To Kill A Mockingbird Lessons Learned Analysis

What are some of the lessons you have learned either through experiences or the people around you that have changed your life? In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee two children living in a small town during the Great Depression mature by seeing the things that go on in the town and through their own experiences. Jem and Scout Finch learned lessons that changed both them as people and the way they went through their lives. They learned not to assume what other people are like before they know them, to not treat innocent people badly, and even if they know they are going to lose Jem and Scout still need to try. Jem and Scout have learned many lessons through the encounters with the people in their community.
Jem and Scout are constantly …show more content…
They learned this lesson through the actions and the teachings of the people around them. Atticus and the town’s sheriff Heck Tate are talking about how Bob Ewell is dead. While Atticus is talking about how this is going to unfold in court Heck Tate interrupts and says, “There is a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for its dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time...let the dead bury the dead” (Lee 369). This shows how Heck Tate is protecting Boo Radley and is not going to say that he killed Bob Ewell because he does not need or want the extra attention it would bring to him. This is an example how Heck Tate is protecting the innocent. The kids are up on the balcony watching and listening to the trial and then Dill starts crying because he is innocent and cannot believe what is happening. This is shown when Dill says, “It was the way he said it made me sick, plain sick… the way that man called him boy all the time and sneered at him, and looked at the jury every time he answered” (Lee 266). This shows how Dill has not experienced racism like this before and it also shows his innocence. Scout does the mature thing to protect Dill and takes him out of the courtroom. Tom Robinson is convicted and later killed after the trial, and the Finches cannot believe it and realize how racist Maycomb really is. This is shown after the trial when Atticus explains why to the …show more content…
Atticus taught his kids this lesson, especially Jem when he had to read to Mrs. Dubose every day. Atticus taught this to Jem after Mrs. Dubose died when he said, “Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It’s knowing you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win but sometimes you do” (Lee 149). This is the example that Atticus is trying to teach to the kids and to help them understand why he took the trial. Atticus didn’t only teach the kids this lesson, he used it in his own life and as a reason to take the trial. Atticus explains to Jem and Scout why he took the trial by saying how he could not hold his head up in town if he did not take to trial, or how he could not parent them because he could not ask the kids to respect him if he did not take the trial (Lee 75). Cleary, Atticus believes in what he says and practices it, because he says if he did not at least try to help Tom Robinson, he couldn’t even ask his children to respect him. Atticus believes that his kids should always try to do the right thing. This is shown when he says, even though we were bound to lose 100 years ago, there is no reason not to try to win (Lee 101). This quote displays that Atticus does not care if he is going to lose or not, he believes that there is always a chance to win and that he might have that