ipl-logo

Mentors In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

870 Words4 Pages

People are influenced by the ones around them; these people can have positive or negative influences. Mentors are role models for you look up to and learn from. The only way for mentors to have a positive influence is if they are heard. Listening is the key. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates mentors for Scout to show listening to the advice of those before you can lead to strong morals and an understanding of others. Scout has many mentors throughout the story, but Atticus is one of the most influential. Atticus teaches Scout life lessons that she uses to develop as a person. He enlightens Scout’s thinking by suggesting that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you …show more content…

Miss Maudie does a superb job of this. Scout often goes over to Miss Maudie’s when Jem and Dill exclude her. Miss Maudie teaches her to respect others and stay positive in unfavorable times. As Miss Maudie’s house is burning down she jokes, “Always wanted a smaller house, Jem Finch. Gives me more yard. Just think, I’ll have more room for my azaleas now” (Lee 97). She understands her house is ruined but she makes light of the situation by joking about it. Miss Maudie teaches Scout about positivity as well as respect. Scout was talking about how old her father and all the other adults in the neighborhood were old. “You’re lucky, you know. You and Jem have the benefit of your father’s age. If your father was thirty you’d find life quite different,” Miss Maudie was reiterating to Scout (Lee 120). Miss Maudie is helping Scout the good qualities about Scout’s father because she wants Scout to see that Atticus has humility, integrity, and strong morals. By putting her father into perspective for Scout, she teaches Scout to appreciate her father more rather than comparing him to the other kids’ fathers. She understands that Atticus is a moral man and she wants Scout to be the same way. Because of Miss Maudie’s good nature she is a mentor to

Show More
Related

  • How Is Miss Maudie Presented In To Kill A Mockingbird

    802 Words  | 4 Pages

    She teaches Scout to stand up for what is right. Miss Maudie demonstrates that it is important to stand up for oneself to

    Read More

  • Examples Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

    666 Words  | 3 Pages

    One lesson Atticus teaches Scout is, “‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view.’” (Lee 39) This quote explains how one must step into another’s shoes before judging them. Atticus helps Scout understand the reason for empathy. Connecting to the theme, once Scout begins to understand her father’s lesson, she becomes more empathetic and tries to become similar to her father.

    Read More

  • Essay On Scout's Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

    631 Words  | 3 Pages

    She realizes that things are not always as they seem and that her father, Atticus, is a man who stands up for what is right, regardless of the consequences. Scout sees this firsthand when he defends a black man in court, which helps to open her eyes to the kind of man her father is and the importance of standing up for what is right.

    Read More

  • Mentors In Catcher In The Rye

    541 Words  | 3 Pages

    Adult mentors are supposed to give advice and help teenagers and people younger than them. Some of them give good advice that helps the person and they take this advice and run with it to meet their potential. On the other hand some mentors give good advice but cannot relate to the teenager and so it is not effective and they just carry on doing what they were doing in the first place. In Catcher in the Rye and “Good Will Hunting” the protagonists have mentors that help them in varying degrees.

    Read More

  • How Is Miss Maudie Presented In To Kill A Mockingbird

    657 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the county of Maycomb, children were usually not taken seriously by adults, but Miss Maudie was different than the rest of Maycomb in this aspect. Through indirect characterization, Harper Lee illustrates that Miss Maudie treated Jem, Dill, and Scout in a positive way. She achieved this through the way she acted and how she treated the three children. She was compassionate towards them and was always welcoming. She was extremely considerate towards them.

    Read More

  • Who Is Miss Maudie's Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1247 Words  | 5 Pages

    He tells her to use proper language, not to swear, and many other lessons to make her appear more respectable. He also helps her learn to understand others by looking through their eyes. At one point, Atticus asks Scout if she is ready to read, and Scout tries to convince Atticus that she is sick, so she will not have to go to school. Atticus figures she is making it up , so he tells her he will give her some medicine and she can go to bed and go to school the next day.

    Read More

  • Essay On Scout's Lessons In To Kill A Mockingbird

    359 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scouts developments throughout the novel revolve around the lessons she is taught be three people, Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Aunt Alexandra. These three characters each have their own lessons to teach including forgiveness, understanding, equality and much more. These lessons allow Scout to have a wider perspective of the situation she finds herself in. Scout in the novel is presented to us as a growing a developing character. The lessons she is taught by her three feminine influences help her development a lot in the throughout the novel as they are a wide variety of lessons most likely helping think of what to do in most situations she finds herself in.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Age Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1514 Words  | 7 Pages

    Miss. Maudie is referring to the fact that Scout is too young to understand what is occurring or that she is not old enough to understand the ordeal with Mr. Arthur. Scout is still a young girl, who is still trying to comprehend the world. Nevertheless, Scout is misjudged by Miss. Maudie based on her age.

    Read More

  • Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

    800 Words  | 4 Pages

    This showed that innocence would be lost all over their neighborhood later on. As the book progresses, Miss Maudie is staying with one of her neighbors, Miss Stephanie. Most of the ladies of the town, including Scout’s Aunt Alexandra attended a missionary circle hosted by the Finches. When these ladies come together they eat food and talk about taking Jesus to Africa. One of the ladies in attendance, Miss Merriweather had a lot to say Christian values and practicing them.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Tolerance In To Kill A Mockingbird

    518 Words  | 3 Pages

    Atticus told Scout, “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 doesn’t fully grasp this concept until the end of the book, several years later, where she alludes to Atticus’ saying. The messages she and Jem received on the way helped her come to this understanding. Atticus taught them to respect their elders, no matter how cantankerous they may be. Jem ruined Mrs. Dubose’s flowers after a particularly disrespectful comment about Atticus, and he made Jem read to her.

    Read More

  • Minor Characters In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1339 Words  | 6 Pages

    Miss Maudie is responsible for affecting the actions and development of other characters. Miss Maudie teaches Jem and Scout how to be courageous and be bold when needing to defend friends and family. She also helps put things going on in perspective and helps them put their father into perspective. After Miss Maudie’s house burns down, Scout asks her if she is sadden at the fact that her house just burned down. Miss Maudie’s response was, “Why, I hated that old cow barn.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Kindness In To Kill A Mockingbird

    864 Words  | 4 Pages

    Miss Maudie and Scout sit on her porch because Jem is off doing something else so they talk about life and look at the sky. “Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we could play on her lawn, eat her scuppernongs if we didn’t jump on the arbor, and explore her vast back lot…” (42). Miss Maudie lets Scout spend time with her so that she does not get sad that Jem and Dill went to play without her. A neighbour, Mrs. Dubose insulted the Finch Family all the time and yet Atticus is still kind to her because “she is sick and old”. Atticus tells Jem “Son, I have no doubt that you’ve been annoyed by your contemporaries about me lawing for niggers, as you say, but to do something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable” (103-104).

    Read More

  • How Does Atticus Show Moral Education

    1288 Words  | 6 Pages

    The theme of moral education is explored most powerfully through the relationship between Atticus and his children, and Calpurnia’s teachings. Atticus takes great pride in instilling a powerful sense of morality in his children. He truthfully answers whatever questions they ask, and encourages them by treating them as adults. Atticus also teaches Scout that she should never judge people without understanding them first.

    Read More

  • Why Is Scout Finch Important In To Kill A Mockingbird

    865 Words  | 4 Pages

        To begin, Scout has an incredible ability to see the big idea of things and think about what other people are feeling. Part of this is due to Atticus being an excellent mentor and father, telling her early on that Scout will “‘never fully understand a person until you consider

    Read More

  • Examples Of Atticus 'Parenting Styles In To Kill A Mockingbird'

    898 Words  | 4 Pages

    Miss Maudie corrects Scout when she says the word nigger and she corrects Scout in to calling Boo Radley, Arthur Radley (Lee). Miss Maudie believes that Atticus parents his kids well. He teaches them to not be selfish and to think of being in someone else's shoes before judging them. Miss Maudie thinks that Atticus’s character is very respectful and true. He teaches his kids in a way most parents in Maycomb do not.

    Read More

More about Mentors In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

Open Document