To Kill A Mockingbird Using the theme of discovering courage after reading scarlet ibis, to kill a mockingbird, and shooting an elephant I found a lot of courage that was represented. In To Kill A Mockingbird I noticed that each character displayed courage in their own ways. Most of the courage making situations in To Kill A Mockingbird was revolved around either the case of Tom Robinson, or Scout and Jem. In the case of Tom Robinson Atticus is the courageous one when he takes this case, knowing that he would lose, because Tom Robinson is a black man. Also in To Kill A Mockingbird Jem and Scout show courage by being adventures.
Yet a wise man such as Atticus does not fully understand how the citizens of Maycomb can be so irrational and unjust in their prejudiced views of others. This is shown in Part one of Harper Lee’s novel as Atticus tells his brother Jack, ‘Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I will never truly understand.’ Atticus is a great influence on Scout through his actions and words, however he does not force her to act in this way. Atticus has the highest respect for everyone in Maycomb, regardless of gender, age or race. This is shown in his defence for Tom Robinson and his employment and loyalty to Calpurnia. He also demonstrates this when he explains Boo-Radley’s situation and reprimands Scout for treating a boy at her school badly because he was of lower class.
Sample outline for essay about mockingbirds: While one of the main themes of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is understanding another human's perspective, it is also important to look at how people treat each other. The story's protagonist, Scout, is a young girl from Alabama whose father, Atticus Finch, is asked to defend an African-American man who is charged with rape. The southern way of life during The Great Depression won't allow Tom Robinson a fair trial, and Scout and her brother Jem are forced to deal with a county's ignorance and racist attitudes. Atticus and a compassionate neighbor, Miss. Maudie, try to teach the children not to hurt mockingbirds as they don't harm anything and "...don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy" (90).
In to Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee revealed that empathy is a learned trait, and it is hard to rid old ways. This is exhibited through 3 important characters in the novel; Atticus Finch, Bob Ewell, and Jean Louise Finch (Scout.) Atticus, Scout, and Bob Ewell are all very important examples of people who empathy has affected the most. Atticus shows how necessary of a skill empathy is in the book, and teaches it to the whole town; even his enemies. Scout originally did not have the skill to empathize, but thanks to Atticus, earns it.
If Atticus was like the men of Maycomb County, he would have let them lynch him however Atticus knew that it would be morally wrong to not protect him therefore he risks his own life for others. Atticus is also fair and wise as he tells Scout that “you will never understand a person until you consider things form his point of you, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” From this you know that he is fair and wise because he explains to scout that she shouldn’t ‘judge a book by its cover.’ Another point is that the children have full confidence in him as he knew when was the right time to move the furniture out of the house when there was a fire in the neighbourhood. Also, Atticus saves the rocking chair that Miss Maudie values the most which shows how thoughtful Atticus is and how different he is from the others. Atticus is very different from the men in Maycomb County because after the court trial, Bob Ewell spat on Atticuss’s face, threatened to kill him and called him names but Atticus merely took his handkerchief and wiped his face and let Mr Ewell continue to call him names.
For example, when Bob Ewell spit on him and Atticus did not retaliate. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to rise above Mr. Ewell’s level of immaturity. Atticus also shows courage when he represents Tom Robinson in a trial. The Tom Robinson case was so intrepid because in that time and age it was frowned upon to represent a black man in a trial, but Atticus reminds the kid to never give up no matter what situation you are presented with: “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (84). Scout represents fearlessness by always being herself no matter what anyone else says about her.
Knowing that he would never be able to defend Tom Robinson well enough to persuade a jury to believe a black man’s word over a white woman’s, he chose to do the courageous act of defending as best he could to attempt to give Tom Robinson the justice he deserved. In one part of the novel, Atticus is speaking to Scout about one of the reasons he is defending Tom Robinson’s case. Atticus explains, “This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience—Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man.” (Lee 104) He then explains to Scout further why he doesn’t just side with everyone else’s opinions by saying, “They’re certainly entitled to their opinions, but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” (Lee 105) Atticus shows his courage in the above statements by explaining that even though it may be easier to not defend Tom Robinson, he chooses to defend him the best
He explains that it's a sin to kill a mockingbird, because they don't do anything bad to anyone, they only sing. This same lesson can be applied to characters in Lee's novel, such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, based on the fact that they're innocent people that are harmed and wronged by the evils of humanity. In some way, each of them are like mockingbirds, and by harming them, innocence is destroyed. The idea of mockingbirds representing innocence is a lasting one for the duration of the novel, and forces readers to take a look at the bigger picture. Perhaps the most relatable event to the symbolism, the Tom Robinson case depicts the destruction of innocence first hand.
Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout learns, and applies, the life lessons her father had instilled in her. She understands what courage really is, alongside the definition of cowardice, and logic. “Because you’re children and you can understand it,” Mr. Dolphus Raymond explained to Scout. She realizes the necessity to see things though other’s points of views as well as treating everyone equally. She understands how truly wrong embarrassment and shaming of others is.
“You just hold your head high and keep your fists down.” Pg 76 Atticus is teaching his children to be proud of who they are and turn the other cheek, by not starting fights. I select this quote because it teaches family values. 5. "This time we aren’t fighting the Yankees, we're fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they're still our friends and this is our home" Pg 76 This quote shows us that Atticus does not want his problem (defending Tom Robinson) to become a problem for Scout and Jem.