Atticus Lessons In To Kill A Mockingbird

Parenting has never been an easy job; it is filled with responsibility and unexpected challenges. Throughout the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, we watch Atticus, the single father of the main character, raise his two children while teaching them three life lessons that will stick with them throughout their lives. He introduces his children to prejudice by showing the importance of not judging the people of Maycomb without knowing them. He also shows them empathy and the role it plays in society by educating Jem and Scout, his kids, about what unseen problems others face. In addition to those lessons, Atticus helps to instill courageous personality traits in his kids by how he handles various situations that present themselves through …show more content…
Atticus shows Jem and Scout how people who have been slightly out cast due to their class are still people none the less. He does this by inviting Walter Cunningham, part of one of the poorest families in Maycomb, over for a good meal and giving Scout an opportunity to truly get to recognize the fact that despite Walter’s situation, he has a very strong character. This proves that Atticus is trying to show his kids the importance of ignoring the stigma around certain families. Secondly, Atticus to teach his children about the importance of overlooking rumours about innocent people based on their decision to have a different lifestyle than what is considered the norm. We see this when Jem, Scout and their friend Dill, attempt to spend the majority of a summer making plays mocking their neighbour Arthur Radley, who is a recluse, but Atticus interrupts this saying to the …show more content…
Firstly, Atticus teaches Scout the importance of looking at the motivations of others before making harsh conclusions about them. An example of this would be when, after her first day of school, Scout was furious with her teacher for constantly yelling at her but Atticus stopped Scout from getting too fired up by telling her, “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 proves that despite Scout being very passionate about her hatred for her teacher, Atticus knew the perfect way to calm her down while teaching her an important lesson. Secondly, Atticus demonstrated empathy in front of his kids in order to give them a strong example of what empathy looks like. An example of this would be when the kids were getting very frustrated trying to be as nice as possible to Mrs. Dubose yet she continued to insult them, but then Atticus pointed out that she was very sick and was downright dying, so he told his children they were to continue being as nice to her as possible due to her condition. This shows that Atticus wanted to show his kids just how important empathy was in everyday life. Thirdly, Atticus teaches the children why it is necessary to be empathetic and harmonious no matter the situation at hand. He presents this skill when Bob Ewell walks up to him,