English
Teacher’s Name
13 March 2013
To Kill a Mockingbird
In part one of her timeless novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how it really does take a town to raise a child, and that everyone around you can make an impact on your life. Before the trial begins, Scout comes into contact with different characters that influence her and teach her life lessons. Through her interactions with Atticus, Miss Maudie, and Mrs. Dubose she learns empathy, optimism, and courage.
Atticus is the biggest influence in Scout and Jem’s life because he is the only parent they have. Scout is a very one minded person, and she doesn’t really understand why other people do the things they do. On her first day of school Scouts teacher tried to buy the Cunningham boy a lunch, but he wouldn’t let her. Scout tries to explain to her teacher that the Cunninghams don’t take anything from anyone because they are too poor to pay anyone back. Scout gets enraged because her teacher doesn’t understand, and the boy just stands there. When she gets home Atticus sits her down and has a talk with her. He advises her to “climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 30) before she decides to judge him. He is teaching her that “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view”(Lee 30) and that you shouldn’t judge them till you know the situation.
Miss Maudie lives next door to Scout, she is always nice and kind with them, and treats them equally to the way she treats other people. One night Atticus woke up Jem and Scout because Miss Maudie’s house was on fire. The next morning they awoke to find her standing in her yard with “her old grin crossed [on] her face” (Lee 72) When Jem asked her why she wasn’t grieving she replied that “she always wanted a smaller house” (Lee 73) and that she would have more garden space. Scout was confused by this, but later learned that was just the way she is. Through Scouts experience with Miss Maudie’s house catching fire, Scout learns that no matter how tough the situation there is always something good.
Scout and Jem have a neighbor that lives up the road named Mrs. Dubose. She is a sick, old, cranky lady with a big mouth. She never has anything nice to say, and sits on her front porch all day in her wheel chair. Jem over heard Mrs. Dubose talking bad about his father on the way to town, and on his way back he smashed every flower and plant in her yard. His punishment was to go to her house everyday for a month and read to her for two hours. During the two hours she would have “fits” and then Jessie, her maid, would send them home. After about a month of this she finally told them that they didn’t have to come anymore. About a month after that she passed away. Atticus told them that she was a morphine addict and that the reading sessions were set to help her “break herself of it before she died” (Lee 111) so she could get her mind off her addiction. Even though she knew she would lose the battle she had with the morphine, she still had the courage to put up a fight, and didn’t stop till the day she died.
Scout learns many important lessons from her neighbors that will stick with her all her life. She learns how to look at situations from other people’s perspectives from Atticus, she learns to see the good in all things from Miss Maudie, and she learns that never giving up is courage from Mrs. Dubose. Everyone around you makes an impact on your life, even if you don’t realize it at first.
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