How Does Atticus Change In To Kill A Mockingbird

Society can often be wrong, many problems exist such as prejudice and discrimination. As a whole, it is hard to change, though, some can begin to try and advance from these problems. Harper Lee’s book shows how a small community is impacted by the death of an innocent, though convicted, black man. As the story is laid out, we can see how the majority of Maycomb remains unchanged by the trial, though, some characters began to show compassion for those affected by Tom’s death. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates through the characterization of Atticus that a close-minded society often needs a brave individual to challenge their prejudice so they can begin to tolerate and help the other group in small ways. At the beginning

They quickly befriend him and tell him about everything they know about Maycomb. That brings up one of Scout’s stories that she begins to tell. For a few weeks, people would find their chickens or household pets hurt from the night before. Nobody knew who it was, but most of them of them suspected Boo Radley, a mysterious and isolated man. Though the culprit turned out to be Crazy Addie, “people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.” (10) This shows how the people of Maycomb are unwilling to change their perceptions of events and other people, and how they’re very dependent on their superstitions- therefore leading to the conclusion that they are a close minded society. Summer ends, and Scout begins attending school. She has a new teacher who isn’t familiar to the county, and she gives a quarter to Walter Cunningham to buy lunch, but Walter refuses to take it. When the teacher doesn’t

Tom Robinson was a black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white girl. Because of Atticus being Tom’s lawyer, Scout and Jem receive nasty comments about their dad from the rest of the town. Soon, Scout begins to question what these people mean, and asks Atticus why he’s taking the case. Atticus replies that he feels the need to defend Tom because, “before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” (105) Because he is going against what everyone else thinks and standing up for his decision to defend the black man, this shows how Atticus is brave, since he is standing up for Tom’s justice by himself against the rest of Maycomb. Later in the story, Atticus places himself outside of Tom’s cell to protect him from the townsmen against him. He knows that when the men shows up they will attempt to kill Tom, but he keeps his ground. He is aware that he may also be a target, though, “He put the newspaper down very carefully, adjusting its creases with lingering fingers. They were trembling a little.” (152) By indicating that his fingers were trembling, Lee shows that Atticus was indeed terrified about facing the mob- though, because he stood up to them, Atticus is proven to be brave. The case continues, and Tom Robinson is convicted