Atticus Responsiveness

Unfortunately, more often than not, there are people in our society that are unlawfully criticized and harassed even though they cause no harm or trauma. Even more surprising is that some of these ‘beleaguered’ individuals are trying to help their community in ways that the general public doesn’t agree upon, so they refuse to see it. This idea of innocents being destroyed by evil is largely evident in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, where the town of Maycomb refuses to change their mindset and look past the prejudiceness to see the peaceful nature of two particular citizens, Atticus and Tom Robinson. These two characters in the novel are only trying to make their town a better place by having a sympathetic nature, which in turn causes

For example, when he tries to take the case of defending Tom Robinson, he causes major uproar to onlookers and his community even though he’s doing nothing but defending an innocent man. Such an example is when Mrs. Dubose expresses her dissent to Atticus by saying to Jem, “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for” (102). Even though Atticus thinks the same of everyone regardless of race, culture or gender, many of the people in Maycomb don’t notice that and instead target him for helping a black man who believes he should deserve a fair case. In addition to this, the scene where Mr. Ewell threatens Mr. Finch by spitting and shouting words at him after the case is another example of Atticus being targeted. Mr. Ewell, one of the witnesses of Tom’s case, didn’t like how Atticus was trying to point out his flaws in his cross-examination as that proves Tom Robinson, a black man with no place in society, is not guilty. Thus, he decides it’s a good idea to terrorize Atticus and his family who believes in giving everyone a fair chance in court. Both of these examples, including many others, helps the reader conclude the theme of “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” and how it’s wrong to target an individual because of their actions just because they don’t agree with