To Kill A Mockingbird Modesty Analysis

Modesty is one of the most important values emphasized in the novel. The first character who is exceptionally modest is Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch is fifty years old and feeble, according to the narrator Jean Louise Finch (Scout). They believe that all he is good for is reading and doing boring office work. On one normal day during the summertime, Atticus had to show off some of his skills, which took the children aback; he shot a dog in one try. Jem was speechless; after several attempts to work up the courage to ask his dad what had just happened, Heck Tate started to ask, “‘Didn’t you know your Daddy’s-’” “‘Hush, Heck’” Atticus had politely stopped Heck from finishing his sentence (Lee 128). This shows Atticus values modesty because he cut off Heck before he could go on talking about his unfair advantage over nature, his shooting skills. In fact, Atticus is so modest, he did not even want somebody else gloating over his skills, even to his own children. Another character who values modesty is Miss Maudie Atkinson, their neighbor across the street. After Atticus had shot the dog, Jem was all butthurt that he did not know anything about it. While they were at Maudie’s, Jem and Scout were going on and on about how he could not believe that Atticus could actually do something like that. With this, Miss Maudie simply replies with, “‘People in their right minds never take pride in their talents’” (Lee 130). With this, readers can see that Miss Maudie values modesty because