constantly boasts about his accomplished feat; he believes that it was an act of bravery, conquering something that no one else dared to do. Dill incessantly tests Jem’s willingness to take on new risks and the Boo Radley Game is invented. The children mock Boo in front of the entire town on a daily basis, and Jem believes he is proving a point by doing a harmless, comical thing. Atticus catches them in the action, yet “[he] hasn’t said [they] couldn’t, therefore [they] could...Jem had thought of a way around it” (41). Like most kids, Jem is brutally honest and goes off of what he hears and what is in plain sight. His doings are prompted by the innocence he still has as well as his lack of exposure to the darker sides of the world. He is unable to make higher-level connections or construct advanced ideas about his environment yet, showing that he is no more mature than the next child.

It's a sin to kill a mockingbird because they don't do anything to hurt people; they only help farmers out and sing beautiful songs. To Kill a Mockingbird is about a little girl named Scout who sees her town as a beautiful place where nothing unpleasant happens until accusations of rape occur. Then she realizes how racist and negative her town people can be. This occurs when her dad defends an innocent African American man. She realizes that Macomb has deplorable individuals living there, and this reality hit her hard. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are metaphorically portrayed as mockingbirds.

When asked why Atticus was defending Tom Robinson he said “I couldn't hold up my head in town........ I couldn’t even tell you (Scout) or Jem not to do something again.” (78) Atticus cares very much about being a role model to his children so much, he took up a case because he wants to be a good role model and lead by a good example.

He is always watching over the people he knows, especially Scout and Atticus. One day, as Scout was walking home, she spotted two pieces of chewing gum in the nook of a tree. She checked to see if the gum was safe, then ate it. When she got home, she told Jem that she found the gum in a tree. He then becomes concerned for her safety and states, “‘Don’t eat things you find, Scout’... ‘Spit it out right now!’ ... ‘Don’t you know you’re not supposed to even touch the trees over there? You’ll get killed if you do!’ … ‘You go gargle -- right now, you hear me?’” (Lee 33-34). When Jem discovers what Scout has done, he shows that he will be protective of her, even over a couple pieces of gum, and make sure she stays healthy. In another major scene, Jem’s defensive actions saved his and Scout’s lives. As the two siblings were walking home from the Halloween pageant, Jem kept hearing footsteps following them. At first they thought it was their friend Cecil Jacobs trying to scare them again. However, when they stopped for the last time, the footsteps didn’t follow suit and stop with them. Jem tells Scout to run, but with her cumbersome costume on, she tripped and the wire around her was crushed. Jem got stuck with their follower, Bob Ewell, and was attacked. When he was flung back towards Scout, he immediately tried to rescue her from the costume and get both of them out of the fight. Unfortunately, Jem was pulled back by Mr. Ewell and severely hurt (Lee 261-262). Even though both Jem and Scout were in danger, Jem did everything in his ability to try and save her. The situation they were in was very dangerous but despite the challenges, Jem was sure to be protective of himself and his little sister. Someone who takes good pride in protecting you and others will always be good person to have around, especially if it is one of your

In How to Kill a Mockingbird the kids, Jem and Scout, obsess over this man named Boo Radley. Boo never came out of his house and

Atticus is a wise father and helps his children accept people no matter how they look or act. This is evident when he says “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” (Lee 33). Throughout the novel, Jem and Scout mature at different paces. Atticus guides his children as they begin to grow and mature. “It ain’t right, Atticus,” said Jem.” “No son, It’s not right.” (Lee 243). When Atticus lost the case, Jem expressed how he felt. He had tears on his face. Here was a turning point for Jem because he was old enough to understand the case. Atticus comforted him and agreed it was not right. Atticus shows affection towards his children when they saved him from trouble with “the mob”. “As they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged Jem’s hair, his one gesture of affection.” (Lee 176). At first, Atticus may have been frustrated with his children being at the office. Then, their innocence saved him. Atticus has many characteristics and is a loving father. Atticus displays a valuable lesson about equality and fairness for his children.

In the earlier parts of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus and Jems bond is simple. Jem looks at his father as older and less athletic then his friend’s dads. This makes Jem upset and want Atticus to change. Example includes, Scout says, "Jem was football crazy. Since Jem loved football he played with Atticus. Atticus liked to throw it and play keep-away but when Jem wanted to tackle Atticus said, `I'm