Typically, Scout finds this advice helpful, which she begins to use in her daily life in order to gain insight into other people's perspectives on life and the world. This ultimately helps to broaden her moral education in addition to her social understanding. When Mrs. Dubose - the extremely unkind old woman who lives a little ways down the street from the Finch family - begins yelling and insulting Jem and Scout on their way to town, Jem reacts quite negatively by cutting up all of the flowers in Mrs. Dubose's front yard. Jem winds up being punished, and as a consequence, he must read to Mrs. Dubose for a certain span of time every day. He complains to Atticus about how Mrs. Dubose is an awful woman, however, Atticus gives Jem and Scout the same advice, by telling them to try to understand Mrs. Dubose's point of view. She is an old woman who is entirely alone in the world. This begins to open up Jem and Scout's minds a little more, as they eventually agree on visiting her.
|
Perspective
Atticus is shown throughout the novel to normally tell his children that they need must step into someone else's shoes in order to understand how that individual see's the world. This is seen whenever Scout doesn't understand Jem's actions. When confused about Jem's behaviour, Atticus encourages Scout to try and understand his point of view and how he might be feeling. After Mrs. Dubose dies, Atticus reveals to the children that by reading to her each day, they were helping her break her morphine addiction. Atticus continues to explain to them, that even on the brink of death, Mrs. Dubose still fought to regain sobriety. Because of this Atticus believes that she is the bravest person he has ever known. He explains this to the children to help them understand the terrible pain that she was experiencing, and how the children's presence helped the process. Despite having said some horrible things, Atticus encourages the children to try and see the world from her perspective and to understand how brave and strong she was. |
Bravery
Bravery is a recurring theme in To Kill A Mockingbird and presents itself throughout the novel in many ways. Atticus is a principal example of showing bravery within the novel, by offering to defend a black man while facing large amounts of criticism and violent threats. He's also depicted as brave even in the face of danger, both when he kills the "mad dog" with a single shot in addition to facing the mob of men outside the jailhouse.
Atticus (who is also fighting against a power greater than himself) tells his children - who weren't very fond of Mrs. Dubose - that they should have great respect for her.Finally, Bob Ewell is a great representation when contrasting bravery in the novel. He is considered a coward, as he both lies within the courtroom in order to protect himself as well as resorts to attacking children in the darkness simply to make himself feel more of a man. |
Atticus encourages Scout to be brave and rather than using her fists to fight, she must instead use her words. In Atticus' perspective, withholding violence is one of the highest forms of bravery that one can show. When approaching the Radley house early in the book, the children feel a sense of bravery amongst themselves, however, learn later on that it was false bravery, and for the most part, silly. Atticus is shown to hold up Mrs. Dubose as being the ultimate definition of bravery, as she fights to free herself from her morphine addiction before she dies, even when she knows she will eventually die in the process. |
Importance of moral education
The exploration of the moral questions and viewpoints within this novel all occur within the perspective of children. The children's education plays a massive role in the development the majority of the novel’s themes. Throughout the novel, the children are taught to morph from innocence to adulthood. Scout even says towards the end of the book that she has basically learned everything except for algebra. This theme is mostly explored within Atticus' relationship with his children, as he makes sure to instill a social conscience in both Jem and Scout. The scenes at school show the contrast of Atticus’s effective education of his children versus school education. Scout is routinely confronted with teachers who are either unsympathetic towards the children’s needs or morally hypocritical. To Kill a Mockingbird ultimately concludes that the most important lessons to learn are those of sympathy and understanding. Atticus’s ability to put himself in his children’s shoes is portrayed in different scenarios throughout the novel and shows how he makes an excellent teacher; while on the other hand, Miss Caroline’s rigid commitment to the educational techniques that she learned in college makes her more ineffective. |
. |