To Kill A Mockingbird Hypocrites Quotes

Kennedy Steward

Mr. Wetterling

10:45 Freshman English

4 April 2018 Hypocrites in Maycomb

“An immoral character, glossed with religious pretention, is like a rotten egg with an Easter coloring” -Lewis F. Korns. People put on a mask, so they appear to be a “good” person, but in reality, we would rather do what pleases us. In Harper Lee’s award-winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird, depicts life in the 1930’s through her 9-year-old self’s eyes. To Kill A Mockingbird shows many fun and loving characters, but also some that are not as endearing. A hypocrite is a person who says or does one thing, but then does the opposite. Hypocrites are the most abundant example of evil in the book and they are incorporated throughout the book. The three

Merriweather is described as “certainly… the most devout lady in Maycomb (308)” but she is later found to be a much different person. Mrs. Merriweather states, “Folks in this town who think they’re doing right, I mean. Now far be it from me to say who, but some of ‘em in this town thought they were doing the right thing a while back, but all they did was stir ‘em up… (311).” The purpose of this statement is to take an indirect stab at Atticus for defending a black man, even though Mrs. Merriweather proclaims to be a loving Christian. Previously, she also wanted to show that Atticus had created unrest among the community with his choice of defending a black man. A decision that she fervently does not agree with. “At least we don’t have that sin on our shoulders down here. People up there set ‘em free, but you don’t see ‘em settin’ at the table with ‘em.” Mrs. Merriweather made these remarks when talking about Mrs. Roosevelt, “At least we don’t have the deceit to say to ‘em yes, you’re as good as we are but stay away from us. Down here we say you live your way and we’ll live ours (313).” She also claims that people in Maycomb treat black people better than the people “up there” do. This is not an accurate statement because later Tom Robinson is convicted, only because of his skin color and all evidence points to him being innocent. Aunt Alexandra also shows hypocrisy in a totally different

Scout comes home one day and wants Walter Cunningham to come play with her. Scout’s Aunt has a fit and tells her that she will not be allowed to play with Walter, “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him. I’ll Not have you around him, picking up habits and learning Lord-knows-what. You’re enough of a problem to you father as it is” (124). She thinks that the Finches exceed the Cunningham’s because they have more money. She also believes that Scout will pick up horrible habits from Walter if she plays with him. Later she talks with Jem and says” … And I still say that Jean Louise will not invite Walter Cunningham to this house. If he were her second cousin once removed, he would still not be received in this house… (126).” She does not care if Walter was even part of the Finch family; his family is too poor to be associating with the Finches’. This proves to be hypocritical because she agreed with Mrs. Merriweather, at the party, that the folks in Maycomb treat everybody equally. Bob Ewell is portrayed as the biggest hypocritical character in To Kill A