Examples Of Virtues In To Kill A Mockingbird

The Virtues of Atticus Finch To Kill a Mockingbird, a book written by Harper Lee, is a tale about Atticus Finch, a lawyer and father of two children, who is assigned to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape. During the events of the book his children, Jem and Scout, are taught virtues from Atticus. He taught them that one should be kind to your enemies by being sympathetic to Mrs. Dubose, a wicked old lady. He teaches them that one should always defend what is right by defending Tom Robinson, and that you should defend others from persecution by helping prevent Boo Radley from being brought to court. Effectively, he taught these valiant virtues by living them and maintaining them amongst persecution. Atticus confidently follows God even though he suffered for it.

Atticus enlightens Jem and Scout with the virtue of standing up for what is right when he advocated for Tom Robinson. When he boldly accepted the case, he informs Scout that the people of Mayville did not believe that he should defend Tom, but he would justly defend Tom without the backing of Mayville. While talking with Scout, he states, “The main (reason) one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town.” (pg. 86) and advises her, “You just hold your head high, and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you,

These three virtues, to defend what is right, to treat with kindness our miserable enemies, and to protect others from persecution, are all virtues that we should apply to our own lives. When he defended Tom, however, he taught us the most treasurable virtue of all. By doing this he followed the path of righteousness, even though his enemies maliciously planned to destroy him. Atticus challenges us to follow the path of righteousness and to obey God. To Kill a Mockingbird is a masterpiece that has life-changing virtues that we should apply to