To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

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Life Lessons

Throughout their lives, individuals learn many valuable lessons that help them to grow and mature as human beings. This is evident numerous times throughout Harper Lee’s fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Individuals in this novel learn these amazing lessons through Atticus Finch’s extraordinary teachings of morals. Atticus goes on to further teach valuable lessons of courage. Lastly, Atticus continues to teach valuable lessons, about sacrifice. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is portrayed as an extraordinary character who teaches valuable life lessons about morals, courage, and sacrifice.

Atticus Finch is an extraordinary individual who teaches his children Jem and Scout valuable life lessons about morals. Atticus does so by teaching his children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Atticus says that mockingbirds do not harm anyone, and that all they do is make beautiful music for us to enjoy. This is proven when Atticus says, “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 90). This is further proven when Miss Maudie tells Jem and Scout that Atticus is right because “[Mockingbirds] don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us” (90). When Atticus talks about mockingbirds in this profound way, it also refers to individuals such as Tom Robinson. Tom can be seen as a mockingbird, because he does not hurt anybody, he always tries to be friendly and help his neighbours, but he is wrongly accused, and is sent to jail. Lastly, Atticus also teaches valuable life lessons about moral...

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...is children that they need to always do what is right. Secondly, Atticus Finch continues to teach important life lessons of courage when he goes to the jail to protect Tom from the group of men that wanted to hurt him, and he also teaches courage when he speaks about Mrs. Dubose overcoming addiction. Lastly, Atticus demonstrates exemplary life lessons of sacrifice by doing an unpleasant/dangerous job by defending Tom Robinson in court, and also by sacrificing not only his safety, but also his children’s safety to save Mayella Ewell from getting an extra and unnecessary beating. As a final analysis, throughout individual’s lives, not only do they learn, but they also teach other individuals many valuable life lessons that help them mature as human beings.

Works Cited

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Harper & Row Publishers Inc., 1982. Print.

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