Examples Of Forgiveness In To Kill A Mockingbird

“Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on.” In Criss Jami’s quote, he explains that people who hold grudges, believe that what happened is unfair versus people who move on do deserve forgiveness. A similar theme is implied in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which is set in the imaginary county of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The main protagonist in this novel is a young girl, by the name of Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout Finch. Scout has to learn to accept the fact that a man named Bob Ewell desires revenge on Atticus because Atticus supposedly ruins Bob Ewell’s credibility at a trial where a black man, Tom Robinson,

For example, after Mr. Link Deas gives Tom’s widowed wife, Helen, a job, Mr. Ewell tries to get revenge on Tom Robinson’s wife for what Tom supposedly did, by making it hard for Helen to get to work safely. One day, after Helen comes to work, Mr. Link Deas gets it out of Helen about why she comes from the wrong direction to work, and she reluctantly reveals that Mr. Ewell is making it hard for her to get to work everyday: “Calpurnia said it was hard for Helen, because she had to walk a mile out of her way to avoid the Ewells, who, according to Helen, ‘chunked at her’ the first time she tried to use the public road. Mr. Link Deas eventually received the impression that Helen was coming to work each day from the wrong direction, and dragged the reason out of her. ‘Just let it be, Mr. Link, please suh,’ Helen begged. ‘The hell I will,’ said Mr. Link. . . . . . ‘Ewell?’ he called. ‘I say Ewell!’ . . . . . Now hear me, Bob Ewell: if I hear one more peep outa my girl Helen about not bein’ able to walk this road I’ll have you in jail before sundown!’” (Lee 248-249). In this instance, Bob Ewell wants revenge for his credibility being ruined at Tom’s trial, so he decides to take it out on Helen by making her afraid to use the shorter route to get to work. Since Mr. Ewell intimidates Helen in retaliation for Tom’s supposed assault against

In the novel, there is a quote about when Jem destroyed Mrs. Dubose’s camellias when Mrs. Dubose called Atticus Finch a n*****-lover. Jem was furious and thus destroyed her flowers, leading inevitably to his actions backfiring against him. In this quote, it shows Atticus returning home with the camellia buds clenched in his hand asking Jem why he pulled out her flowers, and Jem also has to go apologize and tell Atticus what punishment Mrs. Dubose gave him: “Atticus switched on the ceiling light in the living room and found us there, frozen still. He carried my baton in one hand; it's filthy yellow tassel trailed on the rug. He held out his other hand; it contained fat camellia buds. ‘Jem,’ he said, ‘are you responsible for this?’ ‘Yes sir.’ ‘Why’d you do it?’ Jem said softly, ‘She said you lawed for n****** and trash.’ ‘You did all this because she said that?’ Jem’s lips moved, but his, ‘Yes sir,’ was inaudible. . . . . . ‘I strongly advise you to have a talk with Mrs. Dubose,’ said Atticus, ‘Come straight home afterward’ . . . . . . When Jem returned, he found me still in Atticus’s lap. ‘Well, son?’ said Atticus. . . . . ‘I cleaned it up for her and said I was sorry, but I ain’t, and that I’d work on ‘em every