McCleese 1
Emily McCleese
Mrs. Ingles
Honors English 11
26 March 2018
Courageous People Perfect is what everyone strives to become. The thought of being perfect is no mistakes, nothing to worry about, and having everyone envy you. Although most people try, it is impossible to be a perfect person. Some examples of almost “Christ-like” humans are Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), and a fictional character- Atticus Finch. Considering Atticus Finch was an ordinary man, he was courageous for doing what needed to be done, and can also be compared to historical figures who stood up for others when they could not stand up for themselves.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United States. He was the president
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Therefor Lincoln compares to Atticus and the traits Atticus exhibits because he knew that what was happening was wrong and wanted to stop it. The slaves being treated as they were was wrong, just like in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus stands up for Tom Robinson because Atticus believes Tom is innocent. Tom was accused of raping and beating Mayella Ewell. If a black man is accused of anything against a white woman in a town like Maycomb, the man is always guilty. Atticus stands up for Tom just like Lincoln stood up for the slaves.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
Franklin D. Roosevelt, or FDR, was the President of the United States during the 1930’s. During the 1930’s was when the Great Depression, and World War II was going on. The events happening at this time was the Holocaust. During the time the citizens of the United States did not realize what Roosevelt was trying to do for the Jews. “Newly uncovered documents reveal that President Franklin D. Roosevelt worked quietly in the late 1930s to find havens for European Jews, contradicting the view that he ignored their plight in the years leading up to the Holocaust.” (Andrea, 1). Even though Roosevelt worked quietly to help the Jews, he still tried to help them, and just because nobody knew about it at the time does not mean
How are the characters of Atticus and Jack alike and how are they different? Choose at least two traits to compare them.
FDR and the Holocaust by Verne W. Newton provides a basis for scholarly discourse for the Hyde Park Conference of 1993. The book includes essays, articles, and chapters from different scholars specializing in the Holocaust and Roosevelt in which they examine FDR’s response to the Holocaust. The first chapter of the book is a summary of the participants’ remarks of the “Policies and Responses of the American Government towards the Holocaust,” which was prepared by rapporteur J. Garry Clifford. The objective of the conference was to determine through discussion whether or not the controversy over the Roosevelt administration’s response to the Holocaust was correct. Following this chapter, the first section of the book is filled with essays, articles, and chapters submitted by participants at the conference. The second section of the book includes papers by historians who were not participants at the conference, but whose contributions are relevant to the issues discussed. The articles written by the scholars throughout the book look at the policies between 1933 and 1942, addressing the critiques of FDR and his failure to stop the genocide of the Jewish community in Germany. The overall book not only looks at the rescue efforts during the war and the possibilities for future research and analysis, but also supplies a definitive resource for a pivotal time in United States history.
Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published in the year of 1960, and is one of the few American classic novels awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The racism that is prevalent in many southern American towns in the 1930s is brought to life with profound imagery in To Kill a Mockingbird. There are several characters in the book, yet the true main character is the narrator's father, Atticus Finch. He is a man of great integrity and intelligence. A very heroic figure in more ways than one, Atticus possesses traits like being principled, determined, and, more importantly, he teaches others. When looking at To Kill a Mockingbird, one can see that Lee uses lots of description, dialogue, and actions to portray Atticus as a heroic individual.
During a time when black people were thought to be lower than white people, Atticus defended a black man in court. He said to his children, "I'm simply defending a Negrohis name's Tom Robinson," (pg. 75). It required a lot of confidence and caring for Atticus to defend Tom, and the black community knew that Tom did not stand a chance without Atticus' help. They respected him and looked to him as a hero. They showed this when they stood up for him in the courtroom. Reverend Sykes said to Scout in the courtroom, "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin," (pg. 211). The entire group of black people who were there stood up for him. Also, the parishioners at Calpurnia's church made Jem and Scout feel welcome when they visited their church. This showed that the black people also respected Atticus' family. If Atticus were just trying his best in a difficult circumstance, then he would not be as respected as he was by the black community. The black people greatly acknowledged the qualities that Atticus displayed by defending Tom and looked to him as a hero because of these qualities.
When people think about heros it is a person in a cape flying into burning buildings to save people or fighting a villain to save the world. According to Oxford Dictionary a hero is a person who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. This shows how just normal people can be qualified as heros. A book that exemplifies this is To Kill A Mockingbird because it is filled with people that went out of their way to help others or the society as a whole. A person who did this in particular was Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch was a hero because he fell under the definition and was admired for his courage, achievements, and noble qualities.
Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird possesses all of those qualities. It’s important for a character to have flaws so that the reader can connect with him and so that the character seems realistic. A great character also has restraint and knows not to boast. Humility is important in building a lovable character. Lastly, a great character is one who changes the lives of everyone who hears his wise words. Sophocles, author of Antigone, once wrote that “all men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is
Atticus Finch is a lawyer in the town of Maycomb In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, he is a father of two children, Jem and Scout Finch. He is a man of wise character and considerate soul. He knows his morals and tries to help his children grow up to be successful and happy. Throughout the novel, Atticus acts justly, loves tenderly, and walks humbly by the way he perceives the people in his life, how he succeeds in his job and treats his family.
Atticus shows great compassion and tolerance when he stands up for the Negroes. He stands up and represents Tom Robinson because he believes that everyone should be treated equally in the court of law. He knows that because Tom was a Negro there would be a slim chance of winning. That fact never discouraged him though because he says that the main reason he is representing Tom is because, ' if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature'; (75). He recited a speech, which clearly states that Tom Robinson is not guilty. In that speech he says, 'our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal'; (205). He believed that prejudice and stereotyping is wrong and he tries to teach these morals to Scout and Jem.
Atticus did what no other person would do in Maycomb, he defended a negro man in court. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Atticus is a lawyer that has to defend Tom Robinson because Tom was accused of raping a white lady. Others in Maycomb don’t agree with Atticus because he took a black man’s words over a white woman’s word. Atticus is a man of morals with integrity, so he did the right thing and took Tom Robinson’s side. It makes sense for Atticus to take a stand to defend Tom Robinson because he follows his morals and the golden rule.
It is a common question as to why Atticus Finch would defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. What sense did it make, to stand by a negro like him? The Golden Rule Atticus lives by and the kind of person he is may have something to do with it, as well as the influence of his two kids, Jem and Scout. Now, after reading the whole text of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus defending Tom makes perfect sense.
Lois McMaster Bujold once said, “Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself. Atticus Finch a heroic figure in the novel To Kill a MockingBird by Harper Lee is known as a white lawyer who defended a “black” man accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a disturbing man, Bob Ewell. Atticus knows his reputation is at risk, when he decides to take a black man’s court case. He is appointed to this case because Mayella Ewell blamed an innocent black man, Tom Robinson of raping and beating her. She fails to admit the truth due to obeying her father. In the 1930’s racism was extremely crucial and no matter what the truth was a white person was most likely believed over an African American. Miss Maudie, The Finches neighbor tells the kids, “There are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father’s one of them” (Lee 219). Atticus Finch is highly respected and someone everyone can look up too in Maycomb, Alabama. Throughout the novel, Atticus presents himself as calm, courageous, and an open-minded person.
In the novel, Atticus defends a colored individual in a racist and sexist society. He willingly accepts the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson; a man accused of raping and abusing a white woman named, Mayella Ewell. Atticus accepts the label ‘nigger lover’ and takes the case knowing he is going to lose no matter how hard he tries to succeed. His simple objective is that he could stand in front of Jem and Scout with dignity and be a good role model. Atticus says ‘I wanted you to see what real courage is...You rarely win, but sometimes you do.’ (pg. 149) By saying this he means that it’s not always about winning something, losing can also be beneficial. In this situation Atticus also shows how he takes a road many others wouldn't have taken: everyone else would want to hear that he or she has won the case instead of losing in front of the jury and all who came to see. Living in the racist and prejudice society of Maycomb, Atticus knows people will believe a white person over a black person because...
True role models are those who possess the qualities that we would want to have in the near future and those who interest us in a way that make us want to be a better person. They teach us more about ourselves and encourage us to make better choices. A role model is not just someone who is successful, but someone who has had similar experiences that we have had. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates that Atticus Finch is a true role model. Over the course of the novel, Atticus stands up for his beliefs, respects everyone despite who they are and behaves as a true father. Atticus is truly the ideal role model.
America during the years of war had many ideas float around of what to do and how to fix the issue present. But, not much action was effectively taken. The American Jewish Leaders Meeting with President Roosevelt on December 8, 1942 discussed political ideas given to President Roosevelt and his hesitation on taking action. During this meeting, several American Jewish representatives met with Roosevelt and told him the idea of the War Refugee Board. The War Refugee Board’s goal was to aid civilian victims of the Nazis and restrict the Nazi’s actions. Yes this board did save thousands of Jews ,but, it took President Roosevelt almost three years to establish this board even though he knew about the killings occurring. If Roosevelt took action just a little bit early, thousands of more lives could have been spared. This fact truly represents America’s hesitation as a whole by showing that even the President, an extremely powerful person, was uncertain on taking action. Continuing with this point, there were many bills that were presented during the time of war but congress rejected them which ended up hurting many Jews. For example, the Wagner-Rogers bill was created to take in 20,000 endangered Jewish children. The senate did not support this bill which could have saved thousands of Jewish children. Overall, both Roosevelt and America in general were very hesitant in doing anything
The Holocaust was the biggest genocide of people in history. Though when it happened why didn’t anyone try to stop the massacres of the Jewish people. Even though Hitler wanted to conceal what was happening in the concentration camps it still got out. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had received information frequently on the camps. However, he was more focused on the long-term goal of defeating Nazi Germany and also bringing the United States out of the Great Depression. Roosevelt was criticized for not taking appropriate action and was even criticized prior to the war on the refugee issue. F.D.R. signed the bill for the War Refugee Board to go and rescue refugees after he was pressured by the American people. Though he did state later on that