Disrespect In To Kill A Mockingbird

472 Words1 Page

My mom once told me when I was young I went up to the church donation basket and took a twenty out and brought it back to her. I was reminded of this when I read the first few chapters of To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM), is about a young girl, Scout, learning to respect people from her father, Atticus, as the story progresses, she displays more and more respect to people around her. One of the main points in TKAM is that respect is not natural, it has to be taught. Early on in the book, Scout is introduced as a tomboy with little disrespect. A good example of the amount of disrespect she has for people is when Walter Cunningham is invited over for dinner. She says that “[Walter] ain’t [sic] …show more content…

Around half way through the book, Dill asks if Scout would like to go poke around the Radley Place, she tells Dill, “I did’t think it would be nice to bother [Boo]” (Lee 198; ch 15). Scout is learning that it is not okay to poke around the Radley Place, or any place for that matter. She is catching on, but sometimes she temporarily forgets what Atticus has taught her; respect everyone, even if they do not respect you—the overall goal of respect. In the very last chapter, the reader sees Scout show full respect, whether they realize it or not. Scout is out on the porch with Arthur when Arthur asks Scout to walk her home. The reader gets a glimpse into the mind of Scout, and her mind tells her, “I would lead [Boo] thought the house, but I would never lead him home” (Lee 372; ch 31). Scout knows to show respect to Boo; even if he doesn't know she would be disrespecting him. Scout knows that leading him home would be disrespectful, but wants to make it look like she is not leading him home, so she instructs him in such a position that would solve the

Open Document