Parenting Advice in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

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Atticus states in the book To Kill a Mockingbird that “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.”(30) There is a meaning and reason behind everything Atticus states to the kids, but this is among one of the most important quotes, mostly towards Scout. What is his meaning and why will this help them? Why offer this to the kids why tell them a riddle, well it is simple. He continues to offer this advice to the kids whether they decide to followed or just simply disregarded what their father has stated quite simply for them. Why is this advice so important to them, how do they follow, or not follow? There are more times Scout and Jem simply disregard Atticus’s statement during the book and judge people wrongly. Such as when Scout judges Walter Cunningham Jr., as he is eating dinner he covers his food in syrup and she makes fun of him. Why does she do this? Well she does this because it is different than how she eats, so she simply did not “climb into his skin” as her father advised. This is one of many times she does this, she just simply does not comprehend that not everyone is not the same as Atticus, Calpurnia, Jem or her. She is not quite yet able to understand that all people are different instead of all being like her and her family. The time that Scout finally understands what Atticus has been saying is far later in the book and it takes Boo Radley to make her finally understand Atticus’s meaning behind what he has said. She says this as she is standing on the Radley’s porch “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” (279) That night Scout finally understood an important lesson that her father said to her all those times. She felt what Boo had been feeling for all those years, she caught a glimpse of the way Boo had been living like for all those years just by standing on that porch, just by simply saying good night to him. She finally understood that not everyone is the same and that you have to see things their way for you to understand their feelings.

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