To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

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In a democracy, the majority vote dictates what we do, how we live, and how we’re punished. But what about how we think? When Harper Lee wrote the quote "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience," she wanted to tell her readers that what is popular isn't always right, and vice versa. We can see this coming into play in the situations where Atticus first says the quote on page 140, in more of Atticus' life, and with other characters and situations.
Atticus is not allowing his opinion to be swayed by others, especially when he tells Scout that conscience does not abide by majority rule. When the quote is spoken on page 140, Jem had just gone to apologise to Ms. Dubose for breaking down her flowers. He broke down the flowers because of her rudeness toward the children and her unyielding commentary about Atticus and how wrong he was. Scout and Atticus are talking. Scout tells him: "'Atticus, you must be wrong...' 'How's that?' 'Well, most folks seem to think that they're right and you're wrong...' 'They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.'" (Lee, 139) This scene greatly shows Atticus' commitment to what's right. He remains calm even when his children have done something nigh disastrous (Lee, 138), he remains malevolent even though he is being called names (Lee, 138), and even when he is being ridiculed and pestered, he says (to Scout about Tom Robinson) "I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man."(Lee, 139) Despite Ms. Dubose, Jem's punishment, and the children's fear, At...

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...good or better than whites, but pretends to drink because the world believes that nobody in their right mind would do such a thing. Ms. Maudie ignored the "foot-washing Baptists" because she knew that the things they told her were wrong. All around Maycomb, people are subtly ignoring the skewed ethics of society.
All throughout Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, it can be seen that the conscience does not abide by majority rule. There is a blatant example on page 140, where Atticus says “The one thing that does not abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience,” (Lee, 140), when Scout tells him he must be wrong because others think so. Many things Atticus does throughout the book show similar examples, but they can be found aplenty in other characters and situations. These all help to show the reader that they should do what is right whether it is popular or not.

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