For my third and final piece of evidence, Atticus is talking to uncle Jack about Jem and Scout. “You know what’s going to happen as well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town. ”(117) In this quote Atticus explains how he hopes that Jem and Scout don’t become racists like most of the people in Maycomb hence the phrase “Maycomb’s disease.”
In society, there are always those who are innocent and kind-hearted, but are, sadly, victimized and destroyed by the evil in others’ hearts. In her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee explores the idea of persecution and prejudice against innocents using the motif of the harmless mockingbird, a symbol first coined by Atticus; his famous quote, “shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ʼem, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”, is a warning to never do wrong against respectable people. Using the stories of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, Harper Lee highlights the negative treatment “mockingbirds” receive from society and the severity of the discrimination that vulnerable members of society face on a daily basis, and comments
In this novel, there are some parts that show racism. Atticus is the best lawyer in Maycomb. In chapter 9, he started to defends Tom Robinson. All the people in Maycomb disagree about defending Tom, Negro men. However, he believes Tom Robinson and Atticus work hard to defend him.
This also shows how strong of a moral character he has. Atticus always tried to follow the Golden Rule by treating everyone how they want to be treated. Atticus states, “If spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that's something I'll gladly take” (218). This shows how compassionate Atticus was to everyone he had met because he cared about them. The text also states, “ You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (39).
When Atticus was selected to defend Tom Robinson, he decided to give him a full defence instead of giving him a half-hearted one. When the whole town starts to stir that he’s defending a negro, all Atticus is thinking is “I’m simply defending a Negro -- [] they’re clean-living folks”(100). Atticus is showing that he believes all people are equal and deserve a fair trial; and even though the rest of the town can be harsh towards his views he sticks to them because that’s what he believes is right. This concept is also reflected onto his children, when
Atticus’ courage is shown in multiple ways through his court actions and his stand against racial discrimination. For instance, as a lawyer, Atticus defends the innocent, despite controversial thoughts of others, this is proven true in the Tom Robinson court case. During this discriminative period, most African Americans brought to court for an accused crime were deemed guilty, despite the clear evidence that proved their innocence. When Jem thought Atticus’ defense of Tom will bring Tom to justice, Reverend Sykes said: “I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man”(Lee 279). This proves Atticus’ courage because he chose to fight for a colored man to prove that he is not guilty of an alleged crime, despite knowing the usual outcome of the case and the disapproval he will receive from others.
Atticus is an idealist and knows what is right and what is wrong. Atticus shows the importance of compassion and doing the right thing. “Atticus insists the truth about what occured at the Ewell house will be heard in court. This further illustrates his integrity” (Text
Atticus receives a threat and gets spit on by Bob Ewell and he does not do anything back to Bob. A while after this incident Atticus tells his children that he took the insult from Bob Ewell to potentially save Mayella a beating from her father Bob Ewell. Since Atticus reveals Bob Ewell's behavior toward Mayella in the court. Atticus feels sympathy towards Mayella and tries to avoid another incident where her father is beating her up. This proves that empathy is one of the characteristics of Atticus.
It is at this moment that Jem and Scout realize that as much as they want the world to be fair, it is never going to be in favor of them. The morals in Maycomb, no matter how unfair and biased they may be, will not change as the racism and prejudice present in the novel have been in Maycomb for as long as the people living there can remember. This incident is another example of a lesson learned for both Jem and Scout as they see that life is not always perfect, but they have to make out of it what they
Atticus tries to explain to Jem that white men are overpowering black men. Atticus believes that the color of one’s skin gets into a white man’s mind and makes him go crazy. Atticus explains that they want to keep their heads and not judge one another by what is on the outside. Maycomb, Alabama is in the south, where there were a lot more occurrences of racism. A couple of years before 1934, during the 1910’s and 1920’s, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) formed.
Additionally, Atticus deserves to stand up for him because he’s always standing up for people even if they criticize him, and Atticus was appointed to stand up for him, so there’s no reason for Atticus to say no to defend an innocent person. Conclusion: Claim:It is clear that Atticus’ decision to take a stand makes sense. Thesis:He wanted to give Tom the voice he deserves.
Atticus may have lost the case but he made a small step. All of Maycomb will not change in a day, but Atticus got the ball rolling to make that change. Atticus shows ambition throughout the book when he stands up for Tom Robinson and battles his case out to the very end. He is ambitious because he never gives up even when he knows the outcome.
Atticus fears that "There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (Page 224) Atticus confirmed that Maycomb won’t have a just system due to white men’s words to black men. This would only make Maycomb welcoming to white people and unwelcoming for black people. Maycomb is unwelcoming and unjust for the prejudice view for black
He knows they can not just go through life not knowing what 's going on throughout the town. Atticus is not just a normal white male in Maycomb Alabama. He see people for what 's in the inside and not just the outside. The color of your skin does not matter to Atticus. Atticus is a kind hearted man and has strong morals.
Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.