Education in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

Education in to kill a mockingbird

Scout is influenced by a number of people in the novel. There are the main people in the family, her friend Dill, the neighbours and the whole society of Maycomb.

Atticus Finch, the father of Scout devotes himself to instilling social conscience in her and giving her advices that she finds very useful later on in the novel. She puts herself into another persons shoes and sees things from their point of view that helps her to appreciate life more and leads her to greater moral understanding. He teaches Scout to be fair to people, which is reflected how he lets Scout and Jem call him Atticus so they are able to interact with him in the terms as equal as possible. He sets an example for Scout, for example in the way he treats Calpurnia. He treats her as a member of their family, showing the racial prejudice that doesnt exist in Finch family because Atticus made it that way, showing Scout the fairness and justice within the family. He also threatens Scout of whipping every other day but never actually has done it because he treats the kids fairly that shows that Atticus uses intellect and deals with certain situations in a mature way.

Miss Caroline's bias is first demonstrated when Scout shows Miss Caroline she can read: "she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste". Miss Caroline makes Scout hate school even though the girl loves to learn. She lets Scout down by her constant comments to Scout to stop reading and writing because they wont learn to write until the third grade. Scout is eager to learn and looks forward to school, whereas the teacher put her down in the class due to her intelligence and the ability to read and write.

Since Scout hates school, she gains most of her valuable education on her own neighbourhood. Miss Maudie Atkinson is a strong, supportive woman who offers Scout a female role model, opposite from Alexandra, Atticuss sister. She never condescends to Scout as Alexandra, therefore speaks to the children as equals. Maudie is a positive influence on Scout basically because she has a strong sense of character like Atticus; she is also one of the few white people who stand up for Tom Robinson which demonstrates Scout that not everybody is one-sided and racist. It also shows that Maudie Atkinson shares Atticuss sense of justice. She is also the first person in town to display sympathetic attitude toward Boo and explains to Scout that Boo is just a victim of religious views of her father.