Atticus Respectful In To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea that respect is demonstrated by treating people the way people want to be treated so that others can give one that respect back. Social justice requires respect because if one did not have respect for others views and thinking, then people would stop tolerating each other and become selfish in their thoughts and actions. The character of Atticus Finch demonstrates respect by the way he treats those of different gender, how he teaches his children, and how he treats outcasts of a town.

Atticus is respectful because he treats other genders the same as everyone else. This part of the book took place in the courtroom after Bob Ewell’s questioning and Mayella Ewell was on the stand for Atticus

to cross-examine. As Atticus was asking questions, Mayella stopped answering his questions and said, “Won’t answer a word you say long as you keep on mockin’ me,..”(206). Mayella thinks of Atticus’s respect as a joke and is offended by it because no one has ever given her the respect that she is given by Atticus. Atticus,a middle-aged lawyer, was only being polite to Mayella because that’s his natural self. This shows that Atticus is respectful to everyone, even to the Ewells.

Atticus is respectful because he does not judge people.

This part of the book takes place when Scout,the youngest of Atticus’s children, has come back from her first day of school and the teacher wants her to stop learning to read and write. She was talking to Atticus on the porch and he said, “ You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-..” (33). Atticus reveals that he is respectful due to the way that he is unbiased to other people. Atticus is telling this to Scout because he wants his children to do the same and be open-minded to everyone she encounters. Atticus is respectful because of his unbiased view of people in Maycomb county and of people in the world.

Atticus is respectful because he does not get into other people’s business. This part of the book takes place when Jem was trying to get information on the Radleys. According to the text it says,” When Jem would question him Atticus’s only answer was for him to mind his own business and let the Radley’s mind theirs,..” (11). Many of the townspeople of Maycomb circulate rumors about the Radleys. Atticus refrains from talking ill about them, and he tells his children that they “Should mind their own business.” It shows respect because he protects and is mindful of people’s privacy or

reputation.

Social justice requires respect because if one did not have respect for others views and thinking, then people would stop tolerating each other and become selfish in their thoughts and actions. The character of Atticus Finch demonstrates respect by the way he treats those of different gender, how he teaches his children, and how he treats outcasts of a town.