To Kill a Mockingbird Character Analysis:Atticus, Scout, Boo
The voice of reason in the town of Maycomb and in the novel. Atticus disperses the wisdom and logic that is the core of the novel. He is a man that goes beyond the word tolerance; tolerance is merely to put up with something. Atticus looks at everyone and tries to understand who they are and where they are coming from. And he quietly and delicately passes on wisdom to his children about taboo subjects like racism. Atticus is also a consistent man. People say that he is the same in the courtroom as he is on the streets. The code of conduct that he maintains for himself remains the same no matter what situation he is placed in. That is why he feels he is responsible to take Tom Robinson's case and defend him to the best of his abilities. If he didn't, he would see himself as a hypocrite. Although Atticus seems mellow and even old-fashioned, many of his beliefs are quite revolutionary. He allows Calpurnia to truly be a member of his family. He gives her full respect and fair treatment at all times. When Cal takes his children to her church, he seems unaffected. It is all part of his consistent code of conduct.
Scout is the opposite of Aunt Alexandra and what she stands for. Scout is the new Southern woman; strong willed, opinionated, and accepting. The relics of racism and classicism that occupy Aunt Alex and her standards are not present in Scout. Although she is still young, and under the guidance of Atticus, we get an impression of what Scout will become, as she gets older. She does not carry the racism and double standards that the rest of the town carries. Rather, she forms a code of conduct very similar to Atticus; a code of understanding and acceptance of all human beings. Scout is not nearly as mellow as Atticus, though. She can be very outspoken and isn't afraid to challenge others whenever she sees fit, sometimes with her fists. But Scout is the true heroine of the novel. In chapters 30 to 31 Scout is show to be very understanding of Boo's feelings even though he doesn't talk very often. A quote that shows this is on page 275 when she says to Boo: "Boo was our neighbour. He gave us two soap dolls a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But we never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we gave him nothing, and
Some common words found in the essay are:
Aunt Alex, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson's, Arthur Scout, Boo Radley, Maycomb Jem, Scout Southern, Stephanie Crawford, Ewell Jem's, boo radley, Radley Scout, code conduct, chapters 30, chapters 30 31, 30 31,
Approximate Word count = 783
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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