I had clothes, and they had none. I decided [this] was what it meant to be a slave…you had no claim on [your] future” (pg.192). I think that Lindo is a good man. He tried to save Aminata from Appleby and he swore he tried to buy her baby too but Appleby didn’t want that to happen. I honestly think his intensions are good, but the people around him are not.
Huck questions why he has not turned in Jim because he wants to be what society depicts as good, but in reality, he does what he knows is right. While Huck is on the raft alone, he begins to question why he helps Jim escape while Miss Watson has done nothing wrong to him. Huck feels terrible but he cannot bring himself to pray that he can do the right thing. “I was trying to make my mouth say the right thing and the clean thing, and go and write to that nigger’s owner and tell where he was; but deep down in me I knowed it was a lie-and He knowed it. You can’t pray a lie-I found that out” (Twain 227).
They are threatened by him, and are scared to go on his property. They find Boo as a character for their amusement, and one with no feelings whatsoever. This is very childlike. Scout also had the immature habit of getting into fistfights that started by the slightest provocation. When Jem had told Scout to stop beating on Walter Cunningham, he asked why she was fighting him in the first place all Scout had to say in response was “He didn’t have any lunch”(Lee,22).
Ultimately, Huck hides Jim from the slave catchers by leading them to believe he is hiding his sick father with the smallpox under the tent. The slave catchers even float a twenty-dollar gold piece on a board to Huck. Though Huck is always up to mischief, he is smart at manipulating relationships. The relationship Huck has with Jim becomes one of respect. Twain shows that while there are people who view slaves as inferior, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn gives great example that shows a human side.
‘“You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’” When Crooks says this, it works in both ways, in that he isn’t allowed around the white workers, and they shouldn’t be around him. His defensive manner fades, however, once Lennie behaves kindly toward him, and he even considers helping Lennie and Candy with their plan to buy land until the threats
His fingers become covered with a yellow stain and people think that he is hygienically unclean. He forces Toby to do the paper round but exploits him and does not give him his money which angers Toby (221); he has to pawn his rifles. He is referred to as a “sissy” because he initially he does not want to fight Arthur. He abuses him because he discards the almost-empty mustard bottle (171) and when Dwight strikes him despite his finger injury, Rosemary finally knows she must remove Toby from the household.
This quote defiantly shows that people are not born violent. The Invisible man clearly wants people to not ignore him that is why he is so mean, just to get attention. “The Destructors” also disproves that people are born violent. For example, “T was giving orders with decision: it was as though this plan had been with him all his life, pondered through the seasons” (Graham Greene 13). This shows that ‘T’ bosses the kids around cause he was giving “orders” about how he wanted stuff done.
Even when people are treating him bad, he still just keeps his head high and acts like a gentleman. I remember especially one point in the story, where Bob Ewell spits in Atticus’ face and actually threatens to kill him, but all Atticus does is to wipe his face clean. When Bob then threatens to fight him, Atticus just puts his hands in his pockets and says that he’s too old to fight. That part of the book kind of amazed me. To have the self-control and respect to just walk away from someone who just spit on you, is a skill that not many people have.
How does Harper Lee use minor characters in To Kill A Mockingbird to explore some of the main concerns of the novel? 1) Harper Lee used Dolphous Raymond to explain how racism was at the time. Raymond could not be himself because people would judge him because he had a negro wife and children. 2) Harper Lee used Aunt Alexandra and Mrs. Dubose to explain how people were biased. Scout could not do anything without Aunt Alexandra and Mrs. Dubose criticizing what Scout was wearing, doing, and behaving.
This is shown as he tells Scout that the reason she shouldn’t squash the Rolly Polly was because “They didn’t bother you.” (pg. 238). This alone does not satisfy Jem. Instead he questions the justice system with his father. Even with the prefudice Jem still can’t understand why the infallible battle Atticus led failed.