ipl-logo

How Does Atticus Influence Scout's Education

760 Words4 Pages

Sanna Lexhed 4th To Kill a Mockingbird Scout’s true education comes not from a formal classroom but from her everyday experiences and characters with whom she comes into contact. Her first and most influential teacher is her father, Atticus. Atticus influences Scout to be civil, courageous, noble, and most of all to stay true to who she is, and where she came from. In the story, Atticus would oftentimes remind Scout and Jem to see both sides of the story, to step into someone else's shoes and see the situation from their perspective, and to consider both sides before choosing what side support. In chapter 3 Scout was telling Atticus about all the misfortunes throughout the school day involving Miss Caroline. While Atticus was processing …show more content…

His fury was like watching a pot of boiling water starting to rise, you know the water is going to overflow, but there's nothing you can do about it. "Not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in the courthouse lawing for niggers!" This was the water boiling over for Jem and Mrs. Dubose knew it. When Jem and Scout walked away Jem was scarlet from his anger. They walked by Mrs. Dubose's house one last time, Jem still furious decided to cut down every camellia bush she owned. When this news came around to Atticus, he felt embarrassed and disappointed. All his life has been teaching Jem and Scout to be respectful and civil, and when this happened, it broke him. As a form of punishment, he made Jem go to Mrs. Dubose's house every evening after schools and on Saturdays to read to her for a month. Scout didn't want Jem to do this alone, so he decided to come with him from time to time. Scout and Jem both wondered why Atticus would want Jem to read to her, why read, why not garden, or clean, what good did reading do? "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway." (149) Over time Jem and

Open Document