Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

Atticus tries to protect Scout from the racism and anger of the trial, but realizes they can 't be protected and he lets them return to the trial. Some foreshadowing shown here is, “I ain 't ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white…” (238). Scout sees how people are judged by the color of their skin, which Scout knows is wrong in some way, even if Scout doesn 't fully understand why there is issues with it. The kids are starting to see the racism and they don 't fully understand why it 's happening. Scout

That boy’s yo comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the tablecloth you let him, you hear?” This event shows Scout’s intolerance of people at the beginning of the novel. During Tom Robinson 's trial, Scout learns a great deal more about tolerance. She learns to accept the way other people live. As well, she learns about the intolerance that some other people have. Scout’s perception of tolerance throughout the novel changes her behavior.

The final way that shows how labels can affect people is negativity. There is so much negativity in this book, like when the book mentioned how the Ewells were not liked. “ The Ewells have been the disgrace of maycomb for three generations.”(Lee 30) This is true and nobody in Maycomb likes the Ewells. The only reason that people were on their side for the trial was because Tom was black and the people were racist that stood against him, They didn 't stand by the Ewells because they liked them. This book shows how labels can affect almost everyone and shows how you can be judged on almost anything.

Continually, he realizes that the town he stood by has unethical values that blind the people in Maycomb. Harper Lee illustrates through the experiences of Jem and Scout that to come of age one must realize that society’s views on people are racist. To begin, Jem’s first signs of maturity is when he reads to Mrs. Dubose. In the novel, Jem ruins Mrs. Dubose’s flowers as a result of an offensive comment she remarks about his father. Mrs. Dubose says that Jem and Scouts father, Atticus, is a “nigger lover”.

Atticus lives by a code: let your conscience be your guide. That’s why he takes on the case at the heart of the story, the defense of a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Scout tells Atticus that most people in the town think it’s wrong to defend the accused man. But Atticus explains that “they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions. But before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.

He took out his anger about losing the case by attacking Scout and Jem (262), instead of their father. A character who acts very differently to this is Atticus Finch. He took responsibility for Tom Robinson by taking his case, and the responsibility of the rumors being said about him by telling Scout and Jem, “hold your head up high and keep those fists down,” (76). He also took responsibility for the things that Bob Ewell won’t. When Bob took out his anger on Atticus by spitting in his face, the lawyer simply said, “If spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take,” (218).

While at the same time he does a favor for the community by setting a superior example for them. The Finch’s are living in a very tough time period, he must be careful about what he says to the children if he wants them to prosper. In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, it says, “...I hope and pray I can get through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual 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” (Lee 88). All their father wants is for them to be prepared for what is to come later on.

In addition to being uneducated, Bob Ewell is a rude man, and has managed to pass this trait onto his children. During the first day of school Chuck Little, a boy in Scout’s class describes Burris Ewell as “‘a mean one, a hard-down mean one’” (Lee 27). As his children grew up, Bob Ewell met them with only anger. In addition to being rude and angry, Bob Ewell is also very racist. His children have adopted his views that black people are below them, as demonstrated when Mayella says: “I said come here, nigger, and bust up this chiffarobe for me” (Lee 241) when she describes her interaction with Tom Robinson the day of the alleged rape.

The outcome of the trial itself is very different from what the children see as an obvious acquittal. After the trial, Bob Ewell spits in Atticus’s face, but Atticus stays calm. Overall, this section shows how as Atticus works to defend Tom, the children are discovering more about African-Americans and the racism they face. This racism, along with other prejudices, causes the court system to be not completely fair, despite the fact that it should be. Courts should be completely fair and just, or, as Atticus calls them, “the great levelers” (Lee 205), however, humans are fallible, and in turn, so is the court system.

In conclusion, the main theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is that anyone can make changes if the persons believe that he/she is making the right decision and makes an effort to make it happen.Atticus is outcasted for trying to make a change that he believes to be the right one. He gives his reasons for believing, that he made the right decision. He wants his children to look at things in a different perspective and, stay away from the influence of racism. He shows his worry when he talks to Jack. Atticus becomes successful in influencing his children’s thoughts and we can see this through Scout when she sends the lynch mob back.

11. The last Sentence in Chapter 9 of to kill a mockingbird is “But I never realized out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until I was older that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said”. Atticus knew that scout was a nosy child so he discussed why he chose to help Tom Robinson. Atticus discussed this, because in time he knew that she will know what is the right thing to do, and not judge someone by there color. This was important for the rest of the story, because the story has a lot to do with black people and racism.

Another way to combat prejudice is by teaching against it to the upcoming generation. Atticus teaches Scout and Jem that demoralizing vocabulary should not be used, especially against black people. He says to them, “nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don 't mean anything—like snot-nose. It 's hard to explain—ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody 's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It 's slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody.” (Lee 124) Atticus points out how terrible certain terms are as well as the people that use them.

Both presenting themselves as an intelligent individual in the art of schooling, meanwhile they show naiveness of a child in observations of human behavior. Scout, in To Kill A Mockingbird, became well aware of cruel insults from her community about their dislike of her father’s actions. Her and her brother became accustomed and grudgingly tolerable to such insults and began to realize that the white folks could not accept the Negroes into everyday life. Maya, in I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, grew up in a black community, thus not being surrounded by racism all the time. On the other hand, her brother experienced how cold-blooded the white community is toward the black.

But the town of Maycomb had made up their minds about Boo Radley. Tom Robinson, who is a good and innocent person. But like Boo, the town of Maycomb decided they did not like him when he was convicted and it didn’t help that he was black. There are bad people in Maycomb, but there are also good people who get lumped into the evil

Steyn 's tone is harsh, ironic, and humorous as he condemns the culture of today. He aims to shock the audience , to make them feel disgust for what the leadership in the black community is protecting. Then he calls to mind the beauty, and creativity that the culture of previous generations of African Americans, and defines this new culture as something which is wiping " a half 's tradition of beauty and grace from [their] identity." He defines "keepin ' it real" as the true destructive entity, not perceived racism. Steyn maintains through this definition that the leaders who defend this culture of self-destruction are the ones who are " keepin ' millions of young men and women unreal in ways the most malevolent bull-necked racist could never