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Kohlberg's Stages Of Moral Development In To Kill A Mockingbird

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¨He hit me again and again...¨(Lee, 241) Those words of Mayella Ewell helped put Tom Robinson, an innocent man, in jail. Mayella Ewell is a member of the Ewells, the “scum” of Maycomb County, who live in the town dump and depend on food stamps and illegal trapping to survive. Mayella is a liar who won’t admit her wrongs and is willing to put someone who did nothing wrong in jail just so she won 't get in trouble with her father. She also lies to cover up a secret she has, so the people in Maycomb will not know the truth about her. Because of this, she is on the lowest level of Kohlberg 's Stages of Moral Development. Kohlberg 's Stages of Moral Development is a scale that rates how people make decisions and stand for what is right. There are six levels; level one being where young children act, and level six, where few adults ever reach. People at level one make decisions to avoid getting in trouble. People at level six would put their lives on the line for what they believe is right. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper …show more content…

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of the most famous books ever written. It is about Scout Finch and her brother Jem Finch. Scout and Jem live in Maycomb County, Alabama in the 1930s, where racism is everywhere. Scout and Jem have adventures in their town with their friend Charles Baker “Dill” Harris, which include harassing Boo Radley, the neighborhood freak, and dealing with their proper Aunt Alexandra. When a black man named Tom Robinson is accused by Bob Ewell of beating and raping his daughter Mayella, Scout and Jem’s dad Atticus, who is a lawyer, defends him. Because of this, the kids deal with a lot of hate from the townsfolk but pull through it. In Tom’s trial, we meet Mayella and Bob Ewell. Bob was the one who beat his daughter Mayella, not Tom. Tom is accused anyway, however, because of his race. Mayella goes along with her father, so the whole town will not know the truth: Mayella fell in love with Tom, and her father caught

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