The Theme Of Adversity In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout embodies Atticus’ advice regarding both her internal and external conflicts stemming from the court case, which leads to her discovering the theme that adversity is not worth one’s relationships with those they are close to. During the plot, Jem and Scout are continuously ridiculed by their family and classmates due to the fact that their father is defending Tom Robinson, a black man, in a trial. The two act irrationally in response, whether it is Scout fighting her cousin, Francis, or Jem cutting down fellow Maycomb resident, Miss Dubose’s camellia bushes. When Atticus discovers these things, he tells his children that in this case, “(they) aren’t fighting the Yankees”, but instead their loved ones; however, it should not get in between those ties, as in the end “they’re still (their) friends and this is still (their) home” (Lee 76).

Atticus is ultimately implying that because of this, Scout should restrain herself and her temper from creating any further conflict; whether it is internal, in which her anger drives her to do unreasonable things, or external, in which she will produce bad blood between herself and someone she is close to. Scout still has connections with them nonetheless, and doing so could end up damaging those connections, which she may regret following the case. Atticus’ advice eventually becomes a pivotal theme in which hardship is not worth ending close relationships, as the majority of the plot surrounds the trial and the problems derived from it. Scout takes this into account almost directly after he tells her about it, which becomes a coming-of-age moment for