To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus Selfish Quotes

“[Adolescence] is a time when people become independent individuals, forge new relationships, develop social skills and learn behaviors that will last the rest of their lives”(World Health Organization). The story follows the narrator Scout who lives with her brother Jem and her single father, Atticus.In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee the novel is set in the fictitious town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Atticus is a lawyer defending a African American named Tom Robinsom, in a case of rape. This trial of a lifetime as Tom is set in a town where racism has been established over the centuries. Tom, a father and a husband, suffers from being falsely accused and has to deal with consequences. For the duration of the novel, Scout interacts

While Atticus is defending Tom during the trial, Scout and Dill, the children’s friend, leave the courtroom because Dill is crying. They sit under a tree then Dolphus Raymond walks up behind them and begins talking to them. Dolphus Raymond is the town outcast as he is a white man who married an African American girl and has been judged for that. He is also known for being drunk all the time. He is conversing with the children and tells them how he isn’t really a drunk. Dolphus starts to get into a deep topic with Scout and Dill, he states, “‘Some folks don’t –like the way I live. Now I could say the hell with ’em , I don’t care if they don’t like it. I do say I don’t care if they don’t like it, right enough–but I don’t say the hell with ’em, see?’” (Lee 228). Dolphus doesn’t care about the peers in this town making their judgment. Scout can see the adult perspective. Scout is fascinated by Mr. Raymond, and asks him why he trusted her and Dill with this secret of his, he says “‘Because you’re children and you can understand it,’ [...] ‘Things haven’t caught up with that one’s [Dill’s] instinct yet’” (228). Scout takes this into consideration and realizes she probably doesn’t know the truth to anything. If it wasn’t for Dolphus Raymond telling her about the Coca-Cola she wouldn’t have known and she would’ve judged him based off of the rumors of the

Aunt Alexandra is the sister of Atticus Finch, she moved into Atticus’s house for a while to help take care of the kids while the trial was about to happen and tries to add femininity to Scout’s life. Aunt Alexandra gives her opinions about Atticus defending Tom, which represents another opinion about the town. In the beginning of the book when she first came, she wanted to change her, “‘We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won’t be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys—’”(145). When Aunt Alexandra said this, Scout didn’t care for it at the moment, but maybe she wasn’t old enough to. Teens reflect the thought of how our younger self did not care about clothes and how we dressed then, but Scout isn’t there yet to realize that. Scout is still young and doesn’t care about other people's opinion. Aunt Alexandra changes and the truth comes to her later on in the book that nothing she says can change the kids. She adapts to the new space she has created, “Aunty brought me my overalls, ‘Put these on, darling,’ she said, handing me the garments she most despised”(303). Aunt Alexandra seems to change and understand no matter what change she wants, there is nothing that matters in times of danger that will tear her niece and nephew apart. She has never come to face the truth until her perspective changes. The truth comes when you least expect