Atticus Finch Life Lessons

Life lessons leave a lasting impact on everyone, whether they like it or not. These lessons are an important part of childhood, and they should be cherished. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is the father of Jem and Scout Finch. The novel showcases life in Maycomb County, Alabama, and it follows the children as they experience a court trial, and learn about the monsters and pain that life inflicts. They learn many important life lessons that will follow them forever. Even though both Jem and Scout learn many life lessons, they seem to have made a more prominent impression on Scout. This is seen throughout the novel as she continually finds new ways to relate the lessons to real life scenarios. These lessons include,the

Furthermore, this lesson was best presented to Scout during the Tom Robinson trial. Sometime before the trial, Atticus told Scout that he needed to help Tom because there was no way that Tom could fight for himself. “‘ ...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’”(Lee 120). When Atticus says this he means that everyone deserves to have a fair chance of life. If someone is deprived of that chance, somebody else needs to take charge and help them. Later, Scout uses this lesson when she had to act like a lady with Aunt Alexandra and her friends. Another time that Scout learned about helping the helpless, was when Jem read to Mrs. Dubose. As Scout sat in Mrs. Dubose’s bedroom and listened to Jem read to the poor old women, she noticed that Mrs. Dubose had entered a dream-like state. After talking to Atticus, Scout learned that Mrs. Dubose was very sick and reading was the only thing that took her away from the pain and into another reality. Atticus told Scout that Mrs. Dubose was an example of true courage because, she kept fighting even when the odds were against her. Reading and seeing the kids not only made her feel better, it also made her feel loved and important.Scout also used this lesson to help her back away from fights. Overall, Scout’s

The main person who introduced this to Scout was Atticus. He told Scout that the most mature and sophisticated people never fight with their fists. All you must do is take the emotional standpoint instead of the physical. However, Scout struggled to grasp this concept until later in the novel. She ended up involved in multiple fights, but learned from them. “My fists were clenched and I was ready to let fly. Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting anymore….the sooner I learned to hold it in, the better off everybody would be” (Lee 85). This also helps Scout stay out of many fights in the future. Further, Scout also learned this lesson from Bob Ewell. To the contrary, Bob showed Scout what happens to you, and everyone around you, if you decide to use your fists instead of your mind. Seeing what happened to Mayella Ewell truly changed Scout. She realized that you can’t go around constantly beating people. If Bob would have chosen an emotional standpoint instead of physical everyone would have been better off. Scout sees how much her fighting with her fists can affect the people around her. Though Scout was shown both sides of the story throughout the novel, she learned that fighting with her mind had always been the better