TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
WHAT LESSON SCOUT LEARNS
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird the main character Jean Louise Finch (AKA Scout) learns a lot of lessons. But I think the lesson she learns can be categorized in 3 categories, which are life, people and society.
Scout learns 3 important things about life in the book. One thing she learns is that life is unfair. She experiences this in a court case with her dad defending a black man named Tom Robinson who is accused for raping Mayella Ewell the daughter of Bob Ewell. Mr. Atticus had very good reasons on why Tom should not be accused of rape and everyone in the court including the jury and judge were sure that he would win but at the end of the case the jury decided
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The next lesson Scout learns is about the hierarchy in her society. During the Tom Robinson trial there is a part where Mr. Gilmer asks Tom Robison why he is helping Mayella Ewell. To this Tom Robinson replies, “Yes suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ’em-” (Lee 264). To what Tom had said Mr. Gilmer glanced at the jury surprisingly and said, “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?” (Lee 264) Scout realized that Mr. Gilmer is surprised because in Maycomb white men were the most powerful, then it is the white women, then the black men and lastly the black women. Since a black man is sorry for white women it not considered right for Tom to do this. So Scout basically learns that there is a hierarchy in her society. Scout learns one more thing about her society, it is about race. She finds a lot of racist behaviour in the people of Maycomb. There is an incident in the book where Scout and Jem are taken to a black church by Calpurnia. When the reach the church Eula May doesn’t let them come in to the church because the children were white. So Scout realizes that not only white people are racist to black people the black people are also racist to white people. So these are the three main facts Scout learns about her society.
In conclusion, throughout the novel Scout learns important things about life, people and society. There were many other things Scout learnt in this book
During this time, Scout was able to see how unfairly some people were treated. She was able to see how a white persons word almost always was greater than a black persons word. I think being able to sit through the trial; Scout was able to see how racists some people were acting and how some adults were acting. Scout learns to deal with others and that some things aren’t always going to go the way she intends. Scout was always taught from her father, Atticus, that you should treat everyone with respect and you should tolerate everyone. Even though you may not like someone or they may not be your best friends you should still treat them just like anyone else and be fair towards
In the beginning of the novel, Scout is just a regular 5 year-old girl who has no knowledge with the crisis and reality of the world. Later in the novel Scout changes, she sees/experiences racial prejudice but Atticus teaches her that you can change evil to good if you just
Despite the early introduction to this lesson, Scout doesn’t fully understand it, or at least learn it, until the very last chapter when she finally meets Boo Radley, and stands on his porch thinking about the compilation of events which make up the book, from Boo’s point of view, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” This shows the understanding Scout has finally had of the way people are perceived and the way they actually are. It shows that she has learnt what many
<br>Later in the book, however, Scout changes. She now tries to control her temper, and is somewhat successful. One example of this is when Cecil Jacobs, another of Scout's classmates, insults Atticus by saying that Atticus defended Niggers. Scout remembers that she shouldn't fight, and walks away. "Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch's daddy defended niggers You gonna take that back boy?' You gotta make me first!' he yelled I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, Scout's a cow-ward!' ringing in my ears" (80-81). Scout also learns to respect and value
* 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.
She would get a better understanding of this as the novel progresses. Scout also learns more about maturity when she experiences hypocrisy from her teacher, “Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced. Pre-ju-dice,” She is contradicting herself, saying that it is acceptable to persecute blacks but not Jews. It dawned on Scout that people are hypocrites and have double standards when it suits them. The biggest step the children took towards growing up was during the Tom Robinson trials. There, the children received full exposure to the evils, malevolence, prejudice and sorrow of the cruel world as a white man accuses an innocent black man for raping when all Tom ever wanted to achieve was to help others. The children understood what was going on completely and was therefore changed because of it. At the unexpected climax of the novel, the children have an unpleasant encounter with Bob Ewell who wanted to take revenge on Atticus for humiliating him by killing his children. This was an absolutely outrageous act of insanity but also taught the children how dangerous reality could be, finalizing their journey into adulthood.
Another life lesson that Jem and Scout learn about throughout the story is of the categorization of people in Maycomb, which ties in with the prejudice. They notice that most of the people in Maycomb value their ancestry and background very much, especially to see who settled down in the area first and had more distinguished and important ancestors. They also notice how the people of Maycomb are always judging one another and saying that a person acts a certain way because of his background, ancestry, or race. On pg. 226 Jem says, “There's four kinds of folks in the world. There's the ordinary folks like us and the neighbors, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.”The quote above is the way Jem believes that people are divided in Maycomb County. This shows how the environment around Jem and Scout is affecting them and how they are starting to see and understand people and their actions.
Atticus teaches Jem and scout a number of important lessons which will help them in life. However tolerance is one of the most important, because if people tolerate one another then things like war or racism will not exist, and they are two of the biggest areas of conflict in the world. Atticus models tolerance for his children by taking the case of and accused rapist. He defends a black man even though most of the town is against it and treat him discourteously because of it. Scout went against her father’s wishes by not
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
Scout learned not to get so defensive of her father, with Miss Caroline learning not to judge her students. She learned to not judge Scout for her reading habits, not to judge Burris for not attending school, and not to hand anything to a Cunningham. All of these interactions taught each person an individual lesson: that you should never judge a book by its cover. Everyone, but most importantly Scout, learns that someone else’s world is much different than your own, and that you can actually learn something about someone if you try to see the world from their view. Each member of Maycomb County learned that the world is not so black and white, and that you really cannot understand someone’s life until you climb in their skin and walk around in
"No matter who tries to teach you lessons about life, you won't understand it until you go through it on your own." Lessons are an important part of everyday life. They help people learn through tough times or teach them how to avoid terrible situations. Lessons can be passed down from adults to their children, or other important people in their lives. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout understands not everyone is fortunate, there is more than meets the eye, and that you can not trust rumors.
She learns about race and how it can be very complicated and unfair since she matures and understands the world better around her because of the Tom Robinson Trial. For example, when Atticus has to leave for two weeks and Scout and Jem go to Calpurnia’s church. There they experience racism first-hand and they understood how just because of your skin color you don’t have the same opportunities. In the church, there were no hymn-books because the people couldn’t read as they never got an education, and Scout was very surprised by this: “‘Can’t read?’ I asked, ‘All those folks?’”, here she realizes how such a simple thing as reading even for older people can be so difficult because of their status. In addition, when Lula came up to them and told Calpurnia that she shouldn’t bring white children to a black church Scout felt unwelcomed because of their skin tone “I agreed: they did not want us here”. Sh starts to understand that people judge you so quickly before getting to know you because of your skin tone just like they did to Tom Robinson. In this visit to the church Scout also notices: “There was no sign of piano, organ, hymn-books, church program-the familiar ecclesiastical impedimenta we saw every Sunday” this showed scout how different and unequal life is for blacks compared to whites. Overall when Calpurnia brings Scout to the church she learns a lot of thing about race about the town and the
As Scout begins to consider people?s opinions about prejudicial behavior she soon feels obligated to understand these racial judgments. Scout, being the curious and forthright girl she is, feels that only way to do so is by interrogating these estimations. ?As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem?s skin and walk around in it? (57). At this specific point in the novel, it is clear that Scout has learned a valuable lesson. The social lesson accomplished is never to judge anyone before determining their past experiences or hardships. Not only Scout?s social well-being, but her mental and emotional well-being progress extensively throughout the events of the novel. This is clearly defined by the following quote. ?Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting anymore, I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold it in, the better off everybody would be?(74). The quote stated by Scout proves that she is willing to mature at such a crucial time as the trial. She discovers that it is more important for Atticus to
The whole of the part one of this novel is a series of life lessons preparing Scout for the hardships she is going to face in the second part of the novel. Due to the influence of the likes of Atticus, Miss Maudie and Mrs Dubose, Scout goes from a naïve young girl who thought with her fists rather than her head, into a more mature, empathetic girl. This essay is going to discuss some of the lessons Scout learns and how they impacted the way she became at the end of part one.
What are three qualities every person should have? Empathy, tolerance, and courage. From a young age, Scout and Jem Finch were able to display these qualities better than most adults in their hometown due to their father’s lessons. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee displays the story about an innocent man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of Rape. Atticus Finch takes the case to defend him and goes out of his way to win. During the time of the case, his children Scout and Jem learn a lot of valuable lessons as they grow up. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus teaches his children to show empathy, tolerance and courage through the example he sets.