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Ambiguous Decisions In To Kill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee

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The novel “To Kill a MockingBird”, written by Harper Lee, consists of many characters with many ambiguous decisions. Characters such as Atticus, the strong-willed father, Mayella Ewell, the lonely young women, and Jem, the older brother of Scout, made consequential choices, with unclear motivations. However, by recognizing their backgrounds and understanding their current situations, their motives becomes more clear. For reasons, such as maintaining their own sense of justice and self respect, family love, and the desire to have company, led these characters to make questionable decisions. In order to uphold his sense of justice and self respect, Atticus voluntarily chose to defend Tom Robinson at the jail and the court case. In chapter …show more content…

Throughout the entirety of the novel, Lee portrayed the town to be prejudice towards African Americans, to the extent of blinding them from distinguishing right and wrong. For instance, when the jury came to a conclusion, Judge Taylor announced, “guilty, guilty, guilty…” (Lee 225). This judgement unveils, how racist the town is towards African Americans. This racism came to the point where it was unacceptable for a white male or female to have any associations with another black person. With this being said, Mayella, who is guilty of kissing Tom Robinson, had to frame him to protect her own social standing. However, in her defense, she kisses him because of her loneliness. When Atticus was interrogating Mayella, it is evident she is lonely for Scout stated “When Atticus asked had she have any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her.” (Lee 223). In addition to not having any friends, she was also the only women in her household. Due to her gender, age, and family name, she was isolated from the community, ultimately deriving her to seek any kind of attention or company. Overall, she was only a lonely young women who was desperate for company, but murdered the only one that provided her attention to meet the expectations of those who didn’t care for

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Jem’s adamant interest in Atticus’s affairs implies that he is beginning to replace his innocence with an understanding of the racial stereotypes surrounding Tom Robinson, and how his Atticus’s decision to defend Robinson in court puts himself in a position of political and physical danger, as social norms prohibit such.

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Does it make sense for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson? It make sense for atticus to defend Tom Robinson, Although it is impossible to win the cast because of discrimination of the society he live. Even though many people believe defend Tom Robinson it not the right thing for Atticus to do, that doesn’t stop him from fulfill his job as a lawyer. There many reasons why it make sense for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson. One reason why it make sense for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson is because of his lifestyle, which based on the golden rule as well as his personality.

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The Most Courageous Character The definition of courage is the ability to do something that frightens one, or strength in the face of pain or grief. People all over the world perform countless acts of courage every single day. Many characters in Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird portray these courageous traits also. Many of them performed acts that took great courage to do.

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Would you rather do the right thing and be criticized by society, or do the wrong thing and be accepted. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Atticus has to make this very decision. It is the Early 1900’s in Maycomb county, Alabama's courthouse, Atticus has to defend Tom Robinson in a case. While everyone he knows is against his decision and dislikes him now.

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In “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the protagonist's father, Atticus, demonstrates how a good individual courageously decides to defend an innocent, black man although he and his

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Atticus Finch is a well respected lawyer in Maycomb County. However, many individuals in the community turn their back on Atticus when he plans to defend an African American man, Tom Robinson, in court. Taking place in Alabama during the 1930s, “To Kill A Mockingbird” accurately portrays the hostile environment for

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In a small town in Alabama, there is one family who can change the way of the town for good, that family is the Finches. Their maturity throughout the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is impeccable, which really gets you emotionally connected to the characters in outstanding ways. But one of the Finches truly holds his place in the town, and that is Atticus Finch. His role in the book isn't helping the children find out who they are, but to help the town create a less racial atmosphere. Fond of symbols, Harper Lee has helped me discover one that truly represents Atticus marvelously.

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A person cannot call themselves a noble person if they can’t understand others. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is told in first person by Jean Louise Finch or by her nickname, Scout a 6-year-old. Harper Lee, depicts Atticus Finch as a proficient father to his two children, Scout and Jim, 10-year-old. Atticus teaches his children life lessons, one being it 's a sin to kill a mockingbird.

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Every person on this planet has the ability to make choices. People have been created with minds to convince, control, and problem solve. Similarly, other people’s influence has great power to change, persuade, and spread rumors. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, portrays many examples of people who were persuaded and changed from his or her own mind and decisions, or the effect of someone else’s. Injustice is rampant throughout the book, in Tom Robinson’s verdict, Boo Radley’s precarious situation, and with Scout’s situation at school.

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In To Kill A Mocking Bird, Harper lee shows that it is better to make decisions based on your own conscience than society's expectation. Three characters that made their decision based on their own conscience are Atticus, Boo Radley, Jem. Even though society was against them, they stuck to what they thought is right and made their own decisions. Atticus got rejected by society for helping a helpless colored man, he made a decision which was very unusual because most of the people in Maycomb were racist and picked on black people. Atticus makes decisions based on his own conscience by taking on the Tom Robinson case, the society were against him and even said “do you defend n****** Atticus?”(Lee 75) everyone was surprised by the decision atticus made, and most people were against him and started to hate him and make fun of him.

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While sitting in the courtroom, Scout observes, “As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty-five years. When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her.” (Lee 256). Mayella doesn’t have anyone to rely on.

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Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.

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Humans live in a world where moral values are very clearly set determining what is good and what is bad. We know what scares us and how racism should be treated. Nevertheless, this was not the case back in Alabama during the 1950s. In the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee narrates the lives of the people of Maycomb, Alabama, focusing on the story of Scout and Jem Finch, and the case of a said to be rape. In this emotion filled narrative, readers learn how life was back then not only in general, but for the separate social statuses that there was.

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Argumentative Essay “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win”. Atticus Finch decided to defend Tom Robinson when he was accused of raping a white woman. I would’ve done the same thing as Atticus because I believe that back then it wasn’t a very fair world. As soon as a white person blamed a black person Police or the Judge would automatically take the word or the white person.

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Have you ever wondered about the state of the American Dream? It used to be a beacon of hope and prosperity, a promise of a better life for all. However, lately, it feels like that dream is slipping away. It is a concerning trend that many people wonder if the American Dream is still alive or if it has become a distant memory. The American Dream has been prevalent throughout the history of the United States, containing the idea that any individual from any background can achieve success through hard work and determination.

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