Alan Kouch
Ms. Phillips
English 9H Period 6
19 December 2014
Atticus Finch: Moral Backbone W. Clement Stone, a businessman and philanthropist, once stated, “Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity”. These words absolutely describe that of the static character, Atticus Finch. In Harper Lee’s 1960 novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, a dignified lawyer by name of Atticus, who treats everyone with respect, possesses strong ethics and morals about equality and justice opposed to the dominant prejudices found within the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus is able to undertake what most folks in Maycomb can not; empathize …show more content…
On one occasion, Scout, Atticus’s daughter, has a rough day at school. She had been reprimanded by her inexperienced first-grade teacher, Miss Caroline. Scout comes home in a bad mood and seeks comfort in her father and requests for him to allow her to not return to school. Atticus inquires her about what had occurred. He provides some insight to the situation by saying, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. 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" (39). This saying that “you never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view” portrays the value of compassion and the exploration of morality. Atticus is not speaking about literally climbing into someone’s skin, but trying to get Scout to understand her teacher as a human by the use of the idiom. Another instance of Atticus teaching Scout a life lesson would be one evening where she, after hearing many things from her cousin, Francis, and an elderly woman named Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, questions her father as to what in the world a “nigger-lover” is (Lee 144). He goes on by explaining that a nigger-lover “is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything, [but] ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves” and that it’s “slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody” (144). Scout then concludes that her father is a “nigger-lover” and he contentedly agrees. As the only adult male figure in the Finch household, Atticus primarily serves as a role-model and advisor, not just for Scout, but for her older brother, Jem.
Ms. Phillips
English 9H Period 6
19 December 2014
Atticus Finch: Moral Backbone W. Clement Stone, a businessman and philanthropist, once stated, “Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity”. These words absolutely describe that of the static character, Atticus Finch. In Harper Lee’s 1960 novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, a dignified lawyer by name of Atticus, who treats everyone with respect, possesses strong ethics and morals about equality and justice opposed to the dominant prejudices found within the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus is able to undertake what most folks in Maycomb can not; empathize …show more content…
On one occasion, Scout, Atticus’s daughter, has a rough day at school. She had been reprimanded by her inexperienced first-grade teacher, Miss Caroline. Scout comes home in a bad mood and seeks comfort in her father and requests for him to allow her to not return to school. Atticus inquires her about what had occurred. He provides some insight to the situation by saying, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. 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" (39). This saying that “you never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view” portrays the value of compassion and the exploration of morality. Atticus is not speaking about literally climbing into someone’s skin, but trying to get Scout to understand her teacher as a human by the use of the idiom. Another instance of Atticus teaching Scout a life lesson would be one evening where she, after hearing many things from her cousin, Francis, and an elderly woman named Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, questions her father as to what in the world a “nigger-lover” is (Lee 144). He goes on by explaining that a nigger-lover “is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything, [but] ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves” and that it’s “slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody” (144). Scout then concludes that her father is a “nigger-lover” and he contentedly agrees. As the only adult male figure in the Finch household, Atticus primarily serves as a role-model and advisor, not just for Scout, but for her older brother, Jem.