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Atticus's Decisions

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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. His children were getting hate from other kids at school too. People would pick on them, bully them, say mean things, and even call their dad a “n***** lover”(Lee 83). Atticus knew that he would get a lot of hate from the society, but he didn't let that stop him from what he thought was right. Every white person in the society would not help black people, they would look at them as if they were …show more content…

He killed Bob Ewell to defend the kids. If he would have followed society’s expectation he wouldn't have killed Bob, and the children would be dead. Murder in Maycomb was unusual, the people couldn't even believe that Boo might have killed Bob, “Mr. Finch, do you think jem killed Bob Ewell?”(Lee 272). Boo’s courageous act had saved the kids and eliminated the bad people from Maycomb. Since Boo saved Atticus’ kids, Atticus decides to blame jem, so that Boo doesn't get a lot of attention which will kill him. “She said Jem got up and yanked him off her- he probably got hold of Ewell’s knife somehow in the dark…”(Lee 272). Atticus blames the situation on Jem, which is fine with them, if it means to not get attention on

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He looked out for jem and scout when they were going home and when he saw them being attacked he went and defended them, which lead to him killing Bob Ewell with a kitchen knife. “Thank you for my children, Arthur,” [Atticus] this shows that atticus was thanking boo for his bravery to protect over the children that weren’t even his but he looked at them as his children. Boo showed courage from like behind the scene by looking out for Scout and Jem without anybody

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When Boo killed Ewell, saving Jem and Scout, Atticus’ perspective of Boo completely changed. " [...]Sheriff Tate interrupts, telling Atticus that Jem did not stab Ewell; that he fell on his own knife... Atticus and the Sheriff decided that Boo should be spared a trial. They tried him in the secret courts of their own hearts, and declared him "not guilty," and Scout endorses their decision: to try Boo would be like shooting a mockingbird" (Dare 86). Jem and Scout notice that he wasn’t as scary as they

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This quote takes place after Atticus has shot a rabid dog that was threatening his children and the neighborhood. Miss Maudie tells Jem and Scout that Atticus was “the deadest shot in Maycomb County in his time,” and was called “Ol’ One-Shot.” Jem and Scout are very surprised. The theme raised by this section is modesty. Just because you have a special ability does not mean that you should use it unnecessarily.

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“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Atticus uses Pathos, ethos and logos to convince Tom Robinson could never have committed this crime. Atticus is fighting the inevitable battle of racism and trying to prove a black man's innocence in court. His strength and intelligence is about to change at least one person in the jury to look past his skin color and see him as an equal. Taking this one small step forward is a major step for the equality of everyone.

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541 Words | 3 Pages

They were assaulted and emotionally manipulated by people who disagreed with their father. As evidenced by cousin Francis, “ ‘He’s [Atticus] nothin’ but a nigger lover!’ (Lee 110)”, children in the neighborhood believe her father’s case is a source of shame and bully Scout for it. Atticus is causing his children social strain; putting a physical and literal target on their heads.

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Atticus thinks that the kids should not mess with Boo because his property is his property, and the children would not want someone “playing tricks” in their yard, and treating them differently than anyone else. Jem and Scout state that “they want to keep it that way” (Lee, 57) meaning they do not want Atticus to punish them for what they did. If they act the way they should, then Atticus would not have to punish them. Atticus is a good father that teaches his children to treat everyone equal.

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293 Words | 2 Pages

This quote relates to morality because it portrays how society was like several years ago. Morality is the ability to decipher what’s right and wrong to establish the truth. For instance, racism took a huge part in the county as many white citizens bestride over the negroes to show power. During the case with Tom Robinson, Atticus was able to provide substantial evidence to prove that Tom Robinson was not guilty regardless of what the other witnesses had said. However, since the jury consisted primarily of white race, the final verdict was announced as guilty.

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1314 Words | 6 Pages

Atticus being a white men also showed courage by going against the Maycomb people and willingly defended Tom Robinson, a black men. Due to that he was often called N-lover by other white people. Despite of those criticisms given by many of the town’s people, he did his best to defend Tom. He said, "If I didn't I couldn't hold my head up in town, I couldn't represent this country in legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something".(page 75). On page 149, Atticus says : “Son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her.

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There were many personally impactful events happening in the town, like the rape trial, a neighbor’s house burning down, and new opinions coming to light. Jem could have learned a great deal from this because he was such a big part of society considering his dad was the lawyer for a black man, and he also could have been accused for killing Bob Ewell. As Atticus says in the novel, “‘Heck, ...‘If this things hushed up it’ll be a simple denial to Jem of the way I’ve tried to raise him” (Lee 314). Atticus was watching out for Jem because he didn 't want for him to be treated differently, he knew he was changing and was starting to understand what happened to Boo Radley. Boo was seen as a reckless child, so that 's how he got his reputation, and Atticus doesn’t want them to be seen in a bad way.

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The right’s of Atticus choosings In my opinion Atticus did do the right thing in fighting for Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was against the word of two white people with a heavy case; but Atticus did it all out of the kindness of his heart. Atticus wanted to change the way people thought about the colored people “simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (lee. 101). Atticus knew it would be tough because of the heatless town of Maycomb; but he knew all the facts, and was willing to give it all he had to try, and get Tom Robinson out of this mess. He believed that if he didn't defend Tom Robinson he could not hold his head up to the town and he certainly couldn't tell Jem and Scout what to do anymore.

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1024 Words | 5 Pages

Mary Sarton explains that,”One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being”. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the more prominent figures in the book is the father of Scout and Jem, Atticus Finch. He serves as the voice of reason for the audience, his children, and himself. He gives life lessons to both Scout and Jem that shape who they are as a person, especially towards the end of the novel with the encounter of Bob Ewell and Boo Radley. Throughout the novel, Atticus symbolizes the virtue of humility.

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421 Words | 2 Pages

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

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1146 Words | 5 Pages

He says, “As you grow older, you 'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don 't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to 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." (Lee 250) Atticus explains the harshness of the way white men treat and act around black people. He tells them that there is not excuse for behavior like that, and so the children choose not to act that way. This method of combating prejudice can be very effective on the children being taught,

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466 Words | 2 Pages

However, in the act, he killed Bob Ewell. Due to the fact that he was only trying to protect Jem and Scout, Sheriff Heck Tate decides not to report Boo in the incident, saying Ewell fell on his own knife. Scout understands exactly why he does this. When discussing why he wouldn’t be put on trial, Scout says: “‘Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?’” (Lee

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803 Words | 4 Pages

“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” This is a quote from Atticus Finch, a courageous and wise character from Harper Lee 's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. The story is told through the perspective of a young girl, Jean Louise ¨Scout¨ Finch. She lives with her older brother, Jeremy, and widowed father and prominent lawyer, Atticus, in Maycomb, Alabama during the time of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, the children experience the injustice and prejudice of society through a tough case that their father was appointed to and are taught to respect and tolerate all people, despite their differences.

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