How Does Atticus Change In To Kill A Mockingbird

As Atticus decides to defend Tom Robinson, who is a black man. Many citizens of Maycomb don't understand his choices for doing so. Atticus is questioned by Scout, she asks him “If you shouldn’t be defendin’ him, then why are you doing it?” Scout says that to Atticus because people from Scouts school have been telling her that defending a black man is a negative thing to do. By asking Atticus this, it shows that others see black people as lower class compared to others. As the majority of Maycomb see them that way, they don't understand why Atticus should and would defend them. Atticus sees the whole situation as him just “Simply defending a Negro,” because he sees everyone nas an equal which everyone else should too. As the citizens of Maycomb don't understand why Atticus is defending Tom, some finally start to see the trial just like Atticus. In chapter 15, a mob is called upon Atticus for defending Tom. It is led by Mr. Cunningham, who has a son named Walter, which Scout goes to school with. While the mob is after Atticus because of him defending Tom, Scout is able to stop the mob. She stops the mob by telling Mr. Cunningham about his son and how Atticus has helped their family, which then calms him down to see the mob isn't right. As Scout’s kindness towards Mr. Cunningham helps him decide to call off the mobs, it also helps him to see Atticus is a good person for defending and helping Tom Robinson because Atticus did the same towards him. Atticus’ choice to defend and help black people is hard to understand for many, butin the end it is important to realise why he choses to defend

One theme that plays a very big part in the novel is the theme of ‘Usual Disease’. The ‘Usual Disease’ of Maycomb, Alabama, is racism and prejudice. Atticus is afraid that his children will catch this disease and become just like everybody else in the town. So he tries to teach them as mildly as he can, and shows them how a white man, like him, can defend a black man, like Tom Robinson. One thing that Scout and Jem find out during the novel is that Atticus didn’t have to defend Tom Robinson, but that he chose to help him. Scout and Jem learn here that their father doesn’t see the difference in skin color, and that he isn’t as judgmental as some of the people in Maycomb. The children have always really admired and looked up to their father, so when they see that he isn’t judgmental, I believe that something within them clicks and they see that it’s ok to just accept people for who they are, it doesn’t matter what race, or gender, or occupation. You can stand up for someone no matter who you

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses Atticus Finch’s character and setting to describe the conflict of racism and Finch’s moral conviction to do the right thing. The setting takes place in the 1950’s in idyllic town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the time of segregation and prejudice, white people treated black people very unfairly. Atticus, the protagonist worked as a lawyer. Atticus believes all men are created equal and entitled to a fair trial no matter the color of a man’s skin. A black man Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman, named Mayella Ewells. Atticus chooses to defend him against the town’s wishes. The whole town is against Atticus, who believed Tom was innocent and entitled to a fair trial under the constitution. Tom Robinson didn’t have a fair trial because of his skin color. Everybody in the whole court had already judged him

He takes the case solely because of his belief that “...whenever a white man [cheats] a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”(295). Atticus’s quote highlights his views that all people no matter what race, no matter how wealthy should be treated equally. Atticus’ dealing with Tom Robinson, who Scout seems to think of as less is very important to Scout learning empathy. Atticus shows that if he had thought of Tom as inferior and not worthy of his time, Atticus would have never shaken the racism that the Maycomb community and white men of his time attempt to engrave in him. By seeing Atticus take the case and fighting his “heart out” for Tom, Scout learns that she should never just follow the “crowd” and not be racist. When Atticus first takes the case Scout is curious as to why he would defend a man that the whole town thinks of as inferior. Scout asks: “If you shouldn’t be defendin him, then why are you doin’ it?...The main [reason] is, if I didn’t I couldn't hold my head up in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again(100). Atticus’ quote is a great demonstration of his strong morals and character. Atticus seems to believe that his whole town knows that it was Bob Ewell who raped Mayella Ewell, and that deep, deep down they think that it is the right

When Jean Louise “Scout” Finch returns home to Maycomb County Alabama, she never expected the mindset of the people in her hometown to change. Maycomb would become more advanced and modern, but the views of the people she loved and grew up with, never would. “Until comparatively recently in its history, Maycomb County was so cut off from the rest of the nation that some of its citizens, unaware of the South’s political predilections over the past ninety years, still voted Republican.” (Lee 7). Since Maycomb is so distant from the awareness of certain historical events taking place in the mid 1950s, Scout does not expect to find a change in people’s mind relating to civil rights. When Scout first arrives home and sees people like Atticus, Aunt

Atticus is the primary teacher for his children. He helped Scout learn to read, and he taught her more about life than the public school ever could. He wanted to raise his children so they wouldn’t behave like their classmates or the people of Maycomb. When Scout told Atticus that her classmates said bad things about him and that she was more than ready to physically fight for him, Atticus advised against this. He said, “’You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change…it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning’” (101). Atticus wanted

Atticus is a good man with a strong set of morals. We must do away with the idea that Atticus is racist based on the writing in Go Set a Watchman because, despite being the sequel to this book, Harper Lee wrote it before hand and based it on her father earlier in her life. However, that book was never intended to be published and the way Atticus is portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird is the only form that was meant for the public eye, meaning that the morals and actions that Harper Lee wanted to be show were those from To Kill a Mockingbird, the other story’s Atticus is basically an entirely different character sharing only a name. This idea is reinforced in To Kill a Mockingbird by his constant reminder to his children to avoid using hateful racial slang and the fact he fights for Tom

The Atticus of TKaM as you know was written after the "Watchman" Atticus. Harper Lee grew up in a small town similar to Maycomb and certainly had the perspective to tell the story by that reasoning. She, like so many Americans in the 50's and 60's had experienced and probably participated in some form of racism by that point in her life. The Finch character, I've read, is somewhat based on her father, who late in life changed his views from segregation to integration. Finch was likely created to help her reckon with her own conflicted perspectives on her father and his journey. (I assume his views changed along the same timeline as Harper was writing the Finch character). Anyhow, i'm realizing more and more how deeply ingrained racism is in

In the riveting masterpiece of a novel To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, the small town of Maycomb is awakened by the events that occur in the juvenile years of the main character who goes by Scout. Formally known as Jean Louise Finch, Scout leads readers through roughly a third of a decade in the sleepy old town in which she inhabits. Through this time frame, there is one event that reveals the true personalities of the townspeople. The event that caused such a powerful awakening in the town is the trial of a man named Tom Robinson. The reason for the improvement of the existence of the trial is due to the fact that Tom Robinson is a black man who is accused of raping a young white girl. The steps taken to resolve the case

The novel is written during a time where everything can happen to the black communities, and just people like Atticus, can help them to get out of the stigma of rapists, murderers, and thieves. Atticus with all his devotion and calm wisdom is able to step up and help during a trial of Tom Robinson a black guy who has been charged for an apparently rape to Ewell’s daughter. The story is written to take the reader from the end of the story at the beginning The first line of the novel introduces Jem’s broken arm, and then flashes back to cover the events leading up to his accident. Just after this short introduction to some of the main characters would appear, like Dill, a boy spent the summer at Maycomb, but also the Boo Radley, The mysterious neighbor who piques the children's interest. They've never seen him and make a game of trying to get him to come outside. In summary, to kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how racism, courage, family status, and friends clash together in the small southern town of Maycomb. Everything is described from a maturing girl’s perspective of

Scout and Jem’s innocence are slowly deteriorating as they ponder the reason why so many people hate black people so much even though they’re so similar to them. Tom Robinson’s trial begins and with high tensions of the defending of a nigger, Tom Robinson is approached by an angry mob with the intention of lynching him, until Scout saw a familiar face and reminded them of their humanity and showed them how inhumane they were by simply talking about Mr. Cunningham’s son, “ Mr. Cunningham, whose face was equally impassive...’I’ll tell him you said hey, let’s clear out,’ he called.”(Lee 175) Thus Robinson’s life was spared from the mob. At the trial Jem and Scout watch from a “colored” balcony as Atticus provides clear and cut evidence that may prove Robinson innocent and that Mayella Ewell and her father, Bob were lying and trying to cover up something. It is thought that caught by her father. Mayella blamed Tom of raping her and in shame coupled by the forceful coercion of her father guiltily testified against him. Atticus displays incriminating evidence of the way her beatings meant that only Bob could have hit her since Tom had a cripple hand yet, sadly, despite the paramount amount of evidence directing towards Tom’s innocence, the all-white jury convicts him. Tom later tries to escape jail but is then shot down. Many mourn the loss

Their beloved town Maycomb, Alabama, was once filled with playing “Boo Radley” with Dill, and learning how to read in Ms. Caroline’s class, turns into an innocent black man, Tom Robinson, being accused of first-degree rape. Tom Robinson was a hard working black man during the time of the Ku Klux Klan, and segregation. He is convicted of raping Miss Mayella, the daughter of one of the least respected families in Maycomb, the Ewells. Atticus Finch has been appointed to defend Tom Robinson to prove his innocence. The people of Maycomb believe that Tom Robinson was asked to fix the door for Miss Mayella, and that is when Tom Robinson allegedly committed the crime.

Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are very diverse yet similar in some ways. Both men face prejudice and unfair judgments that are being thrown at them. Tom Robinson is accused of rape even though he did not commit the crime. He was easily targeted because he was a black male. He was only convicted because of his race. Boo Radley has many ridiculous rumors that are said about him. He is seen as a monster and as an overall bad person by the town of Maycomb because of these rumors. These men are both accused of being people they are not by others who do not even know them or their stories. Tom’s absence and way of dying showed that he was not meant to be treated the way he was during the trial. Miss Maudie states, “The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked white only; the handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody…” (256). Miss Maudie is telling Aunt Alexandria that Atticus is basically representing the people who think that Tom should be treated fairly. This shows a turning point of the some of the Maycomb people. It is now revealed that there are others who think Tom was treated unfairly. Since everyone was afraid of Boo Radley and the Radley’s, everyone tried to stay away from their house as much as possible which was an effect to his absence in the community. Nobody knew the real him until the incident after the pageant. Scout realized that Boo Radley is not who she or other people think he is. Scout states, “Atticus was right. One

I read the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This book is from Scout Finch’s point of view. It’s about how Scout, Jem and Atticus live their life in Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a small town where everyone knows everybody. Atticus raises both Jem and Scout as a single father with the help of his town neighbors. One neighbor confuses them by never coming out of his house and his name is Arthur Radley, also known as Boo. When Dill another neighbors nephew comes to Maycomb for the summer him, Scout and Jem are on a quest to get Boo out of his house. About middle way of the book Atticus starts to represent a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping and beating a white women. Suddenly, Atticus’ children have to start

Atticus Finch’s conscious is what gets his two beloved children picked on. Maycomb’s townspeople are all aware of the case of Tom Robinson, yet everyone refuses to take it. Atticus is in a different mindset than the rest of Maycomb and does what he believes is morally right, even if it means putting his family in jeopardy. Therefore, Jem and Scout get taunted and discriminated by the xenophobic children at school such as Cecil Jacobs, who declares that “their father defends n****” . Although Atticus is aware of the consequences, he will face from helping this innocent man and is still willing to do it.