Atticus Innocent Quotes

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In today’s society, a defendant is innocent until proven guilty, but this wasn’t always the case. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the 1930s, follows a little girl named Scout, her experience with racism in her community, and the ways she observes it affecting the people in her life. Scout notices many changes in her father, Atticus, and her older brother, Jem. As a lawyer, Atticus takes it upon himself to teach his kids antidiscrimination, especially based on skin color. It is almost unheard of when Atticus takes on the difficult task of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who is an innocent man accused of rape. He is later tried as guilty, with various clues throughout the novel that lead to this outcome. Symbolism is defined …show more content…

The unexpected destruction of a white camellia plant is used in the novel to symbolize Scout’s brother Jem maturing, while staying true to his moral roots as he ages. When Atticus begins to help his black defendant, Scout and Jem are affected. They often deal with backlash and hatred towards Atticus. Scout has fought other kids several times throughout her childhood, and many of these are due to comments made about their father’s occupation. Unlike his sister, Jem usually remains tranquil when faced with adversity. Mrs. Dubose, Scout and Jem’s elderly neighbor, often makes racist comments about Atticus, and his black defendant. Jem loses his temper for the first time in the story when Mrs. Dubose says that Atticus is “no better than the (n***er words) he works for!” (Lee 102). Upon hearing this statement, Jem acts in his anger and rage and attacks Mrs. Dubose’ white camellia bush. Jem “did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves.” (Lee

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