Morality Morality is doing what is right regardless of what others will think. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. As they grow up in a small, segregated town Jean Louise “Scout” Finch and her older brother Jeremy “Jem” Finch learn many important scrupulous lessons through their father, Atticus. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilizes Atticus to display the importance of courage, tolerance, and empathy.
One lesson Atticus teaches his children is courage. When he returns from a visit to Mrs. Dubose he tells Jem and Scout that she has died. He reveals that “Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict” (Lee 147) and before she died she made it her goal to break it. Atticus describes courage
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After the trial, Bob Ewell spits on and threatens Atticus he squelches his anger and shows empathy. Jem and Scout are scared for his safety but Atticus ensures them there is nothing to worry about and he will gladly take that from Bob. He understands what the Ewell children have to go through and letting Bob do the to him is “something [Atticus] will gladly take...rather it be [Atticus] than that household of children” (Lee 292). Atticus also shows his children his empathy for the African American community. He tells Jem and Scout “There’s nothing more sickening...than a low grade white man who’ll take advantage of [someone in a detriment]...whenever a white man does that to a black man...that white man is [reprehensible]” (Lee 295). He tells them this right after the trial when Jem is very maudlin. He uses the situation to teach Jem to not grow up to be like the rest of Maycomb and take advantage of people just because he can get away with it. Atticus’ main goal is not to have his children regress to the grievous ways that are ubiquitous in Maycomb.
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus shows how important it is to have the qualities of courage, tolerance, and empathy. He uses everything in Maycomb he can to help Jem and Scout learn the importance of morality. The lessons Atticus teaches are essential for everybody. Having morality is the first step to being a good person, always doing what is right no matter