To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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.

On the other hand, Aunt Alexandra faced a different but common obstacle, prejudice. Since prejudice was ubiquitous, Aunt Alexandra demonstrated maturity when she became more accepting of others especially Calpurnia, Boo and Scout. Aunt Alexandra, Scout and Jem’s caretaker, had some difficulties interacting and talking around people who were a different race or a lower social or economic class. When Aunt Alexandra first met Calpurnia, the African-American maid who worked in the Finch’s house, she despised her and all of her actions. No matter what Calpurnia did or what she said, she could not please Aunt Alexandra. However, later on in the novel, Aunt Alexandra developed a more accepting attitude towards Calpurnia. She allowed Calpurnia to serve the children dinner. This shows how much Aunt Alexandra has grown to be more accepting of other races and not be prejudice. Not only does Aunt Alexandra accept Calpurnia for who she is, but she also learns to accept Scout. “She brought me something to put on, and had I thought about it then, I would have never let her forget it: in her distraction, Aunty brought me my overalls” (Pg.264).

As Scout gets a little older, she soon realizes that she will have to start acting like a lady. She begins to understand why Aunt Alexandra wants her to act the way that she does. She comes to understand her Aunt and believes there is something interesting in learning how to be a lady. She most realizes this when Jem and Dill go swimming and she couldn't go because they are swimming nude. Aunt Alexandra decides to invite the missionary Ladies for a tea party to discuss the current events in the town of Maycomb (their hometown). Aunt Alexandra dresses Scout up in a dress

Miss Maudie Atkinson is not like the other women of Maycomb in that she treats them kindly and avoids patronizing them. She is a supportive of Atticus and his efforts in defending Tom, which does not always make the rest of the community like her, but it does mean that the kids will respect and trust her.

As a result of Atticus's decision, Jem and Scout get into a number of fights with classmates and their cousin when they taunt them and call Atticus a "nigger lover." Life seems to be full of lesson for Scout and Jem. For example, when a rabid dog chases Scout, she discovers that her father, whom she previously thought too old to do anything, does possess some talents. Atticus turns out be a crack shot, killing the dog in one shot at a great distance. Another time the children learn to be tolerant of people who have problems even though they say mean things. A neighbor, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, derides Atticus and spreads lies about him, and screams insults at the children when they pass by. Jem gets very angry at her and cuts off her flowers from her bushes. Instead of siding with Jem, Atticus feels that what he did is wrong and as punishment, Jem has to read out loud to her every day to take her mind off her predicament. Atticus holds this old woman up as an example of true courage as she

Empathy does not discriminate against age. Aunt Alexandra is an older women in To Kill A Mockingbird. She is the poster woman for a southern lady, pearls included. Her brother is Atticus. Within the first minutes of her arrival to Maycomb County she immediately gets onto Scout’s case: “We decided it that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won’t be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys-” (Lee 170). Scout is doing perfectly fine on her own with the occasional help of Atticus and Jem. Her inability to relate to Scout defines her to have no experience dealing with empathy. Aunt Alexandra has not stop to consider Scout’s opinion in the situation. Calpurnia is the house maid and is also perfectly capable of taking care of the children. Expect Alexandra does not see it as this, she believes she is the one to bring Scout into the southern lady style. Her next idea when arriving in Maycomb is

Scout’s Maturity was something that is prevalent in the story. When Dill came back to Maycomb for the summer there was barely anything to do. Scout suggested that they play with the tire. Someone had to get into the tire and be rolled down the hill. Scout suggested that she go first and got into the tire. Je pushed her as hard as he could and she ended up rolling into the Radley place. She froze and Dill and Jem were screaming for her to get away from there. Later on in the book. She revealed an important piece of information. “Atticus’s arrival was the second reason I

All the characters close to the Finch children dearly love them for their playful antics and Miss Maudie Atkinson is yet another greatly loving character.. Miss Maudie sometimes treats them to cakes since she happens to be the most famous person in town for her amazing sweets. In chapter 5 it states: “…every time she baked she made a big cake and three little ones, and she would call across the street: “Jem Finch, Scout Finch, Charles Baker Harris, come here!” Our promptness was always rewarded” Miss Maudie gives countless examples of kindness and gentleness, as she tries to console

Atticus Finch is a model father created by Harper Lee in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird. He is an important figure in the Maycomb, Alabama Community. He raises his children, Jean Louise Finch (Scout) and Jeremy Atticus Finch (Jem) with wide sets of morals, disciplines them, and is a true role model. Atticus allows his children to be individuals and does not try to change who they are. He teaches them fairness and equality among many different types of people in Maycomb. He is always teaching his children about how their actions may affect others, then, as a result, devices punishments to teach Scout and Jem valued life lessons. In many situations, Atticus can chastise his children, but he allows them mature and notice their own mistakes

The Finch family is hopeful. Atticus has brought his children up by his values. The children, Jem and Scout, are taught to hope, by their father, Atticus. Both are impacted form the work Atticus has done, he has defended an African American. Jem learns from Atticus to never lose hope, and he does not lose hope throughout the novel. The children also show that there is hope in the future for people to be nonjudgmental. They did not understand how a jury could convict a man whom they knew was innocent and this was astonishing for them. Atticus explains to Jem that it has happened before and will happen again, sadly he also told them,"... when they do it - it seems that only the children weep...” (Lee, pg 232). Atticus is the wise one; he explains the problem to the children. He tells them that injustice will always happen. Atticus tells the children that bad things happen in the world, but only children find it hard to understand. The message of hope carries on in the book, is that despite her debut into the adult world, she avoids absorbing the prejudices of the community around her. Scout becomes our hope for a more tolerant future. However all hope is not lost in the end. As Scout realises that Boo is no one to dread and the two become friends, so too do we realise that the town can likewise learn to shed its bigotry and embrace its subject of unfound malice. Jem and Scout learnt that hope is always there, from there father, Atticus in the novel, To

Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird Lee discusses the effects of ignorance and the toll it takes on people such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout herself, and many more. Through her examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the populist of poverty stricken Southerners, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of ignorance are the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story. A good example of this injustice is the trial of Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white girl and is found guilty. The book is from the point of view Scout, a child, who has an advantage over most kids due to her having a lawyer as a dad, to see the other side of the story. Her father tells her in the story, “you never really know a man until

First, Atticus Finch is a genuine, moral literary character because he knows that you must understand a person and know them before you can judge them. "Scout," said Atticus, "when summer comes you'll have to keep your head about far worse things... it's not fair for you and Jem, I know that, but sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down—well, all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown, maybe you'll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn't let you down." (ch.11 pg.120) Atticus tries to explain to Scout the importance of understanding someone and getting to know the person before she does things. Atticus can take time to know a person, watching their actions, and seeing how they act. He then understands them and their position better than before, which can help him to better comprehend and

In the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ we have seen only sides of Aunt Alexandra that are cruel and hateful. The first time we went Aunt Alexandra in the book we heard about her scrutiny towards Scout when she left her all alone at the kid table, but let all the other kids sit at the adult table. This was only the beginning of what happened that Thanksgiving Day. Jem, Scout’s older brother was to old to play, so Scout had to amuse Francis. This is when things got messy. When Scout was outside with Francis he started talking trash about Atticus. He told Scout Atticus was ruining the family name, that he was a nigger lover. At the start of

While the children were walking home from church one morning, they came to see Aunt Alexandra there at their house on the front porch. The children were not very stoked about her being there. Aunt Alexandra did once live in Maycomb, but she was really only here for one main reason. She came to stay with Atticus and the children because she feels, that now that the children are growing up and having some changes in their life, that they need a more feminine role model in their household, and Atticus is very busy with his case. Atticus believes that Calpurnia is a phenomenal role model to the kids, she keeps the kids in check, and she takes very well care of them while Atticus is at work. Aunt Alexandra has

Ever since the case involving Tom Robinson, Alexandra has questioned everything she’s known and felt about the “negroes.” Sure Calpernia is alright and Helen seemed like a nice person, but what about the rest? Alexandra’s mind was a beehive; running with thoughts and questions2. Alexandra had always heard awful things about the “negroes” and how disgusting they were from a great majority of the community, but Atticus didn’t think so and neither did a few others. The trial of Tom Robinson and Atticus have helped her see how wrong they were treating them, but there was absolutely no way she would voice her own opinion out loud in fear. She is a lady, and she had her place in society. A political leader is definitely not what a lady is supposed to be.