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Self-Sacrifice In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” famous children's book author Dr. Seuss wrote. Although his books may seem silly, Dr. Seuss’s works were very meaningful and sincere and have inspired many people. However, one of the greatest fears is being judged because someone is different, and this is expressed in many other literary works as well. To Kill a Mockingbird is told from the perspective of a girl named Scout, whose father Atticus tried to teach Scout and her brother Jem to be different and not be corrupted by the racism and classes of the southern town they live in. Scout and Jem went through many experiences that taught them important things, including the trial of a black man Tom Robinson. Atticus risked his reputation while defending Tom Robinson during the trial in which Bob Ewell accused Tom Robinson of raping his daughter Mayella. He was attacked by Bob Ewell as a result of fighting for blacks and trying to break the unfair social mores. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilized the character of Atticus to reveal that self-sacrifice is needed to break the social mores of society. Atticus fought for Tom Robinson in the trial, breaking social mores of whites being viewed as superior. In Maycomb, there was a sort of caste system with African Americans on the bottom. …show more content…

Our moral values and beliefs are for the most part taught to us when we are little, and it stays with us throughout our entire lives because things are easily absorbed and believed at a young age. These traditions that are passed on from one generation to the next are very hard to break as a result of this, even though they are wrong. Sometimes one must do what is right even though sacrifices must be made to change these ways. As Dr. Seuss said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s

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In a small town in Maycomb, Alabama, there was a rape trial where a lawyer named Atticus defended Tom Robinson, a black man. Mayella Ewell was the woman who claimed she was raped and Bob Ewell was her father. In the end, Tom Robinson was convicted of rape and was shot and killed when he tried to escape prison. Even though Tom Robinson was convicted, Bob Ewell was still bitter toward Atticus because he defended Tom To get back at Atticus, Bob Ewell attacked Jem and Scout and tried to kill them. Bob did not succeed at hurting the children because Arthur Radley saved them and killed Bob Ewell by stabbing him with his own knife.

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1. Though there is an incredible amount of important characters in the novel, to me, the most significant character in Part 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch. His actions and treatment towards everyone and everything caused me think the most in comparison to the other characters. For instance, Atticus makes an important decision to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, in trial during Chapter 9, thus leading to harassment towards his family not only from school, but even from their own neighbor and a relative. While his actions put him and his family in trouble, Atticus still stands firm in his beliefs.

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until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). This quote is one of the most impactful ones throughout the story. Atticus displays that instead of automatically feeling rage towards the person, you should consider the other person’s point of view and understand their emotions. Atticus teaches another lesson about empathy, but this time, it was to Scout's brother, Jem. Mr. Finch was defending, Tom Robinson, the defendant, who was accused of raping a white woman by Bob Ewell and his daughter Mayella.

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Like Lee’s father, Atticus is a well-respected lawyer who has intelligence as well as strong morals. Atticus is also the loving father of the narrator, Scout. Atticus’s beliefs are very influential to Scout and Jem just as Lee’s father 's views must have been very influential for her. Lee uses Atticus to demonstrate her own views in many ways, including her view on who is to blame for Tom’s death. Although Atticus’s speech to the jury at the end of the trial puts the blame into the hands of each individual juror, and although he is unable to understand how they could convict Tom, Atticus doesn’t ever blame them directly.

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Equally important, he never frowned upon them, or disgraced their ways. While speaking to his children, Atticus conveys this, “Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man” (Lee 139). As a result, he displays to his children that he is not a coward and will not back away from a challenge, even if it means his reputation may taper as the trial advances. Correspondingly, the African American populous makes known that they are appreciative of Atticus’s intentions to free Tom of his accusation. During the trial, the members of the African American public watched Atticus vividly defend their friend as if color was no

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To Kill a Mockingbird is an important text worthy of all the recognition it received in the time following its original publication. A prime piece of fine American literature based in a period of extreme racial segregation and inequality. Set in a southern town of Maycomb Alabama during the depression, Lee follows three years of the life of eight-year-old Scout (Jean Louise) Finch and her older brother Jem (Jeremy) Finch as their father is, for three years, a fundamental figure in a case that had punctured the town as a result of the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man. As the years commence/continue, Scout and Jem, alongside the audience grow increasingly aware of prejudice throughout society as they learn the importance of perspective and being courageous when faced with adversity. By illustrating the influence of prejudice on society, Harper Lee challenges the perspectives of society, criticizing the nature of humankind to stereotype and be prejudice towards one another and in doing so, she successfully convinces the author to look beyond the facade society creates and locate the humanity that is concealed within everybody.

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She realizes how dangerous the world truly is. In a less serious manner Scout and Jem lose their innocence to. This is done by the case of Tom Robison, a local black man. Tom was tried for the rape of Mayla Ewell, a local white women. Atticus, Scout and Jem’s father, was Tom’s lawyer.

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Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is about a man named Atticus and his two kids Jem and Scout. Atticus was appointed to defend an African American, named Tom Robinson. Tom was accused by Bob Ewell for raping and beating his daughter, Mayellea Ewell. During the trial scene, everyone in that courtroom finds outs the truth that Tom is innocent against the accusations from Bob. The truth is that Mayella kissed Tom and Bob saw what she did.

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Jem further understood the true meaning of moral courage when he saw Atticus defending Tom Robinson, a black man. Although Atticus was hugely outnumbered and even cornered by Mr Cunningham and some other people, he did not back down from them. Instead, he seemed even more determined to win the case and prove Tom Robinson 's innocence to all of Maycomb County. Almost everyone in Maycomb County had criticised Atticus and his children for taking up the case of defending Tom Robinson and they were even called "nigger lovers" by many. At first, Jem did not understand why his father chose to defend Tom Robinson when he knew that people would whisper and gossip about it and that the possibility of him winning the case was very low.

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