Atticus Nonviolence Quotes

Harper Lee’s novel, To kill a Mockingbird, is a book about the Finch family, living in Maycomb, Alabama, during the early 1930s. The book is told through the perspective of an 8-year-old girl called Scout, and it's about the struggles she and her brother Jem, age 11, face when their father Atticus takes a case defending a black man accused of raping a white girl. Lee embraces the idea of nonviolent resistance and shows how sometimes it can be the most powerful influence in change, how hate is not the way, and she pushes the reader to consider their worldview about the differences among people. The Author shows her belief in nonviolence in many ways throughout this book. The first that comes to mind occurs when Atticus works late at the jail,

“But is it ok to hate Hitler?” asks Scout. “It’s not,” he said, “it’s not ok to hate anybody.” (330) Even though Atticus turns off the radio whenever Hitler is mentioned, and disagrees with everything he does, Atticus does not hate. Just like MLKs 5th principle, which states, Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. To Kill A Mockingbird is anything but a romance novel, rather it shows the Agape love. Agape love, as defined by Martin Luther king is: “understanding, redeeming goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative.” The Finch family’s neighbor Mrs. Dubose is another way they show agape love. Mrs. Dubose insults Atticus and his children every day when they walk by for defending a black man in court. One day, Jem couldn’t take it anymore and he killed all her flowers. Atticus told him that he would have to go to Mrs. Dubose's house every day for a month and read to her. She died a little after that month and Atticus told Jem that she was a morphine addict. Having them around, she could take her mind off the drug and increase her life span to some amount. She died free of the drug, as she wanted to. Atticus says, “She had her own view about things, a lot different from mine, maybe… son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d have made you go read to her. I

Atticus talks to Jem about shooting the air rifles they got for Christmas. “I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”(119) If you look for the deeper meaning, you see that Atticus acknowledges the value of different birds and treats them accordingly. This is the same situation occurring with MLK. King is talking to a group of people about the injustice in the world, and how blacks should be treated equally to whites, but they don't care. They shoot the blue jays and take joy in doing