One of the things Scout learns throughout To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, notably in the scene when Atticus teaches Scout a lesson after coming back from school, is that you have to think about perspective before you judge a situation. Scout had come back begging Atticus not to send her back to school. Atticus replies, “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.” (39) Scout learns to stop and think about what the other person’s side of the story is. She realizes that Miss Caroline was new to Maycomb and couldn’t learn everything in just one day. This lesson enables her to resolve her issues and compromise with reality instead of using force,
A town in itself has a personality like that of a living being. Its personality is a result of its past experiences, its occupants, and surrounding influences. These forces combine and act in a complicated way to move a city, like an organism, through growth and change. Significant forces such as the great depression influence attitudes, such as racism, toward others as individuals compete to survive. In To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, the daughter of a lawyer by the name of Atticus Finch, tells the story of growing up in the small southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. Through her eyes, the reader discovers many of the struggles of the period faced by its inhabitants and resembled
In the first part of the book Scout returns home complaining about her new teacher, Miss Caroline, not knowing how to act in Maycomb and getting in trouble with her. Learning Miss Caroline recently moved to Maycomb trying but struggling to adjust to Maycomb, Atticus tells her, “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”(39) It's an important and occurring quote showing what Atticus sees of people. It also connects to the real life, since there are many times in life a person did not understand what the other feels from their perspective which stirs trouble in the future. The book continues telling the reader this specific quote is barely applied by the town’s citizens showing the result as an huge problem still never fully learned from.
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
To Kill a Mockingbird Essay From the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird to the end, Scout (Jean Louise Finch) changes a great amount. Throughout the book there were many people who had an impact on Scout’s learning and the changes she has made. One of the many people to have an effect on Scout’s learning in the book was her father Atticus. An important thing Atticus teaches Scout is tolerance.
In "To Kill A Mockingbird," Atticus, the father of Jem and Jean, has taken the position of giving Jem and Jean valuable lessons, whether what they are in. One of those lessons, was Jem being a gentleman; Jem was taught by him by promptly going to Mrs. Dubose's house and read for a month - after wrecking her garden -, she had met her demise with little to no agony from her morphine addiction, because of Jem; he went to her house and read to her, that consequently had her head assuage of doing morphine. When Atticus announced him that she was deceased minutes ago, he said that "she was a great lady," and he was perplexed about why he called her a great lady after the slander he received. Anything else than the main idea, the main theme was
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, there are many different lessons to be learned. The primary theme conveyed in To Kill a Mockingbird is courage. Lee wanted the reader to know that it is important to always be courageous and to stand up for what you believe in not matter what anyone else thinks. I believe Atticus was the courageous character in this book. He himself was a courageous man and he taught others how to be courageous as well. The overall message of the book is to be courageous and not to let anyone or anything stand in the way. Lee conveys the message by using character development and conflict.
Wisdom is the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, there is one character who shows a tremendous amount of wisdom. Atticus shows his wisdom throughout the story by teaching Scout how to be young wise girl and teaching her how to read and write. Shows Jem how to be wise and knowledgeable , and shows it in the defending of Tom Robinson.
Rickey Williams says, “I don’t think people change. I think the essence of what I am today is the same as when I was five years old. It’s just maturity.” (Ricky, Williams). In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the characters face many challenges in their society and experience lessons that made them different, than from the beginning of the book. Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem, is a lawyer in Maycomb County during the 1930’s. Atticus is given a special case where he has to defend a black man, which creates many problems for him and his family against their town, dealing with racism. In the novel Atticus, Scout, and Jem are all wise people that symbolize a mockingbird.
One of the more famous lessons Scout learns is about empathy. Empathy allows you to understand one's actions, though you may not agree with them. Scouts teacher is Miss. Caroline, she is a young naive teacher from Winston County who had a lose grasp on John Dewey's philosophy. Without the knowledge one gets from living in town for years, on her first day she embarsses herself and punishes Scout for reasons unknown to her. When Scout goes home she tells Atticus what happens, Atticus tells Scout, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”(33)
Atticus Finch is a bad parent due to his ignorant nature. First and foremost, Atticus is ignorant because he doesn’t teach his children how to respect authority. Atticus is telling Jem and Scout that they need to behave more like the Finches. He tells them, that they need to be ladies and gentlemen. Scout asks, “Atticus, is all this behavin’ an’ stuff gonna make things different?” It is disrespectful for children to call adults by their first names. Scout and Jem calling Atticus by his first name creates a mindset that they can address adults in an informal manner, which most would view as disrespectful. This shows that Atticus is ignorant, because his children have not been taught to respect their elders. In addition, Atticus is ignorant because he is inconsiderate of others.
One way the main character, Scout, learns that before they judge someone they need to walk in that person’s shoes and understand them is through her first grade teacher. In the beginning of the book, Scout was starting school, she was going into first grade and she had a new teacher named Miss Caroline. Miss Caroline wasn't from Maycomb, she was from Winston
Atticus taught Scout a very important lesson after hearing her depressing experience on her first day of school: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around it” (39). This book focus on how a person’s perspective determines the way they judge other people. Although Maycomb is a nice town, people in this town have the tendency to put a label on each other. Atticus lives by his principle to ignore the looks and view people by their true intention, he gives people respect first. This line impacted and influenced Scott, so much so that at the end of the story she is able to view others through a different lens. This line shows the theme of courage because
What are three qualities every person should have? Empathy, tolerance, and courage. From a young age, Scout and Jem Finch were able to display these qualities better than most adults in their hometown due to their father’s lessons. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee displays the story about an innocent man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of Rape. Atticus Finch takes the case to defend him and goes out of his way to win. During the time of the case, his children Scout and Jem learn a lot of valuable lessons as they grow up. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus teaches his children to show empathy, tolerance and courage through the example he sets.
When Jean Louise “Scout” Finch returns home to Maycomb County Alabama, she never expected the mindset of the people in her hometown to change. Maycomb would become more advanced and modern, but the views of the people she loved and grew up with, never would. “Until comparatively recently in its history, Maycomb County was so cut off from the rest of the nation that some of its citizens, unaware of the South’s political predilections over the past ninety years, still voted Republican.” (Lee 7). Since Maycomb is so distant from the awareness of certain historical events taking place in the mid 1950s, Scout does not expect to find a change in people’s mind relating to civil rights. When Scout first arrives home and sees people like Atticus, Aunt
After Scout returns home from her first day of school, Atticus notices her sulking behavior. She confides in him that Miss Caroline punished her for explaining the Cunningham’s poor financial situation. Yet, due to the fact that Miss Caroline was new and unfamiliar to the townspeople, she only became confused and frustrated by Scout’s explanation. Atticus explains that “…They could not expect her to learn all Maycomb’s ways in one day, and we could not hold her responsible when she knew no better” (Lee 40). Miss Caroline’s ignorance compared to Scout’s knowledge demonstrates how what may come easy to some is actually harder to come by for others. Thus, it’s not fair to expect one to know something nobody had ever taught them. Instead, the use