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How Does Miss Maudie Show Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee’s purpose in describing Atticus the way he does in To Kill A Mockingbird is directly used to convey the theme in the story. As Atticus is described as being one who does not judge or think differently about people based on their race, gender, or religious beliefs it is used by the author to establish the theme of innocence. This comes as Atticus is just so kind to everyone around him, no matter their background, it even has Miss Maudie even talking about him as being just so consistent and holding no grudges and due to the author making Atticus be seen this way it shows off the theme of innocence as when Atticus will defend a black man in court and Scout gets picked on at school she does not understand why due to her innocence. She …show more content…

As a result of Atticus not seeing them different than anyone else, while the kids are so curious that they try to break into the Radley’s privacy it is not until Atticus tells the kids they, “were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (Pg 96) Due to this incident and Atticus not punishing them, the kids start seeing how someone looks can be totally different than who they truly are as the Radley’s got a bad reputation, but then after the fire everyone starts changing how they see the family as now being very kind and respectful bringing the Radley’s to look very innocent and certainly not the same reputation as they had previously gotten. Lastly, innocence in the story comes from the way the author describes Atticus as when the whole family is together in chapter nine Atticus is seen as being one who wants or expects things from his kids but is not one who punishes them, as he wants Scout to stop cussing but will not punish her and says she will grow out of it but the Uncle insists she can not, “use words like that except in ex-extreme provocation” (Pg

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The development of characters throughout the book, and what children learn puts it in perspective how children lack a complete comprehension of the world surrounding them. In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout learns about respecting other’s views and that everybody else does not understand how she mentally puts her learnings into context. The characters of Atticus as well Miss Maudie reveals to the reader a theme that is being shown by Harper Lee; maturation; Scout as well Jem mature throughout the short time that’s elapsed in the book, helped by the models listed previously. Atticus’ character is evident in this chapter. We see him teaching Jem and Scout about respect and other’s views.

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He shows this by not following the majority conscience, for example, he took on a “coloured” persons case, which shows how he opposes racism despite the hate he will receive from the people in Maycomb. He not only teaches Jem and Scout but he also teaches us, the reader, our principles, for example, “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”. The word sin in this quotation shows a religious point of view, which emphasises the word. Miss Maudie states “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy”, this links into many events taking place in the novel, for example, Tom Robinsons case. This particular event focuses on Tom Robinson, the mockingbird of the novel, he is the mockingbird because he is being judged by the people in Macomb for “raping” a white girl, which he didn’t do, this also shows Atticus’s integrity as he is the only person supporting

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In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus is portrayed as polite, courageous, and fair in order to show the importance of a moral education. Atticus shows how politeness is important when he is kind to Mrs. Dubose. Mrs. Dubose is an old, bitter recovering morphine addict. Scout and Jem pass by her frequently while she yells at them.

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Boo Radley’s story also is a story of innocence through the story. First, Harper Lee leads on that Boo is thought of as some mysterious, murderous, creep. Though, later, we learn that Boo is an innocent human trying to do the right thing to the best of his abilities. Scout even says that she herself believes that Boo is a mockingbird; in chapter 30 when Atticus explains how Bob “fell on the knife” and she says, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin‘ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” Boo Radley also leaves Scout and Jem things inside of the tree that they find on their way home from school.

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In the story Atticus states “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”. Since Scout is hearing this from such a young age it gives the reader a better understanding of how Scouts life is being affected since she is so young. If in this case it was in Atticus’s shoes the reader wouldn 't learn as much as from Scout 's eyes because Atticus is very smart and doesn 't need to learn these type of things again, therefore we the reader wouldn 't learn anything moral. Another advantage that Harper Lee had when writing To Kill a Mockingbird is that when Scout says “I think there 's one kind of folks. Folks”, she is able to portray more of her child like innocence, whereas if this was Atticus saying it, it wouldn 't really make sense considering he 's a grown man who knew a lot of and about the world.

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The story examines racial prejudice and the moral education of the young characters. In the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses characterization of Atticus to illustrate that it is important to do the right thing because people will look up to them and they will teach the younger generation to do right and justified things. The first way Harper Lee uses

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Scout wonders why Atticus is going along with something that society did not agree with, defending a negro who has been claimed to commit a crime, but he responds with saying it was the right thing to do and that the society was corrupt. “If you shouldn’t be defendin’ him, then why are you doin’ it?” “For a number of reasons, the main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.”(100) This adds to the kind of character Atticus is, he is bold for being the one to stand up for what is right in a corrupt society.

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When one grows up, it is inevitable they will lose their innocence. Seeing the world through rose colored glasses can only take one so far, and eventually they will have to open their eyes to real issues in their lives. While this happens at different ages for everyone, Atticus in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee believes that his kids should not be sheltered from the real world. As Scout and Jem, Atticus’ children, grow up, especially in a time where Maycomb is so segregated, Atticus teaches his kids real life lessons and to not become like the rest of their town; racist and judgemental. This comes with a cost, however, as the kids “grow up” at an expedited rate.

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The myths that emerged was based on the fact that this novel was written with the post-racial objective, but on the contrary, the book aims to show how the racism, or was a US scourge that resided firmly in the past and in the remaining racism represented a personal problem, more than the political one. The objective of the novel can reach an agreement that already exists in a sophisticated way, no matter what the plot revolves around racism or not. To Kill A Mockingbird is not a book of autobiography, but this novel does have aspects of his personal life, one of the most famous is that he grew up being a tomboy and the character Scout is a tomboy, other aspects that Harper Lee’s father was a lawyer, Atticus, Scout's father, was a lawyer, she had a friend, Truman Capote, very near who visited her on her vacations, which in this case entered the novel is her friend Dill. Another important aspect of when she read was small in her own neighborhood, news similar to that of Tom Robinson was given, it was from this situation that she got the inspiration to write about this tragedy of the novel. Lee also heard a case that a young man his friends went

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1226 Words | 5 Pages

These main characters in the novel endure multiple conflicts, but they remain true to themselves. Evidently, as soon as we are born we are deemed innocent, because we have yet to do anything that we know in our hearts is truly wrong. Scout is innocent for most of the novel, but as she

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922 Words | 4 Pages

He shows his worry when he talks to Jack. Atticus becomes successful in influencing his children’s thoughts and we can see this through Scout when she sends the lynch mob back. She thinks like Mr. Cunningham and makes him realize that he is an individual. This is a very interesting and strong topic and Harper Lee includes this theme in the novel for two reasons. The first reason is that she wants her readers to understand how devastating the effects of racism were in the 1930s.

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Chairman of the Chicago Bulls Jerry Reinsdorf has stated “Discrimination and prejudice of any kind have no place in sports or in our society” Jerry's statement matches To Kill a Mockingbird character Atticus Finch's actions. Atticus and Jerry both have the same opinion of prejudice and racism. Their opinion is racism and prejudice should not belong in a society. Jerry said the quote but Atticus took an action to it. In To kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses symbols and natural elements to teach readers that prejudice can create a hostile society and there are good people who try and stop prejudice.

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Authors show character 's personality through their actions and their words. There were many instances in the book that Atticus used his actions and words to fight for social justice. By looking at impartiality, moral conviction, and selflessness Atticus showed through his actions and words, it is clear that Harper Lee believed that everyone should be treated equally, no matter their race, ethnicity, gender, or religion. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea that moral conviction is demonstrated by doing the right thing even if everybody is against you.

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In the 1920s and 30s, many people were narrow minded and held a lot of prejudice within themselves. Harper Lee does an amazing job of illustrating the citizens with closed off perspectives, but she is also able to show the good within almost every character. Along with that, she shows us how some of the citizens have grown out of that mindset to a more widened one. She is able to write about Atticus’s open and tolerant mind trying to teach Scout, and Jem, to be more understanding. Atticus tells Scout that “‘you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it’”

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He knows the rest of the town will disapprove, but he believes in the innocence of this man and does not care of his complexion. In this moment, Scout and Jem only see how everyone will downgrade them and see them differently. Atticus shows, it does not matter what others think, all that matters is that you support what you believe in. This shows how Atticus is a strong character who contributes a lot to the overall lesson

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