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Theme Of Integrity In To Kill A Mockingbird

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“It is a sin to kill a mockingbird” this quote is from the novel To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee. This story takes place in a rural very racially tense city called Maycomb. Everything is seen from the perspective of a little girl that goes by Scout. Jean Louise Finch (Scout) lives with her brother Jem and her father Atticus, Scout's father Atticus is a lawyer that decide to take a very controversial case defending a black man named Tom Robinson. In the novel the readers learn about the importance of integrity which means always doing the right thing. This theme is shown through several characters. Scout is a good example of integrity by how she reacts to the situation. Atticus take the case of defending Tom Robinson which is looked down upon by the community. For this reason, people tell Scout. Atticus is a “ N word lover”. Although this bothers Scout, Atticus tells her “you just hold your head head high and keep those fist down. No matter what anyone says to you, don't let ‘em get your goat”(76). What Atticus is trying to tell Scout is not to fight no matter what they tell her because he knows that they're going to nag her about the case. She shows integrity by holding back and not fighting although that is the only way she know how to defend herself. Integrity is …show more content…

Dubose as an example of integrity. Atticus is explaining to Jem that Mr. Dubose is a morphine addict. The doctor prescribed it to her and she has been addicted to them for years now. Atticus tells Jem “She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody”(111). Mrs. Dubose no longer wants to be a slave to morphine. She has a great ambition to die free from her addiction. This was not an easy goal to accomplish due to the withdrawals she had to go through. Even though she was racist Mrs. Dubose is a great example of integrity based on the fact that she pushed herself through pain to settle herself before she

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471 Words | 2 Pages

An example of this is when he takes the Tom Robinson case. When Atticus says that it isn't popular for white people to defend black people Scout says, “If you shouldn't be defendin’ him, then why are you doin’ it” (Lee 100). Atticus then replies, “The main one is, if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this country in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you to Jem not to do something again” (Lee 100). This shows that Atticus has integrity because according to him if he does not do something then he can not tell his children to do it. He likes to lead by example and feels that there are certain things that if he does not do he can no longer be a respectable

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1036 Words | 5 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper E. Lee, the story of protagonist Scout and her older brother Jem unfolds in the small but talkative town of Maycomb, Alabama, where they are raised by their insightful, loving father Atticus. Over the span of a short three years with their sidekick Dill, they spend their childhood days tormenting and daydreaming about town legend Boo Radley, causing shenanigans all over town and not wasting a moment of their care-free, young lives. However, the friends’ summer fun ceases when Scout and Jem especially are faced with traumatic and influential experiences like the renowned Tom Robinson case that send them quickly down the path into young adulthood. The corruption and people of Maycomb send Jem blindly spiraling

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576 Words | 3 Pages

Integrity is the quality of being sincere and having powerful high-minded principles. Integrity is shown in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, a book that took place in Maycomb County, Alabama where racism was profoundly entrenched. Atticus Finch, a character in the book, is a lawyer who is assigned the case of Tom Robinson, an African-American, who was unjustifiably accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Arthur “Boo” Radley, his neighbor, is a mysterious person in the beginning of the book but ends up revealing his kindness. His children, Scout and Jem Finch, are following their father’s word of wisdom and learning about integrity throughout their experiences on the way.

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901 Words | 4 Pages

One of the most prominent character traits that Atticus tries to teach Scout and Jem is honesty. During the Robinson case, Atticus

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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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764 Words | 4 Pages

While she does love a good fight, Scout cares more deeply about her father and pleasing him than whatever taunting she may face. Additionally, Atticus is teaching his children morals and values by taking this case, as shown above, the benefits of which greatly outweigh any negatives from taking the

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586 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch uses several forms of persuasion to convince his audience of Tom Robinson’s innocence. These forms include Pathos, Logos, and Ethos – although he uses them all multiple times, Pathos is the form that is most used. Atticus is trying to provoke guilt out of the jury, and wants them to push aside their prejudice and see the obvious fact that Tom Robinson did not commit the crime of raping Mayella Ewell. The most powerful Pathos phrase he uses is, “…the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immortal, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women – black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men.

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1030 Words | 5 Pages

Scout saw him as a brilliant leader. So much so, that she responded with obedience and kindness on page 87. She explained that, “Atticus so rarely asked Jem and me to do something for him, I could take being called a coward for him.” In one

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1143 Words | 5 Pages

Atticus tries his best to teach and show others-specifically Scout and Jem-how to judge what is right and what is wrong. First, Atticus tells Scout a very valuable life lesson. This is said when Scout was complaining to Atticus about her day at school, he said to her, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 30). Atticus is telling scout that she cannot truly judge someone's actions until she sees things from their side. This is something that Scout only understands near the end of the novel, when she sits on Arthur Radley’s front porch and tries to see what he see when he sits there, and she imagines how Boo see the events in the novel and in doing so began to understand him.

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991 Words | 4 Pages

Dubose shows courage by fighting her morphine addiction before her death. She knew that she did not have much longer to live and had beheld nothing but she still wanted to win one last battle. Mrs. Dubose had fits of rage about Atticus defending a black man, this causes Jem to rage and destroy her property. Atticus eventually found out and punished Jem and Scout by reading to her after school every day.

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1024 Words | 5 Pages

I can’t live one way in town and another way in my home” (Lee 367). Atticus is willing to put Jem on trial in order to teach his children that lies will only lead to disloyalty and deception. He does not want disloyalty to run through the family, so, when the time comes, he sets an example by telling the truth. No secrets or lies to hide from himself, his family, or the townspeople. Jones supports Atticus’s honest nature by saying that, “Reflection gives us humility, forces us to confront our own frailties and limitations; and compassion helps us love…”(Jones 152-153).

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949 Words | 4 Pages

“I want you to understand that courage isn’t a man with a gun in his hand,” (Lee 112). This is a quote spoken from a courageous man who put himself in other people’s positions and did not believe he was superior to African Americans like many in that time period. Atticus Finch is a lawyer, and also the father of Jem and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The finches live in a small town called Maycomb during 1933, also known as the Great Depression era. Throughout the book, the town faces many racial discrimination issues, especially when an African American man named Tom Robinson is falsely accused of rape of a white female.

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965 Words | 4 Pages

"Jem, I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It 's when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. " This insightful statement was told by Atticus Finch to his son, Jem Finch. Many people in Maycomb had to deal with racism, hatred, and discrimination because of their skin color or because of the court case.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

Harper Lee once wrote that “Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what”. Moral courage means doing the right thing despite the risk of any consequences. Anyone can have moral courage, no matter who you are. Many authors often use different literary elements to develop themes in their writings. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the literary elements mood and imagery to teach her audience about doing the right thing or moral courage.

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1089 Words | 5 Pages

Atticus tells Scout to keep her head up and avoid any fights when anyone is saying something bad about Atticus. Keeping this in mind, when Cecil Jacobs is intimidating Scout by calling her Atticus a nigger-lover. She refused to fight thinking “Somehow, if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down. Atticus so rarely asked Jem and me to do something for him, I could take being called a coward for him. I felt extremely noble for having remembered, and remained noble for three weeks” (77).

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