To Kill A Mockingbird Moral Analysis

Moral, a word created and defined by men, outlines the principles of right and wrong behavior and the good and evil of human nature. To have morals means to hold or manifest high principles for proper conduct- a set of values also define by men. In a world with varying people and society, there is sure to be an abundance of varying morals. Principles aren’t fixated ideas, which allows for different interpretation based on a person’s knowledge and experience. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee emphasizes the change in understanding of good and evil based on age and perspective though a young girl named Jean Louise (Scout) Finch. In Scout, readers can see how ignorance and fear play a large role in determining people’s judgement of others.

It was due to this innocence that she often let her emotion or other people's opinions overrule a logical approach to human nature. This can be seen often in the summer, when an abundance of leisure time lead Scout and Jem to make games about Boo Radley. In these games, Boo was depicted as a monster of some sort, an unknown and scary entity that they are scared of but was never seen. They say Boo was “was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cat he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained… There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” To Scout, Boo was the epitome of evil because she did not understand true evil; evil was simply a matter of fear. Another person Scout probably thought of as evil was probably Mrs. Dubose. Rather than fear, it was Scout’s immense feeling of hatred for Mrs. Dubose that made her think the old lady was malicious. Once again,

Her confusion originates from her dwindling ignorance as she makes sense of the opinions of the adults. In this stage of her maturing process, her opinion about good and evil heavily rely on Atticus and other growns ups. She sees contrasting views on topics, specifically about Tom Robinson’s case. Scout sometimes have to take some of those ideas for herself because she can not yet form her own. This can be seen in her interaction with Mr. Raymond. Scout says in her interaction with Mr. Raymond,“I had a feeling that I shouldn’t be here listening to this sinful man who had mixed children and didn’t care who knew it, but he was fascinating. I had never encountered a being who deliberately perpetrated fraud against himself. But why had he entrusted us with his deepest secret? I asked him why.” It’s strange that a child who was raised without prejudice to be critical of a man with mixed children. Ideas of bigotry were ingrained in her mind by other adults. However, at this instance, it also showed a growth in her mentality. No longer did she hold her bias against the opposing person and was able to go past that barrier to ask them what she does not understand. Her curiosity is a sign of her growing up, as she can question her surroundings rather than blindly following whatever others say. This is a contrast to her