To Kill A Mockingbird Quote Analysis

Beating a child as a form of consequence or punishment is considered wrong by so numerous people nowadays; however, that was not always the case. Scout, a young schoolgirl, in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, lives in Alabama in the 1930s. During this time period, there was often social inequality for those of color. Scout’s father Atticus, is a lawyer. He is taking on a case defending a man of color. Everyone is not too pleased about all of this, especially Scout’s cousin Francis. Francis is visiting for Christmas, and he mentions the case. He mocks Scout by saying things about Atticus that upsets her. Scout ends up punching him in the mouth. Scout’s Uncle Jack finds out about this and he decides to punish her. He accomplishes this by hitting

In Chapter Nine of the book, Scout is being punished for her actions, during the punishment she says something to her uncle, “I’ll never speak to you again as long as I live! I hate you an’ despise you an’ hope you die tomorrow!” (Lee 96). This quote goes to show that what Uncle Jack is doing can ruin their relationship. In the future she might have lousy memories of him, so she might not visit or talk to him. She uses strong words against him to show that what he is doing is physically and mentally hurting her, and he still goes through with it. In the article, “What’s the Best Way to Discipline My Child?'' It discusses the best way to punish a child for doing something wrong. One of the points it talks about is spanking, “Instead of teaching responsibility and self-control, spanking often increases aggression and anger in children” (“What’s”). This excerpt shows that the form of punishment that Uncle Jack is using, can be harmful to Scout’s behavior. It can cause her to have behavioral issues, which can be extremely harmful to her later in life. It can end up leading to Scout spanking her children, and it can cause a never-ending cycle. There are plenty of other forms of punishment that can be used which are not harmful to children. Both of these are consequences of this form of punishment. When the act was committed, it opened up doors to further problems in Scout’s