How Is Atticus Finch Wrong In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell is powerful and gains power as the story goes on. Mayella Ewell is a poor white woman who lives in a dump, her mom left her family when she was young. Mayella has stepped into the mother role in her family. In the story Mayella is abused mentally and physically by her father Bob Ewell. Mayella Ewell is a woman no one wants to associate with, she is white so on African-American man will talk to her and she is poor so no white man will. Characters that are a higher class are treated with more respect especially if they are a white male. In Maycomb it is very segregated and many characters are placed into harsh stereotypes.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, prejudice is a problem clearly evident in Maycomb. The novel not only focuses on black and white but other forms of prejudice such as racial injustice and class. Making opinions about someone or something not based on reason or experience has been a problem since 1930s and still is today. Prejudice causes society to overlook innocence and make judgments. Because of Maycomb society's prejudice, two characters in the novel are judged guilty despite their innocence.

In this key passage, Atticus is giving his final speech of the Tom Robinson case. This is a key passage because it ties together the main conflict of the story, as well as the central assertion. From this speech, it is evident that Atticus Finch believes all human beings should be given an equal chance, and this passage is his attempt to convince the jury of his viewpoint. While this central assertion is easy to conceptualise and perceive today, it was unheard of and near impossible for black to be treated equally as whites, and this is seen through their final decision to convict Tom Robinson. In addition, the passage reveals much about Atticus’s character, his viewpoints and ideals, and the strength of his moral codes.

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.

According to kill a mockingbird, mockingbirds represents a sense of innocence. In the book, Miss Maudie explains to scout, why to kill a mockingbird is a sin. She says, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The examples of mockingbirds are Boo Radley, Jem, Scout, and Tom Robinson. Boo Radley is known as a monster. Everyone in the town of Maycomb fears him and he tends to get abused by others. Boo Radley represents a mockingbird because he is a kind, gentle, and a brave person who cares for the children. He is always leaving Jem and Scout gifts.

Within the novel, Atticus is defending a black man by the name of Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a young woman. How Atticus handled this trial is widely considered to be fair. He asked just and equal questions to all the witnesses along with Tom and Mayella, the girl who cried rape. Why does Atticus do this instead of just giving up on Tom? It is simply explained with “if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” (Lee,100). He wants to hold his head high instead of enduring a nagging conscious from doing something unjust for another hard working man. “I’m simply defending a Negro- his name’s Tom Robinson. He lives in that little settlement beyond the town dump. He’s a member of Calpurnia’s church, and Cal knows his family well. She says they’re clean-living folks.” (Lee, 100). Even though Atticus knows he will most likely lose from a white man’s word against a black’s, he still gives this case his undivided attention. Atticus defended Tom to the last moment when he is eventually taken away to prison. He heard both sides of the story equally just as he has with his own children’s problems, and put reason to hericies. Even so, not every battle can be won within

Perspective can impact many factors in a person’s life; whether they are happy or not, how they act, and who they might spend time with. How one thinks about their circumstances and other people can also greatly influence individual’s personal beliefs. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys this idea numerous times through the characters. Three of the protagonists that exemplify this are Dill, Scout and Atticus.

“I admire men of character and I judge character not by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates. And that, to me, is where you find out what the character of a man is” (General. H. Norman Schwarzkopf). Seeing how men deal with others, who are supposedly lower ranked than them, shows their true character. Atticus is known around town as a great lawyer in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. One specific case was given to Atticus to defend a black man against a white girl. During this time period, African Americans were looked down upon based on their race. Atticus knew he would not win because many members on the jury were racist, but he dedicated a lot of time to the case anyway; therefore,

This quote relates to morality because it portrays how society was like several years ago. Morality is the ability to decipher what’s right and wrong to establish the truth. For instance, racism took a huge part in the county as many white citizens bestride over the negroes to show power. During the case with Tom Robinson, Atticus was able to provide substantial evidence to prove that Tom Robinson was not guilty regardless of what the other witnesses had said. However, since the jury consisted primarily of white race, the final verdict was announced as guilty. This shows how even though it was obvious that Tom would’ve won the case, it isn’t fair that they determined this by categorizing their race. It shows morality when Atticus acknowledges the fact that they are living in a racist world where the innocent could potentially be punished for an act that they did not commit to.

Race used to affect every aspect of life, especially for people of color, from the

Imagine living during a time where you would be discriminated against and divided just because the color of your skin. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a black man named Tom Robinson was falsely accused of having raped a white woman and was not given a fair trial. The towns hatred towards black people have caused a prejudice to occur against him. The jury was made up of only white males who are biased against black people due to this prejudice. Tom has good morals, is noble, and a good-hearted human being. In fact, he would help with chores for a woman named Mayella Ewell, who just so happens to be the person he was accused of raping. Her father, Bob Ewell, is abusive towards Mayella and is an awful person. He claims to have

In general, the first thing that comes to people’s minds when they hear “hero” is superheroes. Batman, Superman, the works. And fiction can be thanked for this. However, a real life hero has very little to do with superpowers, rather they fight for the good cause, even though others may not support them. Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird is not only renowned for its complex themes such as racial inequality and race, but also for Lee’s humorous writing style. The narrator’s father, Atticus Finch serves as an inspiration and hero for many. To Kill a Mockingbird teaches readers that a hero, such as Atticus Finch, does not necessarily have to kill a monster or save a princess, rather if a person possesses

Atticus shows courage by defending a black man in court in his extremely racist town. Judge Taylor asked Atticus to defend the black man, Tom Robinson who was on trial for his life. The judge knew Atticus would fight for Tom fairly. Atticus accepted this challenge knowing that the citizens of Maycomb may disagree with his decision. He believed every individual was equal and Atticus felt it was his obligation to represent him to the best of his ability. Atticus took defending Tom so seriously he ended up sitting in front of Tom’s jail cell to make sure no intruders laid a hand on him before the trial. Countless community members might think that Atticus was just doing his job, however numerous people would never be able to take this task on.

Atticus, when asked to defend Tom Robinson, understood that the case stood no chance in resulting a not-guilty verdict for Robinson, but despite this, he still decided to take up the case and defend Robinson. Atticus implored the jury to accept his logical and emotional appeals that he presented to them and to declare Tom Robinson not guilty;

In the 1930s, if a black man was on trial there was a ample chance he would be convicted even if evidence proved he was innocent. Throughout history humans being prejudice and bias have affected the lives of thousands of people; some ending with favorable outcomes while others weren’t so fortunate. Within the book To Kill a Mockingbird the readers learn that prejudice and bias people outnumber the understanding and kind. One decision or in this case twelve decisions decide the fate for an unfortunate man. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee reveals that people often follow their biases and prejudices rather than the truth.