“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (33). In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Nelle Harper Lee, Atticus demonstrates how to be an exemplary role model by treating others with respect, even if they may have differing opinions from himself. The main plot of the book is that Atticus, a lawyer, is defending a black man who is falsely accused of raping another woman. This defense goes against the long-standing standard of white supremacy inside Maycomb, and even if Atticus is unsuccessful with his court case, it demonstrates his willingness to show empathy toward others who are disliked or are unaccepted by society. There are several instances …show more content…
Dubose belittled Atticus’ name in front of his children, they felt offended by her words and became very angry with the old woman. Yet, even if her slurs were directed at his name, Atticus held his tongue and displayed empathy for Mrs. Dubose. After Jim became fed up with Mrs. Dubose’s statements, he took the baton that he had just bought for Scout, then proceeded to destroy the flower buds off all of Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes. Jem is punished for this rash behavior by reading to Mrs. Dubose every night to compensate for the destruction of her flowers. Jem attempted to plead with Atticus about this punishment being unfair; however, Atticus still chose to side with Mrs. Dubose, even after she ridiculed his name in such unjust ways. This displayed his sympathy toward the old woman, who was suffering from morphine withdrawal and didn't have much longer to live. This event displayed Atticus’ willingness to respect others, even if their beliefs directly contradict his own. He knew of Mrs. Dubose’s struggle to rescind herself from her morphine addiction and also wished to teach Jem and Scout the importance of understanding others. This issue gave Atticus the perfect opportunity to distract Mrs. Dubose from her detoxification through the children’s reading, a task that they may have disliked at the
Atticus Finch Atticus Finch is a very essential character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. He is not only the father on Jem and Scout, but he is also defending Tom Robinson. Along with all of the obstacles and challenges that Atticus faces he is still an exceptional role model for the children. He also overcomes the diversity of Negroes and whites that is displayed during his time by standing up and fighting for Tom Robinson and his triumph in court against Bob Ewell.
To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on “Maycomb’s usual disease,” as a pivotal part of the book, but also shows that compassion and wisdom can exist in these most bleak areas. The prejudice and bigotry comes from the lack of knowledge of Maycomb, and their fear to change what they have grown up with. Pre-conceived ideas are the main reason that Maycomb is ignorant of black people as they are afraid what a change of those pre-conceived ideas will bring. Even so, compassion still exists, as Atticus is able to save Scout and Jem from the influence of ‘Maycomb’s usual disease.’ Wisdom is also embodied by Atticus, where his wisdom, which is not necessarily knowledge but life experience, is able to force him to do things which are right, shown in his reluctant shooting of the rabid dog.
Mrs. Dubose is a bitter, old lady that is extremely rude to Scout and Jem, yelling dirty thing at them everytime they pass by her house. Jem hatred for that woman was so short, that one day he grabbed Scout’s baton and lost his temper, Scout explains that “He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned…” (137). As a punishment for his sudden outrage, Mrs. Dubose asks that he read for her everyday and they learn things about her along the way. They described that “...From time to time she would open her mouth wide...cords of saliva would collect at her lips...Her mouth seemed to have private existence of its own” (143). Later on in the chapter, Atticus reveals that she was a morphine addict
In chapter 11, Mrs. Dubose says some hateful words about Atticus, which leads Jem to smash her flowers. As a punishment, Jem had to read to her every day after school for two hours. A conversation between Atticus and Jem shows how he felt about her in the beginning, “Did she frighten you?” Said Atticus.
Atticus was a man of strong morals and conscience and in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, had to overcome the backlash and hate from defending Tom Robinson. With what seemed to be the majority of Maycomb County against him and his own safety at stake, Atticus knew that he couldn’t win the trial. Yet accompanied by his rationality, good ethics and determination he overcomes the trial. It is not the desired ending, but for his efforts in the trial, Atticus gains the respect of the black community and the respect of others in Maycomb by following through and overcoming the challenges that followed the
Atticus Finch is a heroic character in To Kill A Mockingbird. A hero is a person who is known for certain achievements and qualities. Atticus is known for many qualities he displayed during the novel, as well as various achievements. This makes him a heroic character. Atticus Finch is a hero because he defended a black man in court, proved his abilities and intelligences, and cared for everybody equally.
In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, we are introduced to the character Atticus. He is a hard working single parent of two who is kindhearted and does what he believes is right and treats everyone equally. Being such a hard worker, his mind is often on work, even at home, which means less time spent with his children. While Atticus may make some mistakes as a parent, overall he is an admirable father.
When talking to his daughter, Scout, Atticus Finch says: “ ‘The only thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience’ ” (Lee 140). This quote signifies Atticus’s strong belief in morality and righteousness that is so apparent in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch is an inspirational role model that exhibits the qualities of courage, respect, and selflessness. He charms the reader with his stunning wit and great emotional depth of character. Atticus is not discriminatory toward any race and shows mercy to all those in Maycomb who are treated unfairly, even at the expense of his own personal reputation. Atticus’s intuition and empathy is extremely important in this
Mrs. Dubose is rude to the children and she expresses her dismay for Atticus defending Tom Robinson. When Jem responds by destroying her flowers, Atticus punishes him by making him read to Mrs. Dubose every day for a period of time. Jem must abide by Atticus’s instruction and be civil to the old lady. By learning self-control, Jem took a giant step towards becoming an adult. He also discovers that Mrs. Dubose is a woman of extreme courage, and he eventually comes to respect her brave battle with her morphine addiction.
Many characters in to Kill a Mocking Bird experience racial prejudice whether it be directly or indirectly. This novel is about a sleepy southern town filled with discrimination, and a lawyer determined to step away from the racial prejudice and teach his children, Jem and Scout, to see everyone as equals. In Maycomb, Atticus was known as a man who was “the same in his house as he is on the public streets.” (47) That was the standard he lived by. He did not have one set of morals for business and one for
you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it' "(Lee 30). In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus was one of the few people in Maycomb County who understood this concept. Not only did he take this into consideration, but applied it to his life. Atticus risked his life to defend Tom Robinson, a colored man, in court for a rape case. Atticus felt that Tom was being segregated, but Atticus knew he was innocent. Unfortunately, Atticus's children, Jem and Scout, didn't inherit his trait of equality. Just like the rest of the town, Jem and Scout mistaken Boo Radley. Many believe he was
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee suggests that Atticus is a model parent. Atticus gives guidance to Jem and Scout, and he treats them with fairness and honesty. He tries to bring them up as best he can as a single parent.
The first “mockingbird” that is featured in the novel is a man named Atticus Finch. Not only is Atticus Finch the sole representative of Maycomb in the legislature, but also he is a brilliant lawyer. In addition, he has a good reputation in both Maycomb’s black and white communities because of his exceptional character. However, his reputation is soon shattered when he is faced with a case in court that affects him personally: he must defend an African American man in court in Maycomb’s segregated society. If Atticus chooses to try defending the man, he will lose his good status in town, since his racist American neighbors will soon disrespect him for treating the African Americans as equal to the Americans, which is highly unacceptable in the United States during the 1930s. However, Atticus still accepted the case believing that if he does not, he w...
Lee writes about the importance of acceptance in a society corrupted by prejudice. This discrimination is purely based on appearance. The foundation of society was flawed, as it was dependent on the segregation of black and white citizens. However there are people who comprehend this problem that stand out from the crowd. Atticus was dedicated to delivering justice to Tom Robinson, regardless of the fact that he lost the trial. Finch, Tom and Boo Radley were all judged by the majority of Maycomb for their choices; however none of these people have done wrong. They believed discrimination was wrong. Lee used symbolism of the mockingbird to highlight this fact; as Finch said: “shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. These characters stand against society’s flow because they understand the importance of accepting others differences. Skin does not reflect the content of character; it was unfair to judge others. “You never really understand someone until you consider things from his point of view… Until you
“You never really understood a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around it.” Atticus Finch is a man of extreme integrity. He, as both a lawyer and a human being, stands up for his democratic beliefs and encourages his children to stand up for their own, though they may stand alone. Harper Lee showed how far respect went in To Kill a Mockingbird when Atticus defended Tom Robinson in his rape trial. He did not think twice about being ridiculed by th...