To Kill A Mockingbird Argumentative Essay Argument

To Kill A Mockingbird Argumentative Essay
“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” The book To Kill A Mockingbird by the author Harper Lee is about a tired little town in Alabama called Maycomb set back in the 1930’s. Atticus, father of Jem and Scout is the same man on the street and at his house. He is very respectful and honest. Atticus gets appointed to defend Tom Robinson, an African American man who was accused by Bob Ewell for raping his daughter, Mayella. Even though there are several pieces of evidence that show Tom is innocent, Atticus knows he will not win, but that is no reason for him not to try. It makes sense for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson because he believes

For instance, Atticus and Scout are having a conversation about people calling him a Negro lover, Scout asks, “...what exactly is a Negro-lover…”, Atticus answers, “Has somebody been calling you that?”, Scout replies, “No sir, Mrs. Dubose calls you that. She warms up every afternoon calling you that. Francis called me that...”, Atticus asks, “is that the reason you jumped on him...yes sir…”, (Lee, l44). This supports the counterclaim because it shows that Mrs. Dubose calls Atticus names and Francis called Scout a bad name. This obviously is causing problems. However, that does not mean Atticus should not defend Tom. He doesn’t want to set a bad example for his kids and that is the reason why he has to do it. For example, on page 149, Atticus talks about Mrs. Dubose, and says, “I wanted you 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, you rarely win, but sometimes you do.”, (Lee).This supports my statement because Atticus wanted to set a good example for Jem and Scout. Mrs. Dubose was dying and she knew she was but instead of carrying out her addiction for morphine she quit. It was painful for her, but she still did it. She was not addicted to morphine when she died. This can be related to Atticus because even though he knew he was not going to win the case he still tried very hard, even though there will be consequences when Atticus defends Tom. Although, Atticus wants to do whatever he can to show Jem and Scout what real courage is. So therefore it makes a lot of sense for Atticus to defend Tom