Challenging Faulty Assumptions in To Kill A Mocking Bird

It is very common among people to misjudge others prematurely, which are changed once the individual being judged is gotten to know better. Once, Walt Whitman said, “Be curious, not judgmental”. This can be a lesson to a vast number of persons, not excluding Jem and Scout. They are two of the most important characters from the most fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which takes place in the Great depression, in Maycomb, Alabama. Two of the most misunderstood characters in the whole book are Dolphus Raymond, the town drunkard, and Atticus Finch the town lawyer as well as Jem and Scouts “boring” father. Jem and Scout both misjudge Dolphus Raymond and their own father, Atticus, fate decides to oppose them with two events the trial of Tom Robinson, and the disposition of Tim Johnson, and they are forced to change their absurd opinions.

Jem and Scouts’ father, Atticus, is very misjudged by their children. They believe that Atticus is a very semantic man that goes to work, comes back, and has no skill whatsoever in sports. Scout criticizes Atticus by saying “Atticus did not… or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone”(118). This demonstrates that Jem and Scout are not satisfied with Atticus’s physical and amusing skills. They thought of him as an old man in his fifties that had no energy left, and had a routine of going to bed and reading in the living room instead of running around. Later, they visit there across the street neighbor, Mrs. Maudie to talk about how boring their Dad is, when Mrs. Maudie says” ‘Well, he can make everybody’s will so airtight can’t anybody meddle with him’… ‘Well, did you know he is the best checker-player in this town? Why down at the Landing when we were coming up, Atticus Finch could beat everybody on both sides of the river”(120). This establishes that they find out that their Dad isn’t so useless anymore. Even though the children find out all these activities he is excellent at, sometimes even the best, they are still not overly impressed. After Calpurnia calls the cops on the dog, Tim Johnson, The sheriff and Atticus arrive at the scene “ ‘Take him, Mr. Finch’. Mr. Tate handed the rifle to Attics; Jem and I nearly fainted…’’d you see him, Scout? ’d you see him just standing there?...’n’ all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an’ it looked like that gun was a part of him’”(126-129).