To Kill A Mockingbird Moral Analysis

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Morals and values often control one’s choices, and sometimes these decisions affect someone’s entire life. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a prime example of the importance of morals. During the 1930s in the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, a non-racist, white lawyer, Atticus Finch, passes on his beliefs to his children, and they use his teachings to overcome challenges in their life. Atticus’s children’s, Jem and Scout, first encounter with an obstacle is when Atticus is tasked with defending an African American in court against a racist man named Bob Ewell that falsely accuses him of raping his daughter. As a result, members of their community, specifically an elderly woman named Mrs. Dubose, become angry at Atticus, and Bob Ewell even tries to murder Atticus’s children. Fortunately, Boo Radley, the town’s social outcast, jumps to the children’s rescue and kills Bob Ewell. Eventually, Scout was able to learn from her tragic experiences with the help of Atticus’s teachings. Using life lessons, Atticus aims to inculcate morals and principles throughout Scout and Jem’s lives.
Atticus persistently implants the concept to Jem and Scout that it is cruel to harm an innocent being. When Atticus apprises Scout that she should not shoot at mockingbirds during a hunting lesson, Scout refers to a friendly adult for interpretation and learns, “Mockingbirds don 't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy [...] That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). Through