To Kill a Mocking Bird

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird, Atticus Finch possesses many characteristics that shape him as a man, a lawyer and a father. Atticus is a wise man, devoted to justice and equality, and who feels it is his duty to live his public life as he does his private life. Atticus is also a very honest and loving father who has nothing but the best intentions for his children, Scout and Jem. Atticus is devoted to putting his legal profession before his self-image, or public perception, and is able to realize that the individual worth of a man without incorporating physical appearances.All the positive characteristics Atticus Finch possesses contribute to the reason why he is very respected and liked by most of the people of Macomb County as well as his family and close friends. Atticus living his public life as he does his private life defines what he stands for and holds a duty he feels is important for him to fulfill as a man. When Atticus and Sherriff Heck Tate discuss what ca used Bob Ewell’s death the night he attacked Jem and Scout, the Sheriff tells Atticus that Bob killed himself when he fell on his knife.However, Atticus does not believe Heck and he believes that Jem killed Bob and tells Heck Tate â€Å"If they [Scout and Jem] hear me saying downtown something different happened-Heck I wont have them anymore. I cant live one way in town and another way in my home. †(367) This quote shows Atticus is willing and devoted to make any sacrifice to live an honest and unconcealed life including letting the public know, Jem killed Bob Ewell.Atticus always tries to be the best father he can by trying to get his kids to notice and appreciate all of the good things that are present in the world even in such a prejudice and discriminatory town such as Maycomb during the 1930’s. When Atticus and Jem are talking about the recently deceased Mrs. Dubose, Atticus tells Jem. â€Å"Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It is knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. †(149) By telling this to Jem Atticus taught Jem an important life lesson.He taught Jem success is not always about winning, but instead just trying to fight for a good cause. Atticus believed you were successful if you fought for a good cause, even if you failed. Atticus is committed to always doing the right thing when it comes to his profession whether it means he will be risking his reputation or even his life. This trait of Atticus is clearly demonstrated when Scout questions Atticus about the Tom Robinson case and says, â€Å"Atticus, are we going to win it† and he replies â€Å"No, honey† which leads to her question â€Å"Then why-† (101).Atticus is revealing to Scout that even though he has more to lose than to gain out of this situation he is accepting of that because he is doing what his conscience is telling him is the noble , fair thing to do, and he is trying to ignore all the negative influences that appears to him in Maycomb County. This is also revealed when Atticus is protecting Tom from a group of dangerous men who are looking for revenge outside the jail. Atticus holds them off and risks his own safety to protect Tom because he knew Tom did not deserve what those men outside the jail were looking to do to him that night. Atticus is a humble, honest and devoted man.He is one of the few people in society who puts the needs of others before himself. By sharing the characteristics he acquired over many years with his children he is supporting them with the foundation to living a morally good life according to the standards of what they believe is right and wrong and not what it is made out to be by society. By sharing his knowledge and skills as a lawyer with those who are wrongfully convicted he is establishing justice in those parts in which justice seems not to exist. Atticus Finch is a man of go od moral who sets a perfect example for those who are looking for a role model, a hero, and a loving father. To kill a mocking bird To Kill a Mockingbird Courage cannot be defined with simple words but rather by an individual's actions. Despite many different definitions courage is someone's internal fortitude to do something that may frighten others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Gem's definition of courage changes from the beginning to the end of the book. At the beginning of the book Gem's definition of courage is from an innocent perspective and by the end of the book Gem has an experienced definition of courage.Gem learns the lea definition of courage from it being demonstrated in his everyday life in Macomb. At the beginning of Harper Lee's , To Kill a Mockingbird Gem shows a naive, innocent view of courage because of his fears. Dill dears Gem to touch the Raddled house, which has always been one of his worst fears. Gem displays courage by touching the Raddled and hides his angst when reporting back to Dill and Scout. Gem dreads touching the Raddled house only because of his scary childlike imagi nation. Lee writes,†Gem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with is alma and ran back past us†(118).Gem's courage comes into play when he is told to do something he terrifies by his peers. Gem continues to demonstrate an innocent perspective of courage in the early part of the novel. Gem still has an inexperienced view of courage because he is still at a youth and is immature to his surroundings. Gem's youthful imagination forms ideas to get in contact with the horrifying Boo Raddled. He decides to put a note on a fishing pole and stick it threw the Raddled window. The note was asking Boo out for ice cream, so the children can meet him.Harper Lee says, â€Å"Were asking him real politely to come out sometimes, and tell us what he does in there – we said we wouldn't hurt him and we'd buy him an ice cream† (62). Gem's perspective of courage is slowly starting to advance because he was scared to death when he first went on the Rad dled property. Gem demonstrates an innocent perspective on courage by engaging in childish games but he begins to learn the real view of courage by witnessing his dad in action. Gem believes Tactics doesn't have courage until he shoots the Mad Dog to save the community from harm, UT Gem's view is still a naive one.The Mad Dog is beginning to approach in the distance when Officer Heck Tate throws Tactics the gun. Tactics takes the gun and walks to the center of the street showing no hesitation. Even though Tactics hasn't shot a gun in 30 years he kills Mad Dog with a single shot showing an outrageous amount of courage. Lee states, â€Å"In the fog, Gem watched our father take the gun and walk out into the middle of the street† (127). Tactics has an abundant amount of courage, even to something that he hasn't done in 30 years. Although Gem thinksTactics shooting the dog is courageous, he learns the real definition through the actions of Mrs.. Dubos. Gem's adult definition of co urage is beginning to form from experience in the Macomb community. Gem learns the real definition of courage from Mrs.. Dubos who was a recovering morphine addict . Mrs.. Dubos makes a goal for herself to die free of her weakness. She dies UN-addicted to morphine and she is Gem's real definition of courage. Harper Lee says, â€Å"When you are licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what† (119).Mrs.. Double's fight exemplifies to Gem, no matter how hard something looks to never give up. Mrs.. Dubos didn't give up on her morphine addiction and came out on top. Mrs.. Debase teaches Gem the true definition of courage, and Gem does a fantastic Job exemplifying it in front of the courthouse. Gem is beginning to have an experienced adult like sense of courage. In front of the courthouse Tactics is sitting one night and the mob shows up asking to see Tom Robinson. Gem and the kids run to Tactics because they knew his life is in danger.Tactics tells the kids to leave and Gem shows an extraordinary amount of courage saying that he wasn't leaving. A mob member grabbers Gem telling Tactics he will make him leave. Scout stares kicking the man in the shins and eventually put Gem down. Gem still refuses to leave his father and tells him we are staying. Lee says† Tactics stood trying to make Gem mind him. I ant going was his steady answer to Attic's threat request and finally † please take them home Gem† (204). Gem not leaving his fathers side until the mob departed shows how courageous Gem is becoming.Gem demonstrates an innocent perspective on courage by engaging in childish games, but he begins to learn the real view of courage witnessing his dad in action. Gem is beginning to demonstrate a more experienced sense of courage, from confronting the mob to saving Scout from Bob Lowell. Although Gem previously had a naive perspective of courage he now has a more experienced and adult like sense of courage. Gem and Scou t are attacked when walking home from the Halloween play. Gem pushes Bob Lowell off of Scout saving her from any serious injuries.If Gem didn't push Bob Lowell off of Scout then he would eve mostly likely stabbed and killed her. Gem Jumped in and freed Scout from being harmed potentially in any way. Harper Lee states, â€Å"His stomach was soft but his arms were like steel. He slowly squeezed the breath out of me. I could not move. Suddenly he Jerked me back and forth to the ground, almost carrying me with him† (351). Gem will not let Bob Lowell hurt his little sister in anyway so he does everything in his power to protect her from being injured. After Gem learns the real actions of courage and has an experienced view he saves Scout from Bob Lowell. To Kill a Mocking Bird Harper Lee’s To kill a mockingbird was written to portray the racism and the moral conscience of the mind within society. It is set in the 1930’s which is after the Great Depression and a starting movement for the Civil Rights fight in the USA. The novel was written in the 1960’s portraying the universal contextual issues of racism existed then and even now. Lee uses multiple narrative techniques to explore the major inequality and injustice of life but also allow the audience to know that these contextual ideas and issues can be broken and change. Maycomb is set up by Lee to reflect the racism of society as well as its injustice and inequality that many ‘black’ men and women faced in the 1930’s – 1960’s. Tom Robinson, an African American that has been created by Lee to become the symbol of the injustice and inequality of Maycomb. The town ceases to acknowledge the equality and justice of life and conform to racism like most towns and countries at the time. The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Lee’s use of innuendo portrays Maycomb as an ignorant town, with racism mixed within their everyday lives and the racial inequalities that are given to all African American. Lee’s uses of dialogues distinguish the racial segregation between the white and black people of Maycomb and the social class that they are categorised as. Harper Lee shows the juxtaposition of the two different races by portraying it through their dialogues, th is is most effectively shown through the court scene when Tom Robinson was being crossed examine by Mr Gilmer. Tom answers always start with â€Å"Yes, sir† whereas Mr Gilmer refers to him as a â€Å"boy†, this use of slang juxtaposes to the formal high classed words of Tom’s which conveyed the audience the contrast between a white and black American and suggests that a white skinned person is not any better than an African American. The juxtaposition also allowed the readers to sympathised with Tom Robinson and feel outraged as Tom is being called a ‘boy’. Emphasising the racial segregation of the 1930’s when the Great Depression drove fear into the white people and made them believe that the African Americans are taking over their jobs. Symbols are also used to convey the audience about the racial injustice and inequality that life has created. A â€Å"mockingbird† has been killed when Tom was convicted and shot in jail; the symbolism of a mockingbird is Harper Lee's representation of an innocent, kind hearted being and a ‘sin’ is put upon the white racist people of Maycomb. Another ymbolism is the ‘roly-poly’ inside the Finches’ house, when Scout wanted to crushed it, Jem told her: â€Å"They don’t bother you† the assonance of the letter ‘o’ echoes an angelic sound, this also symbolises Tom Robinson as he doesn’t bother anyone but due to his skin colour he is treated differently, just like the ‘roly-poly’ in Scout’s room, it canâ€⠄¢t help itself but be who it is. The use of these symbols throughout the novel creates a nature motif, highlighting that the nature is harmonised and peaceful in its own way. These symbols and motifs effectively highlight the racism of society and its influences on the injustice of life. The trial of Tom Robinson resonate the injustice that most African American suffered in the USA in 1930’s. The justice system that said to give all men of all race in the USA fair justice fail to do its job and was shown through the jury and the racial inequality that they gave Tom Robinson. â€Å"When it’s a white man’s words against a black man’s, the white man always wins† Lee’s use of repetition of the word ‘white’ and ‘man’ further emphasises the injustice of the social order and also allows the audience to experience and be able to feel the empathy for the African American. The white jury symbolises the injustice and racial inequality prejudice that has been created for the society. Though Atticus had proved to the jury that Tom was innocent and the evidences are undeniable, they still convicted Tom as guilty though inside, they know it’s them that are guilty. The oxymoron, ‘They couldn’t be fair if they tried’ holds a contradictory thought, suggesting that racism has been weaved into the fabric of the town and the justice system; hence the men couldn’t be fair. Even though the town is contaminated with its injustice and racism, Lee still allows some hope to shine. The character Atticus is an example of this. Lee portrays Atticus throughout the novel as a responsible father, a fine citizen and the most compassionate person within the small town. â€Å"The shadow of a new beginning† this metaphor said by Atticus allows Lee to reflect the society of 1960’s and even today’s society. The use of shadow suggests that a new beginning is approaching because shadows are always connected to its owner and it is always nearby. This also shows that Atticus has the most moral within Maycomb and that with his teachings, Jem and Scout would be able to be the new generation of hope that would stop the segregation. Lee uses the character developments of Scout to present the innocence and pure thoughts of a child in contrast to the growing up Jem who is starting to learn the way life works and that it is classified. â€Å"There’s four kinds of folks in the world. † – Jem the quote suggests the segregation and its inequality as to how people are categorised and divided, this is all due to the racism and social inequality. However, Scout said: â€Å"I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks. † this quote shows the naive thinking and an innocent perspective of a child, helping Lee to convey to the audience that life is not always that easy, but there are some sparks of hope for the racist and injustice society of the USA. Harper Lee was able to display the segregation of race and the injustice of life through To kill a mocking bird shows that the moral conscience is the most important aspects a human can possess. Atticus, Universal contextual issues†¦ To kill a mocking bird represents the racism that everyday lives hold. Harper Lee showed the contextual issues within society through multiple uses of narrative techniques. Racism, the injustice of society and the human’s * Tom Robinson, a black man becomes the victim of racial inequality as he was accused by Bob Ewell, a white trash, of a crime that he did not commit. Harper Lee’s To kill a mocking bird represents