Major Lessons

Jerusalem Kitila
5/16/13
Pd.2
Major Lessons In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee selects Jean Louise Finch, "Scout", as the narrator. It allows the reader to see how Scout matures as a person. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama around the 1950’s. Scout lives with her brother Jem, and her father, Atticus .Scout is six when the story begins, and as she grows she can see how things really were. Scout learns not to judge people, fight in what you believe in and that the world can be unfair.

Scout learns not to judge people in a wrong way before knowing them. Scout judged Boo Radley and Miss Caroline before getting to know them better. It was after the attack by Bob Ewell happened and Scout walked Boo Radley to his house. After meeting Boo Radley she realizes that what she was doing with Dill and Jem like constantly harassing him to come outside was like killing a mockingbird. “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and a chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we have given him nothing, and it made me sad” said Scout (Lee 278). Scout realizes that she should not be afraid of someone before you get to know them; she stepped on Boo Radley’s porch and realized all the stuff he had to go through. Boo did something in return by saving Scout and Jem’s lives .Another lesson was when Scout thought her teacher Miss Caroline Fisher treated her students poorly. Scout thought that Miss Caroline was a mean teacher who had no respect for her students. When Scout went home she told Atticus that she never wanted to go back to school because of Miss Caroline, but Atticus told her “You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view” (Lee 30). Scout then learns her point of view; Miss Caroline isn’t from Maycomb county and therefore not familiar with the customs. Also, she is a new teacher and does not have much experience. She does not understand what motivates students to learn and how to teach them in a way that they will find interesting. Since Scout knows about Miss Caroline’s point of view she understands why she acts that way in front of her students. Scout learned something new about Boo Radley and Miss Caroline which made her not judge them again.

Scout learns to fight for what you believe in from Mrs.Dubose and Atticus. Jem and Scout tried to avoid Mrs. Dubose because they thought she was a rude lady. Scout before had thought courage was only when a guy had a gun. "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew" said Atticus (Lee101). Scout knew that Mrs. Dubose had a few months to live, but she tried her hardest to beat it. Scout learned because even though Mr.Dubose had problems, she overcame her drug addiction by having Jem and scout read to her. Scout learns to have courage . Another example that Scout learns is when Atticus tells her and Jem that true bravery is when you keep fighting and preserving enough when you know you can’t win. "Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (Lee 223). Even though Atticus knew that he was going to lose the Tom Robinson case he believed that this was the one case in his life that he is meant to make a difference by taking and to be a good example to Jem and Scout because he would of looked like a coward by backing down to a person in need. Scout learns to try your hardest even if you have no shot at winning which is one thing that she learned. The last major lesson that Scout learns is that the world can be unfair. Bob Ewell attacked Jem and Scout during their walk back home .Bob Ewell wanted to get revenge on Atticus for completely destroying his dignity during the trial and to suffer during the post-trial period. Therefore, he wanted Atticus to experience the pain he felt. Jem and Scout were walking back home and during that time Bob Ewell tried to kill them, they were terrified. “He was running, running toward us with no child’s steps” According to Scout (Lee 261) “Run, Scout! Run! Run!” Jem screamed (Lee 261). Scout learns that this is unfair and knows that it wasn’t her fault for Bob Ewell to feel pain in his life. Another one was the Tom Robinson case. Atticus decided to tell everyone about what happened to Tom. “Tom Robinson had lost everything, his life, his children, his wife, and function in his arm. He is being sent to prison, with the possibility of being executed (Lee 234).Scout learns how it’s unfair for an innocent black man to die for a crime that he didn’t even do, she also learns that there was so much hatred in Maycomb because a lot of people didn’t want Tom Robinson to win the case. Scout wishes for things to be different. At the end of the book, Scout become more of a mature and responsible character. She learned not to judge people before knowing them because once you get to know them your thoughts of the person will change , another one was to fight in what you believe in