What Is Right In To Kill A Mockingbird

“Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other” -Mark Twain. When doing the right thing, it may not seem right to all since not everyone shares the same beliefs. This does not mean that a right or wrong does not exist, but shows that its existence is not evident to everyone. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout learns that others’ perceptions of the right thing to do may not be so. She learns this as Atticus constantly tells Scout and Jem to place themselves in the shoes of others and to not join the rest of Maycomb in making bad assumptions about others. Through this realization, they learn that life’s situations may not be as they seem. People they encounter like Boo Radley and Mr.Raymond further prove this point. Some might argue …show more content…
There are people who have qualities that one would not imagine of them, like Mrs.Dubose and a society with a bit of kindness left in it, even though it is presumed to be full of wickedness. Scout and Jem, along with most of the Maycomb people, struggle to understand this, so they just define things, like people or motives based on what makes sense to them. Atticus who seems to be enlightened to looking at things more deeply, shows his kids how to see the more there is to things and people. Jem and Scout learn that things are not how they seem at all because there is always something to be found if things are looked at more intently. The sad thing is that many do not take the time to look deeply into things and see the other side of it. This is because people have their own beliefs and sometimes those beliefs make them too stubborn to see things another way. These beliefs or opinion may make them so strong willed that they do something that is not right. This is unfortunate, but shows that one should just do what is right; at least it will gratify half of humanity, even if it astounds the