Throughout my 8th grade journey I have been forced to encounter many characters and only one upstander stands out to me as he possesses both the empathy and courage. While learning about this character I was struck with the lack of characters with empathy from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. This is because it is the 1930s and we are in Maycomb,Alabama. Slavery has been forced to a halt in 1865, however the South refused to believe that they could be equal the black community. They created unfair laws, Jim Crow Laws, and treated the blacks like trash. Such as if a white women accused a black man of raping her that black man would be taken and lynched. The black man would not be given a fair trial but even if he did get a trial it would be nothing but …show more content…
Almost nobody in Maycomb respected black people, but only Atticus Finch, a respected white lawyer, gave black people some sort of respect. Atticus always told his children, Jem and Scout not to judge anyone because of their race, religion or gender. Atticus is a respected lawyer that has built quite a reputation in Maycomb. When Atticus is given a rape case, he is against all odds. Tom Robinson, a black man, has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Atticus knows that he will most likely lose this case because the jury is made of white males and they have prejudices against black people. In Maycomb’s Universe of Obligation, the group of people the community respects and protects, no matter the personality blacks are always at the very bottom while whites are always above them. Atticus could of easily rejected the case but he still takes the case because he understands the unfair treatment that Tom Robinson faces. Atticus risks his reputation to help Tom Robinson. Before the case, Atticus receives death threats and the community calls him a n-lover. One such person who calls Atticus a n-lover is Mrs.Dubose, a old lady. Mrs.Dubose goes so far to openly diss Atticus in front of his