How is atticus a mockingbird

Atticus is always positive towards Mrs. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. These lines are being spoken by Atticus to his son Jem.

Atticus knows Mrs. Dubose has been raised differently than they have. Atticus gives them things to consider before judging Mrs. Dubose negatively. When Bob Ewell spits in his face, Atticus simply walked away and took it. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial if he had any, to begin with.

The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does. Atticus showed empathy towards Bob Ewell, and his kids. Atticus showed a lot of strength and dignity by resisting any sort of retaliation he could have made. He taught his son to care for others, no matter how filthy their sins are. Atticus himself is a mockingbird because sees the best in everyone. When he settles back to read the local paper, is he simply resuming his bookish ways, or is he evading the truth about Mrs.

Dubose and the community of Maycomb by distracting himself with the comforting minutiae of life in his little town? This lesson is divided into two parts, both accessible below. The student version, an interactive PDF, contains all of the above except the responses to the close reading questions and the follow-up assignment.

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most popular novels ever to be published in the United States. Since it appeared in , millions of copies have been sold, and in it was made into an award-winning movie. Readers have embraced its protagonist, lawyer Atticus Finch, as a hero, a brave man who follows his conscience in the pursuit of justice even though most of his neighbors oppose him, and he knows his cause is lost. Even though the racism of the Atticus who appears in Go Set a Watchman , the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird published in , has disappointed many, there is much to admire in him as he was portrayed in Nonetheless, as careful readers we must seek to understand him fully.

This lesson follows suggestions in chapter 11 that raise questions about the scope and depth of his moral vision. Chapter 11, which concludes part one of the novel, ends the largely idyllic portrayal of Maycomb and deepens the foreshadowing of the tragedy we encounter in part two.

Chiefly, however, it introduces Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, a minor but important character. This lesson examines what she represents; how she functions in the novel, and how Scout, Jem, and Atticus respond to her.

Scout, Jem, and Atticus judge Mrs. Dubose, and this lesson asks you to judge their judgments. Scout and Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose. What position does Mrs. If it is impossible for the Finch children to get to town without passing Mrs. Thus her home is located at a key entry point to the heart of Maycomb. One might say that she controls the approach to the town from one direction.

What does CSA stand for? Confederate States of America, the official name of the government that attempted to secede from the United States in What does the fact that Mrs. Obviously, it suggests that no one knows for sure if she is concealing a gun, but it also suggests that she is enough of a public presence in the town to be the subject of the sort of speculation and discussion that spawn rumor. When Scout and Jem pass her house, Mrs. It has military connotations, suggesting the placement of soldiers in strategic locations.

Considering that Mrs. She presents her as a sentinel or guard who is on watch to protect the town in some way. What does Mrs. Dubose do from her outpost on the porch?

She questions people who pass by, rather in the way a guard might. She also passes judgment on their behavior. What does it suggest about Mrs.

It suggests that her judgments have a public dimension, that she is speaking to the town. When Jem and Scout pass her house, Mrs. Dubose insults their father. What is her main complaint against Atticus? Dubose represents and upholds in the public judgments she renders from her porch. How do we know that Mrs. Dubose is trying to be deliberately hurtful with these remarks? Why is it significant that the narrator tells us that Mrs.

Up to this point in the novel, only children, Cecil Jacobs and cousin Francis, have insulted Atticus. Their attacks carry less weight than those of adults, even though they may echo the opinions of adults. With Mrs. The most memorable assignment my teacher gave us was to watch the film version on one of the local television stations. I suppose my teacher believed that watching someone else's vision of the book was safer than having us talk about the issues of race , class, discrimination, and justice it might raise during the heyday of desegregation battles in neighboring Boston.

Despite my teacher's neglect, To Kill a Mockingbird stuck with me. I had to speed up. As I got older and learned more, different scenes stuck. Scout confronting the lynch mob. Scout and Atticus on the porch talking about the upcoming trial. Originally she called the book Atticus. I'm happy she didn't stick with that one. I always found the kids in the book far more interesting. SparkNotes, an online study site, explains, "The title of To Kill a Mockingbird has very little literal connection to the plot, but it carries a great deal of symbolic weight in the book.

In this story of innocence destroyed by evil, the 'mockingbird' comes to represent the idea of innocence. What role does Calpurnia play in the family and in the novel? Why is Dill an important character? What does Mrs. Dubose teach Scout and Jem? Why does Dolphus Raymond hide Coca-Cola in a brown paper bag?

Why does Mayella Ewell lie on the witness stand? What qualities make Atticus a good father?