The Importance of Perspective in To Kill a Mockingbird
Marcus Aurelius once said, “Everything heard from people are opinions, not facts, but everything we see is a perspective, not the truth”. This quotation explains how individuals are entitled to their own opinion, indicating that one should base their judgements solely on the perspective of the person and what they face, rather than what society believes. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee explains how an individual should try to see a situation from the perspective of others, before generating a judgement. Arthur Radley’s reclusive nature, the the morals of Atticus and the harshly opinionated Mrs. Dubose all contribute to the impulsive judgement in Maycomb.
A recluse like Arthur
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Dubose. Initially, she intimidates Scout and Jem for her repulsive actions and words, although they do not understand that she struggles with a morphine addiction. This leads to her being criticized. Scout states, “Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would be raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our behavior, and given a melancholy prediction on what we would amount to when we grew up, which was always nothing,” (153). Mrs. Dubose verbally ignites anger and terror, towards Scout and Jem. She mentions rude comments towards the children and they criticize her in return, but they do not understand or even make an effort to understand what she is facing. By the same token, after Jem reacts by cutting Mrs. Dubose’s camellias due to her disapproval of Atticus taking on Tom Robinson’s case, Atticus gets Jem to read for her as a distraction so she can overcome her morphine addiction. Atticus explains to Jem, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway… she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew,” (153). Until the death of Mrs. Dubose, Scout and Jem did not understand why she wanted Jem to read for her. After every reading session, they gradually notice that Jem reads longer. Atticus helps Jem and Scout see through her repulsiveness and explains that reading longer is to help keep her off the drug for longer periods of time. This is a lesson for Jem and Scout; real courage is fighting when you are already losing. The addiction Mrs. Dubose has, caused her to throw wild fits and utter rude comments. Scout and Jem do not realize it is her sickness which made her rude, until Atticus explains this to
The children learn taking advantage of ones disability is wrong and in return compassion was given after the realization. 1. Ms. Dubose is known to be an old, cruel lady always passing negative comments about the residents in her neighborhood. "...You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody.She was the bravest person I ever knew" (149). The entire time Scout and Jem strongly dislike Ms. Dubose without knowing her troubles to what made her become that old, cruel lady but after Atticus explains to the children Ms .Dubose 's morphine addiction which she wanted to overtake; Scout begins to understand the reasons behind her fits and her slowly increasing the time of their reading sections daily. It takes a lot of courage to seek help and Mrs. Dubose did it all on her own with little help from Scout and Jem. 2. Maycomb made up stories about who and what type of a person Arthur Radley was based on his trouble with the law when he was at a young age and the fact his father has locked him inside of the house. "There was a long jagged scar that ran across [Boo 's] face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten ' his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time" (16). Nor Jem or Miss. Stephanie has ever actually seen Arthur Radley but have a
When Atticus discovered what Jem had done, he was furious and punished him by making him go read to Mrs. Dubose everyday. He knew, though, in his heart that she had it coming. Atticus had told Scout that "when summer comes you'll have to keep your head about far worse things it's not fair for you and Jem, but
Have you ever wondered why people see things differently from other or why they think the way they do? Harper Lee, the author of to Kill a Mocking Bird, once said, “you will never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside his his skin and walk around in it.” I believe what Lee had said is entirely true. People won’t ever fully understand what someone is going through without actually being them. Seeing through other people perspective gives us some understanding of a certain situation and helps us realize all parts of the story. When you change the way you look at thing the things you look at change.
The first iconic character in the novel known for her split personality and great moral courage is Mrs. Dubose. She was a morphine addict and was addicted to morphine as a painkiller prescribed by her doctor for many years. Despite her being an old, frail lady, who could have just "make(made) things easier" by just continuing to take morphine as Atticus put it, she chose the other path contrary to popular beliefs. Instead, she persevered, choosing to "die beholden to nothing and no one", showing her sheer determination and will to live. Also, Atticus wanted Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose not only as a punishment for his misdeeds, but he also wanted to show Jem what true courage really was. He wanted to show Jem that a courageous person is not "a man with a gun in his hand", and that Mrs. Dubose was an excellent example and Atticus looks up to her despite her prejudiced remarks against him such as "nigger-lover". When Jem and Scout was reading to her, they were terrified of her "undulating lips" with "chords of saliva" dripping out of her mouth and that it had a "seperate existence of its own". What the children failed to see in the beginning was what lied underneath those gruesome series of withdrawal fits - true moral courage. Upon the death of Mrs. Dubose, Atticus also mentioned that "she won", not by having a gun in her hands, but with her sheer will power and determination. He hoped that Jem and Scout would be able to respect such a courage...
Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird characterizes Maycomb’s flaws because it is a town where others judge and misunderstand one another leaving townspeople scared to speak up for themselves. This conveys to readers that society should understand the perspective of another person so one can express their thoughts and opinions freely. (Mention prejudice for judgement)
Throughout the book, Atticus teaches the children the good and bad ways to deal with situations, and how to live with positive morals and values. One of the morals he teaches Jem is courage. Atticus compelled Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose for one month; not out of punishment for ruining her flowers, but to teach him courage. Through that experience, Jem not only learned to have courage, but he also learned how to see people from their point of view. Mrs. Dubose was trying to kick her
Jem also learns important lessons from his father regarding bravery. Early in the book we learn that Atticus does not approve of guns. He believes that guns do not make men brave and that children's fascination with guns is questionable. To prove his point, he sends Jem to read for Mrs. Dubose who struggles to beat her morphine addiction before she dies. He wants to show is son that one shows true bravery "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (121).
In To Kill A Mockingbird the children frequently find inspiration through Atticus. “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do (Lee 105).” In the story Jem destroyed a nearby neighbors flower garden, Mrs. Dubose. To pay her back he had to read to her everyday after school. However, what Jem didn’t realize is that she was using the stories to help herself lean off of the addictive drugs. In other words, he was helping her become sober to morphine. In this situation, she displayed courage as she died sober without the drugs she depended on for so long. Mrs. Dubose saw through it and began, but wasn’t lucky enough to enjoy the road
Dubose is plain-hell’” (Lee 7), she has managed to teach Scout about real courage. Scout thinks that Atticus is a real hero and very courageous since he was able to shoot Tim Johnson, when even Mr. Heck Tate, the sheriff could not even do it.. “‘I saw that One-Shot Finch!’” (Lee 128). Since Jem ruined Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bush, he was told to go read to her everyday after school, accompanied by Scout. As the weeks went by, Scout noticed “‘that each day we had been staying a little longer at Mrs. Dubose’s...and that she was well into one of her fits by the time it sounded’” (Lee 145). Atticus later on explains that her fits were because of her morphine addiction. She had been taking it “as a pain-killer for years” (Lee 147). When Mrs. Dubose had been told by Dr. Reynolds that she had a little while left to live, she then decided to get rid of her addiction which is why Jem and Scout would go read to her, to pass time. Everyday she would go a little bit longer without taking her medication. By getting off her morphine addiction, she showed the kids real courage. Real courage is when one knows it is tough but they continue anyways, “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (Lee 149), like when Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, he knows it is tough and virtually impossible to win, yet he tries his best to win. Mrs. Dubose knew from the very beginning it was going to be tough but
Occasionally it can be hard to see the world from a perspective other than your own. Most people understand little of the outside world due to the fact of their limited views of other people’s world. Being able to understand the perspective of other people can be a topic that is brought up much more as we grow up, but it can be a hard topic for some narrow minds to grasp. Scout, who can be a very black or white person, was never taught how to view the world from a “grey” perspective. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout discovers precious lessons about life, learns about outside worlds, and how to live in a world that is not so black and white.
For instance, if one has a tolerant perspective, he or she will make considerate choices. Scout Finch and her father, Atticus, both view the matters from the perspectives of others like Arthur, Mrs. Dubose, and Tom Robinson. Their perspective influences their decisions, such as Scout deciding to stop being afraid of Arthur, Atticus deciding to be gracious to a rude lady, and deciding to defend a black man in a society where coloured people are inferior. However, there are individuals who 's prejudiced perspective influences their decision that lead to hatred, violence, and discrimination. For instance, Jem decides to cut off Mrs. Dubose 's Camellias using violence because of his prejudiced perspective of her. Bob Ewell decides to murder Jem and Scout as revenge as well as lie in court because in his perspective, he believes Atticus is humiliating him and Tom is inferior to him because of his colour. Also, people in society decide to send an innocent man to prison based on lies and their prejudiced perspective. The juries are supposed to be honest, but they decide Tom is guilty because of his colour. One 's perspective is significant because it impacts the decisions one makes as expounded upon in the novel, To Kill A
In chapter 11 Atticus forced Jem to read for Mrs. Dubose as punishment for cutting the tops of her camellia bushes with Scouts baton then he broke it in two. He was to read to her for two hours a day for a month I which Scout usually joined him.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “There are no facts, only interpretations”. In other words, what may seem as truth to someone, may be viewed as a lie by another. How people look at the same situation differ depending on their interpretation. This idea appears several times throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and serves as the central lesson for the main character, Scout. In the novel, Scout encounters several conflicts that require her to not jump to conclusions, but instead consider the situation from someone else’s interpretation and perspective. One such situation occurred after she had walked Boo Radley home, and got the opportunity to look at her familiar neighborhood from another angle (372). Through that experience she is able to mature, and learn how to see the good in the most desperate of situations. In turn, this development serves to demonstrate how maturity comes through recognizing different perspectives.
She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe…Son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her. I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do” (Pg. 128). Atticus explained to Jem about how Mrs. Dubose died while getting off of her morphine addiction; that’s what made her the bravest person he knew. Lee is using Mrs. Dubose’s experience as a metaphor for Atticus’s idea of true courage. Not only being a metaphor for Mrs.Dubose but a metaphor for Atticus during the trial. He was “licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what”. The author’s craft moves simile, metaphor and personification were helping the idea of courage in the
An important scene found in the movie To Kill A Mockingbird is a scene concerning Mr. Tate recoiling upon the outcaste, Boo Radley, and unraveling a new perception of friendship. Atticus Finch (played by Gregory Peck), his daughter Jean-Louise Finch, also known as Scout (played by Mary Badham), and Boo Radley (played by Robert Duvall) all play an important role in the scene. As scout relates what had happened, she notices a man in the corner of the bedroom behind the door. She identifies the mysterious man as the one who grabbed Mr. Ewell and carried Jem home when she says, “Why, there he is Mr. Tate. He can tell you his name . . .” The sheriff, Mr. Tate, moves the bedroom door revealing in the light a frightened, gentle, and pale Boo Radley. And as he conveys a loving look, Scout gazes at him and smiles. In the meanwhile, Atticus had already introduced Scout to Boo. Then, Scout and Boo hold hands and walk over to the side of Jem’s bed.