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Morality and ethics in killing a mockingbird
Morality and ethics in killing a mockingbird
How did scout mature in to kill a mockingbird
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When people have a gain in power, their morals develop an they start learning different things and become more aware of society. Throughout the book, we see Jem and Scout develop morally, and gain and lose power. My first example of this happening is in Chapter 9. In this scene of the book, Scout was mad at Cecil Jacobs for calling her father a “n----- lover” Cecil is calling Scout that because her father Atticus is defending a black man in court. Scout says on page 85.1“Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting anymore..”This quote ties into my claim of power and moral development because Scout uses the word “anymore”. Which is implying that she doesn’t fight anymore. In my opinion Scout gained power because
In the novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee some characters suffer in the hands of justice and fairness more than others. Many characters in the novel are discriminated against such as Calpurnia, Dolphus Raymond, Helen Robinson, Burris Ewell and more. However I will be focusing on the discrimination against Tom Robinson for his race, Walter Cunningham for his low socioeconomic status and Boo Radley for the rumors and supposed mental instability he holds. I chose those three because they are the most prominent and I will discuss how the discrimination against the characters therefore leads to their injustice or unfairness.
Scout’s newfound knowledge emphasizes her maturity: “Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home” (Lee 331). This quote demonstrates Scout’s recent development to maturity, because she takes a historical event and puts it into context of her own town. She’s making big comparisons like her town’s discrimination towards African Americans and Hitler’s discrimination toward Jews, which indicates that Scout is starting to use her education to examine the bigger picture of reality. Also, Scout begins to question the actions of Hitler and tries to interpret his wrongdoings with what she learns in school and her own knowledge. In the story, Scout narrates, “One maniac and millions of German folks. Looked to me like they’d shut Hitler in a pen instead of letting him shut them up. There was something else wrong―I would ask my father about it” (Lee 329). This quote exemplifies Scouts maturity, because instead of just learning about Hitler and abandoning everything she learned later on, Scout wants to understand why Hitler did what he did and how. This shows how Scout wants to see the world for what it really is. Scout’s beginning to see the world for what it really is, thus depleting her
Atticus is a great leader of his family, teaching his children morals and life lessons. He makes them better people by showing them how to deal with the trial and people making fun of them. Atticus teaches Scout how to respect other people. First, Scout learns to respect Atticus, then to respect "Boo" Radley, and finally to respect a whole race of people, negroes. He makes it a common practice to live his life as he would like his children to live theirs, and thus displays the attributes of an honest, respectable, and kind man. Throughout the trial process, Atticus shows Jem and Scout that true courage is standing up for what you believe in and that all human beings, despite their race, deserve respect. "You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." This quote shows that Atticus wants his children to get along with people, and so other people will respect them for whom they are.
Although she struggles at first, Scout develops a higher level of maturity which allows her to control her temper and simply defend her father with her words, without being rude. Jem is also faced with these type of situations and struggles with his anger, for instance when he attacks Mrs. Dubose’s flowers. Atticus goes to great lengths to teach his children that in life, they must learn to stay calm and be kind to everyone, despite how cruel those people may be. Scout and Jem face several situations in which their control is tested, which leads them to “come of age” and develop skills necessary for adulthood. They learn to defend Atticus and themselves by using words and developing self-control.
People have been wrongly accused all throughout history. They might not have even been at the crime and got accused of it. There are three main reasons people are wrongly accused. Those reasons are bad behavior, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and race.
First off, the book being narrated by Scout’s point of view shows how her view of innocence matures and changes as the she grows up. In the beginning of the story, Scout and Jem don’t really see injustices and thinks the world is fair and always a happy place. They have the normal false perception of childhood innocence that shape their
Scout stands up for her beliefs and rights when Francis calls Atticus rude and offensive names. She gets tells Francis, “He is not!... I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, but you better cut it out this red hot minute” (83). The argument had started when Francis called Atticus a “n*****-lover”. Scout became defensive and stood up for Atticus because she knew that Atticus was a fair man who didn’t believe in racism. He stood up for black people because he believed that everyone was equal regardless of race. Scout, along with her father believed that black people should be treated fairly as well so when Francis called Atticus rude names she stood up for him because she knew that Atticus was a fair and equal man. This shows that you do not need to be an adult to understand the world because most of the people in Maycomb were racist such as Bob Ewell. Despite her young age, Scout stood up for her father and her beliefs and knew that not all black people were bad people. Additionally, Jem stands up for his rights and his father when Mrs. Dubose says something rude about black people. Scout describes Jem’s attitude when she thinks, “Jem had probably stood as much gruff about Atticus lawing for n***** as much as I, and I took it for granted that he kept his temper” (102). This shows that although Jem had a pretty steady temper, he lost it when Mrs. Dubose said that Atticus was “no better than the n****** and trash he works for”. Jem, like his father didn’t discriminate against black people unlike the rest of the people in Maycomb. While he did get heated, it was because he stood up for Atticus and his beliefs which were to not judge black people. There was already so much prejudice in Maycomb and Jem regardless of his young age, stood up for what he thought was right and protected black people and his father. This lesson of standing up for what you think
Atticus teaches Scout and Jem many lessons throughout the novel, which includes courage. For example, when Atticus tries to educate his children about courage, he says to Jem that “he wanted [him] to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” (Lee, 112) This is important, because Atticus sends a universal message of the definition of courage. This shows not only a moral, but a moral on a true and sincere note. An example of indirect courage, is when Atticus mentions that, “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule, is a person’s conscience” (Lee, 105) This shows that any person has the power to change his or her mind regardless of the majority’s opinion. This is important, because a person needs courage to use their conscience to make a decision , even if it is against the majority. Atticus did the right thing, by teaching his children what real courage is.
Growing up. This is an important part of life, but not a very fun one. Did you ever feel like the people who you grew up around influenced you? In Harper Lee 's To Kill a Mockingbird, we can infer that Jem and Scout feel this too as they grow up. In this coming of age novel there were three distinct moments where I saw Jem and Scout express empathy for someone else that molded and shaped their character. Jem and Scout have matured greatly throughout the novel and we see this when Jem understands Walter Cunningham 's position and experiences empathy for him while Scout resorts to fighting, when Uncle Jack recognizes Scouts wisdom and understands her point of view when she 's fighting with Francis, and also when Jem and Scout finally see past their differences and become friends with Mr. Arthur. These three significant “growing up” moments all involve Jem and Scout
... Jem become more intuitive and gain insight into how to develop into more mature people. Jem and Scout gain exposure to the adult world and lose innocence through the Tom Robinson trial. In today’s society, as in To Kill a Mockingbird, children are often exposed to the adult world at an early age. Today, children are swimming in an endless stream of media, whether it is the 24 hour news cycle, or social networking, or conversing with friends. In today’s world, any child could walk into a room with a television and hear about murder or rape, unspeakable crimes. In the 1930’s it would be much harder for a child to hear about events the way we do today. Gaining maturity at a young age can either work out to be a positive influence in a child’s life or, it can be detrimental to them.
To conclude, jem shows that she is maturing throughout the whole book. She shows this because of her father atticus. Atticus her father raises him and scout in a way that helps them develop maturity. Atticus is like his role model same goes for scout.
In the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout was five years old and knew of no evils in the world. She was young and just wanted to play outside and read with her father Atticus. Scout knew of things from Atticus but she didn’t quite understand them. An example of this is when her father Atticus, took a court case for a colored man. The town of Maycomb highly disapproved of this simply because the man was colored. With this disapproval came hate toward the Finch family. Scout gets in a fight with Cecil Jacobs; a boy from school; because he said mean things about Atticus, “He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended n-“(Lee 99). Neither Scout nor Cecil had any idea what these things meant but they both thought they did just to act grown. Atticus proceeds to make sure Scout understands what is going on even at such a young age. He tells her why he is defending the man even though the town is against it, “…’ The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again’ “(Lee 100). What Atticus tells Scout actually begins to mature her and she stops fighting and getting so upset about what people say about Atticus because, Scout knows Atticus is doing the right th...
Jem becomes more mature and is more conscious of his actions. He still hasn’t matured completely but as the days go by he keeps improving and turning into a man. The way Jem reacts at the trial is a great sign that he is maturing. Scout still has a while until she turns into a responsible young women, but one way she shows she is maturing is at the end of the book when she “He had given us so much, and we gave him nothing, and it made me sad.” That’s when she realized Boo wasn’t a phantasy. She had a point knowing that Boo had put the stuff in the tree and they didn’t give him anything
One of Scout’s first lessons is the ability to restrain. Scout is constantly getting into fights and “rubbing people’s faces in the dirt.” Cecil Jacobs catches her in the schoolyard and begins to make fun of her father and his help to a black man in court. Scout beats him up and then later tells Atticus what happened. Her father tells her, “You just hold your head high and keep your fists down” (76). Atticus introduces the first idea of becoming a more civilized lady even i...
Power is a highly perceptional term. It can be defined as a measurement of significance, strength over another, and anything in between. Three common factors of power are race, class, and gender. Race measures power in terms of skin color. Class measures power in terms of social status and wealth. Gender measures power in terms of being male or female. Power is a notable topic in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, as it drives the trial of Tom Robinson, one of the salient piece of the story, along with the system of actions in Maycomb County, a small town in Alabama. The climax of the story is an unfair trial between an African American, Tom Robinson, defended by Atticus Finch, and a white family, the Ewells. Alleged rape of Mayella Ewell by Tom Robinson is the subject of the case. Here, Mayella stands superior to Tom as she is white opposed to his colored skin; however, she is