Brotherly Love in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

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The book To Kill A Mockingbird is set in the Great Depression. In this time of economic loss, racism is present in the county of Maycomb, Alabama. In this time of distress the presence of Brotherly love is important. In this troubled town there are many examples of brotherly love. The ones that stand out to me are: The relationship that Boo has with the children, Atticus and Tom Robinson, and the way that Calpurnia treats the Finch's. In this story Atticus defends Tom Robinson with compassion. Atticus is a very respected upper class white. He comes from an old family and works for the state legislature. He was asked to just be the lawyer not to actually defend. When Atticus states, "I'm simply defending a Negro his name's Tom Robinson. (Lee 75) I think that the quote secures the position that Atticus clearly wants to defend him. He wants everyone in the courtroom to know the truth. "That boy may go to the chair, but not till the truth's been told….."(Lee 46) When Atticus says this I begin to see that his courage is amazing. In this time racism is high and Atticus stands up for what is right no matter if his life is endangered. Even though there was evidence proving that Tom Robinson was innocent the lop-sided jury found Tom guilty. Atticus insured Tom that he would make an appeal. Atticus has a certain pressure to work on this case. He is punished and despised by the racist whites that think he is doing the wrong thing because Tom Robinson is a black man. At one point in the story a mob of whites come to the jail seeking Tom Robinson. Atticus knows they are going to make trouble for Tom so he stands up to them. He says, "' You can turn around and go home now Walter. Heck Tate's around here somewhere. '" This says he is an unselfish and courageous person. He also feels pressure from the blacks. They will accept him if he defends Tom but they wont if he does not. Lastly and the thing that makes him do it the most is his own conscience. I think he would not forget the time of the trial and have guilt for the rest of his life if he didn't try for Tom Robinson. Atticus telling the reasons why he is doing the case, "'the main one is, if I didn't, I couldn't hold my head up in town, I couldn't represent this country in legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem what not to do.

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