Jean Louise and Atticus got home around supper time, when they got inside the house Jean Louise saw that her Aunt Alexandra had the table set for dinner. She was still conflicted on whether to stay in Maycomb County or go back to New York but mentioned nothing to Atticus on the way home. Uncle Jack help cleared her mind on the events that occurred earlier in Atticus’ office, she was still upset by Atticus words but decided to put it behind her. After a few minutes into dinner, Alexandra made small talk. “Jean Louise are you still planning on going to New York earlier than expected?” asked Alexandra, Atticus looked at his sister and then Jean Louise. “Why are you going back so early Scout?”. Jean Louise was once again upset that her aunt opened her mouth and told Atticus what she was planning on doing. …show more content…
Jean Louise replied to her father “I have not decided if I am heading back yet, Aunt Alexandra must be confused, you know how much she likes to gossip Atticus”. After Dinner, Henry and Jean Louise went on their date, they decided that being good old friends was a better option for both of them than being in a relationship. Jean Louise was broken a little but she knew that she had to stick by her standards and ways. While speaking with Henry, Jean Louise realized that change would not come to Maycomb unless someone took initiative, she told Hank that she had decided to stay in Maycomb and make the community a more accepting place when it comes to racial differences. Uncle Jack said she was color blind, but in fact, Jean Louise was not. She wanted the Whites and Blacks to come together and not be separated, as a person she did not see one color dominant over another. Hank was proud of Jean Louise, she truly was becoming her own person. Jean Louise was no longer seeing Atticus as her Watchman, she had begun to have her own thoughts and
In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, we are introduced to the character Atticus. He is a hard working single parent of two who is kindhearted and does what he believes is right and treats everyone equally. Being such a hard worker, his mind is often on work, even at home, which means less time spent with his children. While Atticus may make some mistakes as a parent, overall he is an admirable father.
In addition to being a lawyer, Atticus enjoys being a father to Jem and Scout. When Jem and Scout found out that their father would be defending a black person, they knew immediately that there would be much controversy, humiliation from the people of Maycomb and great difficulty keeping Tom alive for the trial. It was not long when Atticus had to leave the house very late to go to jail, where Tom was kept because many white people wanted to kill him. Worrying about their father, Jem and Scout sneak out of the house to find him. A self-appointed lynch mob has gathered on the jail to take justice into their own hands. Scout decides to talk to Walter Cunningham, one of the members of the mob. She talks about how her father Atticus thought that "entailments are bad "(154 ) " and that his boy Walter is a real nice boy and tell him I said hey"(154). Upon hearing this, the mob realized that Atticus cannot be all bad if he has such a nice daughter as Scout. Atticus, with some unexpected help from his children, faces down the mob and cause them to break up the potential lynching of the man behind bars. Having gone to a black church earlier, the children found out that Tom is actually a kind person, church-going and a good husband and father to his children.
Jean Louise Finch responds to her own acts of courage by finding her righteous moral ground. The young Finch girl stepped between a potentially violent conflict, between Atticus and a group of male residents of Maycomb. Scout approached the conflict frightened, and still decided to intervene, mistaking her courage for foolishness. Jean Louise later comes to believe acting courageously is not acting without fear, but rather facing it knowing the possible consequences. Jean resolved the conflict through renewing their sense of integrity. By reminding the resident (Mr. Cunningham) of his own son, the kindness Atticus and his family showed him despite the way he was usually acknowledged, and the devotion Atticus had to helping him, Scout helped Mr. Cunningham and his accomplices see the irrationality in their behavior. Her own words helped her to sort out her own beliefs; of equality, and fairness by reminding him (or rather them) of the morally sound way her, and her family act. Jean Louise acted with courage, and that helped in the building of her integrity.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, readers can view Atticus as a positive parental figure for a variety of reasons. One piece of evidence that points to this is that Atticus cares about his children. Although Atticus does not show his affection towards his children traditionally or frequently, he shows it in his own ways. Some parents hug and kiss their children, but not Atticus. Atticus’ way of showing affection to Jem is by ruffling his hair. An example of this occurs when Atticus and his children are walking home from the jail house following the mob scene. Scout states that she thought Atticus was going to be irritated at Jem for his lack of compliance. However, Scout states that “as they passed under a streetlight, Atticus reached out and massaged
Scout and Jem still are unable to accept her and are detached from her strong traditional southern views. As a result Atticus receives many criticism the way he brought up his children and is forced to act. 'Our Father was actually fidgeting. "No, I just want to explain to you that--your Aunt Alexandra asked me...son you know you 're a Finch, don 't you?" (177) However Jem and Scout notices this and become resentful towards the changed Atticus. As Atticus struggles with the Tom Robinson case, Aunt Alexandra plays the role of their mother since they only have Atticus “I know what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work." (170) however she also knows that instilling manners and acting as the motherly figure was the role of a woman, during that time period. Throughout the book, Atticus has struggled with the job of filling both the father and the mother. No matter how hard he tries, the roll of the mother can never be filled by Atticus. His character does not have the same personality traits that a mother would. All Scout needs is a loving mother, but when Aunt Alexandra comes, she does not nearly fill that role. She is even harsher and the spot still remains vacant. "...you 've got to do something about her," Aunty was saying. "You 've let things go on too long Atticus, too long” (36).This quote shows how Aunt Alexandra is demanding and looks as if she is trying to be the stricter side, which I dont think Scout needs "Atticus, it 's all right to be soft-hearted, you 're an easy man, but you have a daughter to think of." (136-137)I think Alexandra is totally wrong here. Scout does not like to listen to a demanding person telling her what to do. Instead of listening, she will simply do the opposite. A less harsh and caring mother would give Scout something more to mature. Alexandra is really into
Atticus continuously tells her that this is wrong and that she needs to learn to control her anger, “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat? Try fighting with your head for a change” (Lee 101). The day after this discussion with Atticus, Scout is approached by a fellow student who had previously made a mean comment about her father. “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away.it was the first time I ever walked away from a fight” (Lee 102).
Miss Maudie Atkinson, one of the Finch’s neighbors, had a house fire. Atticus (Scout and Jem’s father) woke up the kids and made them go outside, in case the fire spread to their house. While Scout was not looking someone gave her a blanket, “‘Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.’ ‘Thank who?’ I asked.
When Atticus’ own sister lost faith in him Miss Maudie didn’t “Have you ever thought of it this way, Alexandra? Whether Maycomb knows it or not, we’re paying the highest tribute we can pay a man. We trust him to do right. It’s that simple.” showing Alexandra that Atticus is someone she should stick up for, not because they are family but because it is virtuous.(316) Even though Miss Maudie didn’t know him she stood up against speculation against Arthur Radley. When Scout starts asking questions about Arthur and keeps using assumptions and fiction Miss Maudie explains “His name’s Arthur and he’s alive, … Arthur Radley just stays in the house, that’s all. Wouldn’t you stay in the house if you didn’t want to come out?”(58) Even with the supposition against Arthur Radley Miss Maudie made it seem like it was nothing to Scout. If she knows you or not, or has to go against your family, Miss Maudie is there for you,
At the beginning of the book, Miss Maudie talks to Scout about her father and informs her on facts about him that she was not aware of. Miss Maudie did not have to inform Scout that her father could play a Jew’s Harp, and was the best checker player in Maycomb. Furthermore, she told Scout that she should be proud of her father, yet that was Miss Maudie’s own choice to tell her these words. The trial created hardships on Scout through her father, and the truths from Miss Maudie helped her to develop pass them. Close to the end of the novel, she and Aunt Alexandra have a conversation about the people in Maycomb. Aunt Alexandra does not understand why the people in the town let Atticus hurt himself by defending Tom Robinson. Miss Maudie responds with telling her about the handful of people who do not judge and trust Atticus to do them right. Later, Scout becomes offended when Miss Maudie talks about behind closed doors who in turn goes, “Atticus Finch is the same in the house as he is on the public streets” (Lee 61). Miss Maudie does not think before speaking honest comments to people which only supports the fact that she is sincere. The honesty she gave to Scout helped her look up to Miss Maudie, and have both Scout and Aunt Alexandra better understand Atticus. All of these truths gave them something more to look around at, even if they did not want to at the
Mood is what the reader feels while reading a story or scene. It’s not the reader’s emotions, but the atmosphere of a scene or story. It’s what the reader reads or feels or notices. In both of these stories (For Esme-With Love and Squalor and Atticus) characters grows somewhere between the opening sentence and the final paragraph.
While watching Atticus during the trial, Scout learned a lot about her father. She learned that he was more than just an ordinary man to the Negroes. He was defending Tom Robinson, which meant a lot to them, because not many white people in the county would do a thing like that. Very few, if any, white men would defend a black man in a trial in a segregated county during the 1930’s. Because of what Atticus did more people, both white and black, gained respect for him. Scout saw that to the neighborhood people, Atticus was a very wise man, and a very good man, also. While Scout was watching from he balcony, she saw her father do something she had never seen. He told Bob Ewell to write his name on a sheet of paper. Scout saw that Bob was left handed, so he couldn’t have beaten up Mayella, because her black eye was on the right side of her face.
When Aunt Alexandra first arrived at the Finch house, she took over as if she had been living there her whole life. When arriving home, Jem and Scout found her, “sitting in a rocking chair exactly as if she had sat there every day of her life.”(p. 168). From the very beginning, Aunt Alexandra felt she should be completely in charge. The first thing she said was, “‘Put my bag in the front bedroom, Calpurnia,’” (p. 169). Aunt Alexandra treated Calpurnia as if Calpurnia was her servant. Aunt Alexandra was a strong influence within the Finches home, from the beginning. It did not do much of anything in the end, yet Jem and Scout saw a different side of their father, Atticus. “Atticus suddenly grew serious. In his lawyer’s voice, without a shade of affection, he said: ‘Your aunt has asked me to try and impress upon [Jem] and Jean Louise that you are not from run-of-the-mill people, that you are the product of several generations’ gentle breeding−’”(p. 177). This may have been one of the first times that the children...
At the end when Scout was badly injured, Alexandra cares for her and allows her to wear her overalls, which Alexandra hates but Scout loves. Additionally, Atticus was gone for long hours leading up to the Tom Robinson trial, which gave Scout an uneasy feeling. “‘I’m going out for a while,’ he said. ‘You folks’ll be in bed when I come back, so I’ll say good night now’” (198). The night before Tom Robinson was transferred from Maycomb Jail to the county jail, Atticus had gone to protect Tom. The children follow him, which in turn allows Scout to learn about the world, and later connects to her growing older and closer to her father. Finally, Jem distances himself from Scout, as they get older in order to save Scout’s innocents. “Jem had discovered with angry amazement that nobody had ever bothered to teach Dill how to swim, a skill Jem considered necessary as walking. They had spent two afternoons at the creek, they said they were going in naked and I
Hypocrites have just as much right to live in this world as anybody.” (Lee 235) This comment leads into a confrontation between Atticus and Jean Louise where she explains how she is appalled by his recent actions, compares him to Hitler, and most importantly she tells him that the real problem she has with him is that he betrayed her by leading her to believe he was her hero when really he had the same ignorant, racist views of colored people also in Maycomb also. After Scout asks Atticus why is it that colored people are not given the same opportunities and chances are white people. To this he tells her “Have you ever considered that you can’t have a set of backward people living among people advanced in one kind of civilization and have a social arcadia?” (Lee 242) By this Atticus is implying that because blacks are not as “advanced” as whites, it is almost impossible to coexist in a society with
Aunt Alexandra is Atticus' sister. She moves to live with Scout and Jem because she wants to teach them the right way of growing up since their mom is dead. As she watches them grow up, she grows up mentally also. “People up there set them free, but you don't see them setting at the table with them. At least we don't have the deceit to say to them ‘yes, you are as good as we are but stay away from us’ said Mrs.