Atticus Finch not only took the case of a black man, but went against everyone’s beliefs that black people were lower, and actually tried to defend Tom Robinson from a crime that he was wrongfully accused of doing. As Atticus said, “In the name of God believe him.” (Lee, 206) It is very clear that Atticus wanted to win the case, get Tom off the hook for something that he did not commit, and probably to show the town of Maycomb just how often black people would get
If I did not take the case then I would stringing a possibly innocent man out to dry and not giving him a fighting chance which is what I believed in when I became a lawyer. On the other hand I had to consider the reactions of the white population of Macomb, which could not only result in harm coming to me but also to my two children scout and jem who had already suffered to much loss with the death of their mother. After consideration I chose to help the man even though the case was unwinnable as a white jury would always convict a black man. My desision did not only fall on this, over my children’s life I have driven to teach them strong values and hopefully by observing this case they would see the wrong occurring in the world as not all people are treated equally. In long run this may not have been my best decision as without the help of a recluse named boo radely my children may not have been alive today, but hopefully they and the rest of the town have learnt that it is not right to kill a
I did not hear him stir again.” p. 64. The composes uses her narrator Scout to create a clear image of a young boy, visibly shaken by his ordeal of retrieving the lost pants therefore reinforcing the degree of courage it must have taken for him to even contemplate undertaking such a feat. Another character who is representative of this theme is Mrs Dubose. The audience is made acutely aware of the depth of her courage in chapter 11 when she finally passes, her death brought on more rapidly because she refused to die whilst addicted to morphine. Atticus tells his son that he wanted him to read to Mrs Dubose so he would understand that real courage was not demonstrated by a gun.
Rumours continue to spread regarding Atticus, and Scout ends up hearing it at school from Cecil Jacobs. “’Do you defend niggers Atticus?’[…]’’s what everybody at school says.’” (Lee 99). Atticus admits to Scout that he is defending a black person. Maycomb folks don’t understand as to why he would chose to side with the black, in result the go against him. Despite the fact that many people are judging Atticus negatively, he doesn’t give up in defending Tom.
Boo Radley shows courage by knowing when and what not to get involved in. He has been locked in his house since he was a child. He had no communication with anyone since then. He shows courage when he takes a risk to reach out to Jem and Scout just so he can help them or give them treats. “’Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something.
On one occasion, he almost turned Jim in until he heard him say, “Dah you goes, de ole true Huck; de on'y white genlman dat ever kep' his promise to ole Jim (Twain 810). The social morals at the time made Huck think he was a bad person for not turning in a runaway slave like he was expected to. Throughout the book, Huck no longer uses societies morals in order to keep Jim safe. Huck creates his own set of morals to keep his “family”
First the author shows the theme by integrating character’s actions throughout the story. Before Charlie becomes intelligent he wrote, “I want to be smart.” (Pg. 221) I think this quote confirms the theme because since he wasn’t smart he could have separated himself from smart people. As Charlie was reading a book called Robinson Crusoe he wrote, “I feel sorry because he’s all alone and has no friends.” (Pg. 229) I believe this quote reveals the moral because as he reads this book he find out Crusoe is all alone and isolated and even though Charlie doesn’t realize it yet he himself is isolated and lonely as well.
Prejudgments are harmful because they limit the lives of the stereotyped individual and the person doing the stereotyping. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows the negative effects of stereotyping at its extreme. Many people know that stereotyping is unfair and unjust, but most do it anyway, and the main reason this is done so much is still not understood. One of the major stereotypes in this novel is the categorizing people into certain groups based on their family history. There are many ways to judge people, and Harper Lee shows some very typical stereotypes in To Kill a Mockingbird.
If he missed Tim Johnson the shot would have gone right into the Radley’s house that is why the sheriff Heck Tate did not want to shoot Tim Johnson. It would have taken courage from Atticus to shoot the gone even though he could have missed and killed someone. Later in the story at the trial Scout over hears a conversation of a group of old men and one of them in the group says ‘“You know the court appointed him to defend the n*****.”’ Another says “‘Yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it”’ (Lee 163). During this time people that defended African Americans did not try very hard to win, but Atticus tried to the best of his abilities which is wrong in the minds of most people.
Doctor Copeland goes around and helps many people living in his town, but usually the only people that he helps are blacks like himself. He seems upset throughout the entire book because he cannot gain the respect of the white people even though he feels that he is an active and important member of society. He is also upset at his children, for whom he worked so hard for to keep them from falling into the “normal” life of a black person. Regardless of Doctor Copeland’s social preferences and adversity he faced to give them the life they had, they all work at demeaning jobs that a white person would not work unless they were extremely desperate. He illustrates this frustration when he gives a speech to a group of colored people around Christmas.