How Is Atticus Finch Accused In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in fictional Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s where racism is common and socially acceptable. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, the young protagonist, tries to understand the complex lives of the people living in her town throughout the book. Additionally, she attempts to get Arthur “Boo” Radley, a reclusive man in their neighborhood, to go outside with Jeremy Atticus “Jem”, her older brother, and Charles Baker “Dill” Harris, their friend who visits during the summer. At one point, Atticus Finch, a lawyer and their father, has to defend an African-American man, Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of Bob Ewell and a lower class white woman. During the trial, Scout

Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, for example, was introduced as the foul, elderly Maycomb resident who would only yell at Scout and Jem as they pass by her. The children only learn more about her through their increased interactions. This starts when Jem destroys Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bush after she insults Atticus, saying he’s “in the courthouse lawing for n*ggers”(101) and that their “father’s no better than the n*ggers and trash he works for.”(102) Not only does Mrs. Dubose look down upon black and poor people, she has no respect for sympathizers either. Throughout the book, there was no mention of anything that could have influenced her to view people this way. Lee did not want readers to think there was ever an excuse for racism. As punishment, Jem is forced to read to her everyday for a month at her house and Scout joins as well. Atticus visits her house a month after Jem is freed and returns with a candy box. Inside is a camellia for Jem, a token of gratitude for helping her battle her addiction, as revealed by Atticus. Mrs. Dubose won against her morphine addiction in the end and the gift was “her way of telling [Jem] – everything’s all right now.”(112) She had forgiven him. Despite Mrs. Dubose disapproving of Atticus’ actions until her last breath, he truly wanted Jem to see another aspect of her, her courage. Her addiction was never presented as an excuse for her bigotry, If this was mentioned earlier, readers may have not been able to see Mrs. Dubose as who she was on the surface, a racist, elderly woman. Through Mrs. Dubose, Lee shows that even “bad” people can have positive, even admirable,