Conscience In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Harper Lee. It takes place in a fictional district called Maycomb County, in southern Alabama during the Great Depression. The novel was influenced by the Civil Rights Movement, whose goals were to end discrimination and racial segregation of African-Americans in the south. The main protagonists are Scout, Jem, Atticus, Dill, Arthur Radley, and Tom Robinson. Scout is Atticus’s daughter, Jem’s younger sister, and Dill’s “love interest.” She is the narrator, and her character is loosely based on the author. Jem is the son of Atticus and Scout’s older brother. Atticus is the widowed father of Jem and Scout and is a lawyer. Dill is Jem and Scout’s best friend, a boy that comes every

summer to visit them. Arthur “Boo” Radley is a mysterious being in which Jem, Scout, and Dill are fascinated about. Dill, in particular, is enthralled by Arthur. Tom Robinson is an African-American man who faces racial prejudice. Jem and Scout meets Dill one summer, and the trio enacts their fantasies, including their interpretation on Boo’s life. The story continues on to a trial, one where Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson who was accused for allegedly raping a white woman. Over three years, Scout is exposed to injustice, which allows her to learn that one cannot truly understand another without “walking in their skin.” After witnessing Arthur Radley rescuing both her and Jem as well as her father defend the innocence of Tom Robinson, she gains a better understanding. One major theme in the novel is integrity and conscience, however it is rich with various others, such as loss of innocence, race and racism, and moral education.
One crucial theme in the story is integrity and conscience.

An example that presents this theme is when Atticus sends Jem off to apologize to their old neighbor, Mrs. Dubose, for ruining her garden because he allowed the insults towards Atticus get to him in Chapter 11. Scout crawls into his lap and protests against his decision, which he then explains that Jem and Scout have to keep themselves levelheaded. He says, “They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions, but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The only thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” The quote showcases Atticus’s moral standards, which he believes should be completely uninfluenced by other people’s views regardless of what they think. Despite the sheer scorn and negativity that surrounds him, he is firmly set on his task: to defend Tom Robinson. Another example is when Dill bursts out sobbing in the middle of the trial and Scout brings him outside of the courthouse. He says, “Well, Mr. Finch didn’t act that way to Mayella and old man Ewell when he cross-examined them. The way that man called him ‘boy’ all the time an’ sneered at him an’ looked around at the jury every time he answered---” then “I don’t care one speck. It ain’t right, somehow it ain’t right to do ‘em that way. Hasn’t anybody got any business talkin’ like that---it just makes me sick.” Dill displays his integrity through his shaken

disposition, clearly finding the opposing lawyer’s disdainful attitude towards Robinson unsettling. His reaction shows his sense of what is right and wrong. The final example is when Tom Robinson is currently undergoing questioning from Atticus. Tom presents his testimony, explaining that he visits Mayella Ewell’s house, the young girl who accused him of raping her, on several occasions, namely because she had some little tasks for him to complete for her. He answers one of Atticus’s questions with “No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time. I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn’t seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun, and I knowed that she didn’t have any nickels to spare.” Tom exhibits his generosity towards Mayella and continues to do so despite the lack of rewards for his efforts. However, his conscience drove him, knowing that Mayella didn’t have anyone to help her.
Aside from integrity and conscience, To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel filled with bountiful themes.

One theme is loss of innocence, which occurs in Chapters 28 - 31. Jem and Scout are saved by Arthur Radley after a man attempted to murder them. Scout finally sees Arthur for the first time, and ends up sitting with him outside. She takes him home. When she goes back, she connects the book Atticus was reading to her to Arthur, realizing that Arthur was actually much more docile and amiable than rumors proclaimed. She originally believed that he was malevolent, and shook in terror whenever she came close to his house. Her fears are dispelled after she finally understood who he truly is. Another theme is race and racism. It is more obvious in comparison to the others, and many teachers across the country use To Kill a Mockingbird as an example of racial injustice. The theme is particularly prominent when Tom Robinson gets convicted for an alleged rape despite the evidence that Atticus presented pointing otherwise. The jury consists of white men, who based their decision on purely circumstantial evidence and their own prejudiced beliefs against African-Americans. It is also prominent when nearly everyone in the county criticizes Atticus, harshly insulting him for defending Robinson. They even do so in front of his children, which Scout and Jem react fairly violently to on occasion. The final theme, although there are much more, focuses on moral education. Atticus teaches Jem and

Scout incredibly valuable lessons throughout the novel, which leads to their growing maturity and influences their own personal ethics and morals. For example, Atticus says, "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,” to Scout, where she learns the reason why Atticus continues to persist in support Tom Robinson despite knowing that he was going to lose. Another example is when Scout says, "Atticus says cheatin' a colored man is ten times worse than cheatin' a white man. Says it's the worst thing you can do.” Atticus’s wisdom is passed down onto Scout. She knows that it is wrong to “cheat” a person, but understands that African-Americans face much more discrimination, hence “cheating a colored man is ten times worse.”