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Life Lessons In To Kill A Mockingbird

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While school may teach lessons, they are certainly not valuable life lessons. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird repeatedly shows the ineffectiveness of the education system in a child’s morals. To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the Great Depression era in Alabama, where education was not the best. Teachers would only seek to teach their classes average, everyday lessons rather than valuable life teachings. Throughout the novel, Scout and Jem learn more and more valuable life lessons through real life scenarios than they ever would have ever learned at school. They learn morals such as courage, selflessness, and equality through their own lives. Therefore, real life experiences give more valuable lessons than education to Scout and Jem. …show more content…

Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced” (Lee 329). While this may seem like a useful life lesson, Scout realizes the clear hypocrisy in her lesson. Like every other citizen of Maycomb, she is prejudiced against black people. Even though she is teaching her students that prejudice and persecution is wrong, she is participating in those very activities at home. She heard her third grade teacher after Tom Robinson’s trial, she thought “it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us” (Lee 331). Her own teacher’s thoughts on trial prove that the education system is flawed in Maycomb. Her statements against persecution directly contradict what she said about Tom Robinson. Herself and her students have been taught by Maycomb’s society that prejudice is okay. Jem and Scout, on the other hand, have been taught that all people should be treated equally through Atticus. So in the end, the education system does not teach actual life lessons to everyone. And once again, Scout and Jem learned their life lessons through real life experiences. By the end of the story, Scout realizes the societal division between races is wrong and is not …show more content…

She realizes that even school itself is not teaching the fair and right ideas. The true main teacher in To Kill A Mockingbird was Scout and Jem’s experiences. Real life experience is the greatest teaching tool Scout and Jem have. At its core, To Kill A Mockingbird is a coming of age story, and Scout and Jem mature in both age and their values. They have learned how to view things from other people’s perspective, equality, and the flawed education system. So in

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659 Words | 3 Pages

Scout learned to treat everybody equally. Atticus led a great example for Scout by taking Tom Robinsons case; He tried to win just as hard as he would have for a white man. Anytime Scout would ask questions or make comments about other people, Atticus would remind her not to judge others. For example, when Scout asks Atticus if he's a “nigger lover” he responds "I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody....

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811 Words | 4 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem grows from a little boy to an intelligent young man. Throughout the book, he discerns many things that shape his personality. As Jem grows, he learns how bad society is and that not everyone is perfect. Fortunately for Jem, this ends up helping him and he finds out that Atticus is a hero and that he should look up to Atticus. Through Atticus and the trial, Jem loses his innocence by learning about prejudice, bravery, and that the justice system is crippled.

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951 Words | 4 Pages

Tom Robinson is caught kissing a white woman from Maycomb named Mayella Ewell. To prevent being frowned upon by the local citizens, she instead said that Tom Robinson raped her even though that was far from the truth. He’s taken into trial with the help of Atticus, and the case is unarguably one of the factors that help further the theme of innocence in Scout’s view. Atticus is determined to help Tom, even if it means that the citizens will turn against his own family because “killing a mockingbird is a sin.” As events progress, Scout is taught that discrimination solely because someone is “different” is

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422 Words | 2 Pages

The oppressive feeling of racism has touched all in maycomb. None can ignore it. The effect of it is very obvious, corruption. Atticus’s goal is to stop his children from “catching Maycomb’s disease” (117 need citation) in hopes that Jem and Scout will grow into people with morals that all are equal, you don’t have to follow society's predetermined standards. Atticus sacrifices his reputation, safety and when undertaking the responsibility of defending a black man.

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359 Words | 2 Pages

Scouts developments throughout the novel revolve around the lessons she is taught be three people, Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Aunt Alexandra. These three characters each have their own lessons to teach including forgiveness, understanding, equality and much more. These lessons allow Scout to have a wider perspective of the situation she finds herself in. Scout in the novel is presented to us as a growing a developing character. The lessons she is taught by her three feminine influences help her development a lot in the throughout the novel as they are a wide variety of lessons most likely helping think of what to do in most situations she finds herself in.

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515 Words | 3 Pages

Jem and Scout also have to understand that some people just do not like certain things, and some just want to be left alone. Miss Maudie talks to Scout about how Boo may just not want to come out of his house, and that may just be his preference (Lee 49). This makes the children realize that everyone has different things they like, and you just have to respect what people like and do not like. It is just better to force someone to do something they may not want to do.

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894 Words | 4 Pages

Girls are expected to dress and act lady-like, and men are perceived as the breadwinners. Another problem is that racism plays a part of the division in Maycomb. Black people are valued as lesser people, and they are treated unfairly. Tom Robinson was mistreated during his unjust trial, and because of the stereotypes and racism he was sent to jail for a crime he did not commit. Scout also finds herself stereotyping Arthur “Boo” Radley.

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520 Words | 3 Pages

This event shows Scout’s intolerance of people at the beginning of the novel. During Tom Robinson 's trial, Scout learns a great deal more about tolerance. She learns to accept the way other people live. As well, she learns about the intolerance that some other people have. Scout’s perception of tolerance throughout the novel changes her behavior.

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1045 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the novel, Jem and Scout learn valuable life lessons

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794 Words | 4 Pages

Personal values and morals are instilled into children by their parents . Jem and Scout Finch, characters from Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, are open minded, educated, young children that have a father named Atticus Finch who tries to teach his children to have sound morals and personal values . The children have not been sheltered from life's hardships due to their father Atticus's views on parenting instead they have learned right from wrong. Atticus Finch believes that not sheltering his kids from the world allows them to form strong morals and values. Atticus Finch does what he believes will help make his children into strong citizens with outstanding values and morals.

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614 Words | 3 Pages

In society, there are very few people who have the unwavering dedication to stand up for what they believe. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man was convicted and accused of a crime he didn 't commit, raping a white women, which is not in anyway tolerable in society. In Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird, the author used point of view and symbolism to acknowledge how the the several social divisions which make up much of the adult world are shown to be both irrational and extremely destructive. To begin with, the short story To Kill A Mockingbird, used point of view to show how the many social divisions in the world are irrational and destructive. Scout; a first grade student at the time, was telling the story from her point of view and what had occurred from her childhood perspective.

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915 Words | 4 Pages

The way the people and the town influence Jem and Scout make the characters more realistic and the overall story much more interesting. To Kill a Mockingbird is an exceptional novel that conveys many positive messages throughout. In her novel, Lee creates honest and relatable characters that take the reader on a journey through life in the south during the Great Depression. Readers are impressed by Lee’s eloquent writing and amazing characters, all of which make To

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2892 Words | 12 Pages

Harper Lee is an American writer, born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She is famous for her race relations novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. And it became an international bestseller and was adapted into screen in 1962 under a movie named ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ as well. Lee was 34 when the book was published, and it still remains her only novel.

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794 Words | 4 Pages

Growing Up in Maycomb Growing up is part of life. Whether you realize it or not with age comes knowledge and with knowledge comes maturity. For Scout losing her innocence is inevitable. From dealing with bad teachers, going to an old lady's house everyday for month, to seeing a man be wrongfully accused of rape, to realizing you’re childhood villain is your guardian angle.

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307 Words | 2 Pages

Nelson Mandela once said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” (Brainy Quote). Throughout the past century, education has adjusted to the ongoing modifications of the national school system. Similarly, the Great Depression, a time of severe economic devastation, altered many lives, educational institutions included. Displayed as a central theme in the classic, To Kill A Mockingbird, education clarifies the distinct difference between two opposing values in Maycomb, Alabama, self-taught knowledge and education in school. To Kill A Mockingbird begins by informing the reader on the citizens and history of Maycomb, highlighting the death of the main character’s mother and the significant role of her father,

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