Commentary on To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout experience major changes in how they view their world and learn many lessons along the way. As the novel begins Jem and Scout are unaware and innocent kids, however as the story progresses they encounter racism and prejudice people. At the end of the novel Jem and Scout begin to understand peoples views and learn many things from the events they encounter.

The two characters who play a major part in Jems and Scouts life and who they learn the most from is Atticus and Miss Maudie. Atticus teaches them their most important lessons in life. One important thing he tells them is that you will never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view(30). This is a very important lesson they learn because throughout the novel they use it to begin to understand other people. At the end of the novel they start to understand why people do what they do in certain situations because they take Atticuss advice and consider things from other peoples perspective. Miss Maudie teaches them that its a sin to kill a mocking bird(90). She explains how mocking birds dont harm anyone or anything they just sing for people which is why its a sin to kill mockingbirds. However the main lesson is that its a sin to do something bad to someone who hasnt done anything wrong.

Jem and Scout learn what real courage is from Mrs. Dubose and Atticus. Atticus teaches Jem and Scout what real courage is by telling them that real courage is when you know youre licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what(112) and that courage isnt a man with a gun in his hand. Atticus tell Jem and Scout that Mrs. Dubose was very brave because she was a morphine addict, broke herself out of that addiction, and died beholden to nothing and nobody(112). One way they learn courage from Atticus is when he decides to take Tom Robinsons case and tries to win even though he cant win it. When Jem asks why they cant win Atticus explains to him that when its a white mans word against a black mans, the white man always wins(220). At that time a black mans story winning over a white mans story in a court was unheard of because the juries were white and took the white mans side. A black man who was taken to court knew he was a dead man for there was no way to win the favor of the racial and prejudice people of the court.

Jem and Scout learn about prejudice from Boo Radley and from Tom Robinsons case. They find it unfair and not right that Tom Robinson was found guilty when he was clearly innocent just because he was black When the case is over Jem asks Atticus how they could find him guilty and he replies by telling them theyve done it before and they did it tonight and theyll do it again and when they do it-seems that only children weep(213). Atticus tell them that the people of the court are prejudice, arent fair to all people, and will continue to do this as long as people dont take a stand against it. He also mentions that people dont do anything against unfair verdicts against people they just go on with their normal lives and only children recognize the unfairness of this. Besides Tom

Robinsons case, people are also prejudice against Boo Radley. They think of him as weird, scary, and is described as a monster just because he is different. There are many stories and descriptions of him that all make him seem bad and scary but in reality he is none of those. The children all describe him as a monster because he prefers to live in his house alone and doesnt come out. When Scout finally meets him she realizes that he is really nice and Atticus tells her that most people arewhen you finally see them(281).

They learn that most people are good on the inside and that you cant judge someone by their looks or by how the live. This lesson however isnt just for Boo Radley it also applies to many other people in the book such as Tom Robinson. He was a kind, honest, and humble man but was found guilty because they judged him by his skin and not by who he really was.

Throughout the novel they experience many events that have a strong impact on how they view the world in which they live. At the beginning of the novel they think of their town as the safest town, but then begin to realize what really goes on in their town and it isnt the safest town to them anymore. These events give them a understanding of the actual life in which they live and what really goes on that they didnt see before. Learning these life lessons and using them matures them by making them understand things in an adult perspective instead of their child perspective that they have looked at the world through.