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Why Is Tkam Taught In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic still taught and read in school after it was first published 57 years ago. The story is told by the protagonist Jean Louise Finch, who goes by “Scout”. Scout lives in Maycomb, Alabama, with her older brother, Jeremy Finch, who goes by “Jem”, her father, Atticus Finch, and her African-American maid Calpurnia, who is a mother figure in their young lives. Throughout this story Scout and Jem go on adventures with their new companion Charles Baker Harris, who goes by “Dill”. They learn of a supposed neighbor who is a monster, Arthur Radley, who goes by “Boo”. Atticus Finch shows his kids,(Jem and Scout) a whole new perspective of the world from their young eyes by protecting an African-American male …show more content…

However during this time period, prejudism was very popular against African-Americans, male or female. African-Americans were looked down on and pictured as the “minority”. Slavery was no longer a part of life but African-Americans were never treated as equals and as fair as the whites. You can tell this is shown throughout the story because of racial slurs the Finches were called everyday. Cecil Jacobs says, “Scout’s daddy is a ni***r lover” which ends up with Scout beating him up. Atticus is known as a “Ni***r lover”. Scout and Jem are very young so they do not get the whole concept of ‘Racism’ and with Calpurnia in their life and their exposure to other African-Americans and their community they understand that just like themself, they are normal people who get hated on for no reason, therefore they understand that Tom Robinson is innocent and being falsely accused of rape. Throughout the beginning of the story, Scout and Jem are recieving gifts that are placed inside a tree, they recieve gum, a broken pocket watch, a spelling bee medal, and many more gifts. One gift that Jem and Scout were freaked about were the soap dolls. They had recieved two soap dolls that looked exactly like them and they had wondered who was giving them these gifts. And who made the soap dolls because they must have seen them a lot to recognize even the tiniest details about …show more content…

This is shown a lot by Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus. The entire town of Maycomb hates him for standing up for a African-American man and they threaten him, his family, and talk down on his name, but he does the right thing and he still continues to protect and defend Tom Robinson in the case. Atticus doesn’t talk about these things to his children so they end up hearing it from other people. Scout hears it from Cecil Jacobs at school on the play ground. Scout immediatly demands her father to tell her the full story and why her and her family get talked down on everyday. Atticus goes on and tells her that most of the townspeople don’t think he should be defending Tom Robinson, because it was unheard of a white person defending, or even being friends with a African-American in this time period. Atticus is know as a very good lawyer and he knows that he can do a good job in the court without putting in much effort. Atticus understands that Tom has no chance at winning this case without a good lawyer because of his race and the lack of people wanting to help him. Atticus shows that he is really comitted to the case because people that know he’s doing the right thing think that he is taking a huge risk, which he is. Atticus is defending Tom because he knows that he will not get a fair trial and Atticus wants to make sure that Tom does. Atticus only wants to tell the

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789 Words | 4 Pages

Jean Louise Finch, commonly known as Scout, is the young and feisty narrator in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Scout is the youngest Finch of her family. She lives in a small town called Maycomb County with her brave brother Jem Finch, her intelligent father Atticus Finch, and Calpurnia who is the caretaker and housekeeper for Scout’s family. In Maycomb Scout also shares a best friend with her brother, his name is Dill. He comes to visit Maycomb every summer from Mississippi and stays with his aunt Rachel.

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Brooke Hines Mrs. Kennedy English 8, Period 6 1 March 2016 Contrasts and Contradictions in To Kill A Mockingbird In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there were many different characters who changed throughout the book. The story was written in the perspective of a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, who was known as Scout in the book. The Finch family consisted of Jem, otherwise known as Jeremy Atticus Finch, and Atticus Finch, the widowed father of Jem and Scout. The Finch family lived in an old southern place called Maycomb County where almost everyone knew each other.

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1664 Words | 7 Pages

In Maycomb County, the Negroes are viewed as inferior, and in addition, the Jim Crow laws are enforced to ensure segregation. As a result, they do not have equal rights as the other citizens. When Atticus is asked to defend Tom Robinson, a Negro man accused of raping a white girl, he accepts. To the community this was improper. The community’s disgust at Atticus’ decision is expressed when Scout is irked by Cecil Jacobs, a boy in her class, when he announces that, “Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers.”

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766 Words | 4 Pages

This affects Scout because she feels it’s an insult being said about her father. One of the most important parts of the story and racism is the Tom Robinson trial. In the story Scout asks, “Why do you defend n******s?” Atticus responds saying he has to or he wouldn’t feel like a good person. This affects Tom Robinson because even Atticus’s kids question why Tom Robinson deserves to be defended.

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866 Words | 4 Pages

The story follows Scout as she grows up during the great depression while her father, Atticus, who's a lawyer defends a black man named Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was accused by Mayella Ewell of rape. This comes with a lot of racism and Mayella is white. Harper Lee uses the symbolism

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612 Words | 3 Pages

Atticus defends Tom Robinson against his own race despite knowing the fact that before the trial even begins, he's going to lose. He knows that many of the whites living in Maycomb want to see Tom Robinson, an African American accused of raping and beating a white woman, killed. He started receiving threats from whites men but that doesn't stop Atticus from doing what he thinks is right. When he acts with integrity, he received more support and love from the African American

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647 Words | 3 Pages

Scout and Jem are forced to deal with racial slurs and insults because of Atticus ' role in the trial. Scout has a very difficult time not physically fighting with other children due to this. Tom is asfsd to be guilty, even after Atticus proves that Tom did not commit the crime. Atticus unintentionally offends Bob Ewell, the father whose daughter is accusing Tom.

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In his closing statement, Atticus says the witnesses “have presented themselves to you gentlemen...confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption—the evil assumption—that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber.” In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are a lot of people who take a stand for others. Atticus Finch is the father of Scout-the narrator- and Jem Finch. In the story, Atticus, who is a lawyer, is chosen to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who has been accused of rape. Being in a southern state in the early 1900s, most people did not like Tom, and were biased

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492 Words | 2 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jeremy Atticus Finch, a.k.a. Jem, and Jean Louise Finch, a.k.a. Scout, undergo many life changing events throughout the book. These events are displayed through the utilization of personification, idioms, and symbolism. The tone shifts from being lighthearted in the first half of the book to a more serious tone in the last half of the book.

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979 Words | 4 Pages

He tries to teach the trait of not judging people by their social class to Scout and Jem, his young children.. This is shown when Scout is told not to criticize the cunningham boy for not eating the way she does. It can also be seen in atticus volunteering to defend people outside of his social class even if they may have trouble paying him. He accepts payment from the cunninghams in the form of hickory nuts. He defends Tom Robinson despite the fact that he knows that the odds of him winning the case are extremely slim because he is trying to defend a black man against a white woman.

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1088 Words | 5 Pages

Jem and Scout are also bugged at school, for example Cecil Jacob’s makes fun of Atticus for defending Tom. “He announced in the school-yard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended negros.” ( 85) Atticus and his children are affected by this for the majority of the story, and it is what sparks Bob Ewell’s revenge of trying to kill Jem and Scout. Prejudice is common with them, as people like Cecil Jacobs and Bob Ewell just assume Atticus choose to take the Tom Robinson case, however he is simply doing his job as a lawyer to defend them whether he thinks they are guilty or

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132 Words | 1 Pages

Situated in a strong competition zone of tourism, it cannot be denied that Australia and Thailand both have perceptions of each other as a Tourism regional rival. We both are well-known tourist destinations with plethora of natural sights, diverse cultures and historical marks; however, Thailand is still far out of Australia in particular of manmade attractions and tourism management. Meanwhile, Australia tourism’s limitation is visitor’s travel relies on air transport, which is one of the obstacles to attract the tourists. Sustainable management is critically needed for Thailand’s tourism which we have talked about it for years, yet we still keep talking. The big problem is located at the tourism policy and its implementation which our people

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1163 Words | 5 Pages

“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). These are the words of Atticus Finch, the wisest character in the famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He is a fictional man that embodies human traits that all people should strive to emulate. In the novel; narrated by Atticus’ daughter Jean Louise Finch, more often referred to as Scout; Atticus defends a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white female, Mayella Ewell. The main message of the text is the prominence of racial injustice, specifically in the 1930’s, the era the novel takes place in.

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852 Words | 4 Pages

Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced” (Lee 329). While this may seem like a useful life lesson, Scout realizes the clear hypocrisy in her lesson. Like every other citizen of Maycomb, she is prejudiced against black people. Even though she is teaching her students that prejudice and persecution is wrong, she is participating in those very activities at home. She heard her third grade teacher after Tom Robinson’s trial, she thought “it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us” (Lee 331).

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1248 Words | 5 Pages

The novel, ”To Kill A Mockingbird”, is about growing up. Jean Louise Finch, most commonly known as Scout, is the protagonist and narrator of

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