Atticus's Lessons

From the beginning of the story “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Atticus has taught the young children in the story many lessons regarding the current situation they are encountering at the moment. One of the lessons Atticus taught was not to judge someone until they have walked in that person’s shoes. This lesson shows up numerous times throughout the book and movie of the story. Although the movie has a clear explanation of the teaching, the book has exceptional storylines following the lesson Atticus taught Scout. When the Finches had Walter Cunningham over for dinner one night, Scout was appalled by the way Walter was eating his dinner. As he poured syrup on his plate Scout announced, “ ‘But he’s gone and drowned his dinner in syrup,’

Jem and Scout did not know the whole story of Mrs.Dubose and what she has been through but when they find out the truth, they are ashamed of themselves for being so inconsiderate. In the book, this is a very important scene and it is clearly brought up to continue the lesson that Atticus is teaching the children. On the other hand, the movie does not make this scene clear about the message trying to get across. Although it did have the basics of the story, it did not have the same amount of detail and precision as the book did. In the movie, it did not show the huge importance of the alarm clock and the minutes counting down until Jem could leave but in the book that was a major detail which needed to be included in the movie to make the scene become more important. Ultimately, the book does a far better job describing the lesson Atticus teaches of “you really never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (Lee 30) by giving examples throughout the book. The written copy makes the lesson more important and seems to have more of an impact on Scout’s life than what it represented in the