Examples Of Core Values In To Kill A Mockingbird

In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch instills core values in Scout and Jem in order to aid them in life and the difficult time about to pass due to his case. The three core values he instills is to not judge someone until you see things from their point of view, morality & ethics and compassion & forgiveness. Atticus teaches Scout to not judge other people until a person sees things from their perspective. He teaches her by telling her the facts without any sugar coating and then explains it in a way that someone of her age can understand. For example: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (30). In this quotation he takes understanding …show more content…
The teachings then become enforced through the many citizens of Maycomb whom they encounter. For example: "There's some folks who don't eat like us…if you can't act fit to eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen" (3.26-29). The moral lesson here is to respect peoples differences, even if you think you are better than them. Acting like you are better than other people is surest way to show that you are not. This little interaction is an early blow against the stereotype that white people have morals but black people do not. Atticus uses his current case to further explain more ethics and morals. For example: "If you shouldn't be defendin' him, then why are you doin' it…Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (9.16-25). For Atticus, people have to judge themself before they can judge anyone else. His own self-respect is bound up with his good morals: if he did something he knew was wrong, even if it was justified, he would lose all moral authority over others. Atticus decides to use the events that happen to Jem to teach more about morals. For example: "Son, I have no doubt that you've been annoyed by your contemporaries about me lawing for niggers, as you say, but to do something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable. I strongly advise you to go down and have a talk with Mrs. Dubose," said Atticus. …show more content…
So in the short amount of time he prepares his children for then and for their future lives. When Atticus receives the Tom Robinson case he tells Scout that a much rougher time is about to pass and that she will need to be prepared. For example: "Scout," said Atticus, "when summer comes you'll have to keep your head about far worse things... it's not fair for you and Jem, I know that, but sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down—well, all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown, maybe you'll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn't let you down” (11.53). Sometimes it's kids rather than parents who just don't understand. Atticus knows that his behavior seems incomprehensible or just plain stupid from some perspectives, so he hopes Scout and Jem will be able to understand why he did what he did when they're older, even if they're too young to get it now. There's no shame in being an object of compassion. Atticus’ teachings on compassion affects Jem more so than Scout because Scout was still a bit too young. For example: “[Jem] was certainly never cruel to animals, but I had never known his charity to embrace the insect world…Jem was the one who was getting more like a girl every day, not I” (24.7-12). If compassion is a girl's quality, then why have most of Scout's lessons on compassion come from Atticus? Maybe the larger cultural