How Is Atticus Finch Inhumane In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is heavily centered around racism in southern America in the 1930s. In the book, a lawyer named Atticus Finch is chosen to defend an African American man named Tom Robinson after he has been unjustly accused of rape by Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell comes from a family that is notorious in Maycomb, Alabama for lacking work ethic, class, and good morals. Bob Ewell is believed to have abused his daughter and blamed it on Tom Robinson, so Atticus puts forth his best effort to prove Tom innocent. Atticus’s willingness to support a black man in court is appalling to many citizens in his town and to many members of his family. However, his two children, Scout and Jem Finch, don’t understand why anyone would be upset by this.

The Finch family becomes the victim of a lot criticism, and many unwanted opinions are shoved in their faces. Atticus repeatedly sits Scout and Jem down and tells them that they might not understand the reasoning behind other people’s actions now, but they will when they’re older. This statement made me wonder about the reason that the children will not be able to comprehend hatred until they’re older and until they’ve experienced more of it. It made me think about the fact that maybe people are not born with hostility in their hearts, but maybe instead it is something they are taught. People are not born with discrimination imbedded into their minds, but as they grow, it is something they learn, and since Atticus did not teach Jem and Scout to judge people based off of the color of their skin, it was not something they did. So, why do others? Why do people feel the need to pass on prejudice and judgment and hatred? In To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem tells Scout that he’s come to the conclusion that there are four different kinds of people in Maycomb, and he separates the groups based off of who they

He says, “If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?” Later on in the book, Scout answers this question in the best way any of us know how when she says, “I came to the conclusion that people were just peculiar…” This book really influenced the way that I viewed people, especially bullies. I think that there really only is one kind of person, just different kinds of lives we each lead. We’re all more alike than we are different, but our past experiences and our personal battles make us who we are and mold us into what we become. As I reflected upon the story, I realized that the Finch family may have been the ones receiving the harassment, but they could sleep easily at night, knowing that they had done the right thing and had stayed true to themselves. Maybe the people we should really feel sorry for in this world are the people like Bob Ewell. Those people may be brash and rude, but those emotions only stem from a lack of happiness and