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Atticus Innocence Quotes

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In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus is the “mockingbird” of the story in that he is “killed” when other people are against his harmless “singing”. This is so because he innocently read with Scout at night against Miss Caroline’s will, he clearly had the upper side of evidence in the Tom Robinson trial yet still lost, and he persisted Aunt Alexandra’s blatant request of firing Calpurnia in order for her to be the housekeeper. All three of these reasons help to prove that he indeed took on such a role in the plot. One example in the book of Atticus being the “mockingbird” was when he agreed to read with Scout at night after she was not allowed to know how to in school, as she was a few years ahead of the learning curve and of grief to her teacher Miss Caroline. Upon making this agreement, Atticus told Scout that she must not let news about slip through to her teacher, which is portrayed in the following quote: “I never went to school… but I have a feeling that if you tell Miss Caroline we read every night she’ll get after me, and I wouldn’t want her after me.” (42) Atticus knows that he is actually only doing good by reading with Scout, but he also bears to keep in mind that Miss Caroline is extremely ignorant in a time and place where many people were. Therefore, Scout talking about being more literate than any of the other students would not be taken lightly, and her learning would be prevented even more by her teacher. Atticus was just playing his part by being

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