The fact that sometimes we feel superior to Scout also helps the reader understand points in the book more. Her naivety makes us laugh, but it also makes us think about what we have read. This is because sometimes we have to extract the real meaning of the words from the phrases that are what Scout actually thinks.
A lighter method Lee uses to present courage and integrity is by using humour. At occasions throughout the book, she uses comedy to show slight moral values. Many of these occasions are not important events in the book, however they show a theme that is always present in the book. One early example of this is on page 20, where the three children are discussing ways of making Boo Radley come out. Here, a series of comments from Dill:
“Dill said striking a match under a turtle was hateful”
“How do you know a match don’t hurt him?”
“Were you ever a turtle, huh?”
Even though this dialogue is humorous, it shows that underneath Dill has a sense of integrity and righteousness. We see that he can already
put himself in someone else’s shoes, whereas Scout needs to have this theory or method of dealing with people explained to her later in the book. Humour is an effective way of getting the message across because it shows the point without (effectively) preaching morals at the reader. The effect of the language style really brings out how young Dill is – the sentences are very grammatically poor. The fact that he also answers a question with a question gives the impression that Dill hasn’t really thought this through very well.
Another occasion where humour is used to present morals and integrity is on page 107. In response to the taunting from Mrs Dubose, Jem says to Scout “Don’t pay any attention to her, just hold your head high and be a gentleman”. This quote is funny because Scout is obviously a girl yet is being told to be a gentleman. However, it is another example of using light humour to keep the theme of integrity running throughout the book.
Courage is also presented with humour in the book, but sometimes the humour in the occasion is a lot more subtle than usual. A main example where we see courage is on pages 159-160, when the gang of men comes to try and kill Tom Robinson. In this extract we see Scout trying to talk to Mr Cunningham. She is very courageous as the situation is quite sinister, but she still tries to calm the situation down. The humorous part of this extract is that she is talking to Mr Cunningham about something she doesn’t really understand, i.e. entailments. She is doing what Atticus told her and putting herself in someone else’s shoes, so begins to talk about his son. The main reason why it is funny is that it is an inappropriate time to talk about this, but she does it anyway. In this way, morals and integrity are also shown in this extract, and Atticus has played an important part. Scout also doesn’t realise that she is being brave, as she doesn’t understand the situation.
One main method Lee has used to present integrity is by putting in the character of Atticus. Atticus has a lot of moral values, integrity and courage, and he is often around to teach Jem and Scout a lesson. A definition of integrity is “morally firm” and this is definitely a way to describe Atticus. The main example of this is of course the fact that he is defending Tom Robinson, even though he knows that he will very probably lose the case. We see that he knows this when he says, on page 82 “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us to try not to win”. This shows that he has a sense of integrity, because he trying to win a case that he knows he can’t. Also, even though it is not a physical sort of courage, it also shows a mental bravery that Atticus is attempting to win it even though most of Maycomb hate him for defending Tom Robinson. He doesn’t back down in a difficult situation.
From background stories and seeing other people of Maycomb we see that Atticus is very different to most other people there. For example we know that most people would not defend Tom Robinson to the best of their ability, but that’s just what Atticus plans to do (and does). Again, this shows what integrity Atticus has by the fact that he does not want to let Tom, himself, nor Scout and Jem down. He believes in doing what he thinks is right.
This method of having a character like Atticus is effective because it is not preaching morals at the reader, but using a clever and subtle underlying theme. She uses other characters such as Jem and Scout to show the values and integrity that Atticus has. An example of this is on page 81, when Scout asks Atticus why he is defending Tom Robinson. This gives Lee an opportunity to let Atticus explain his reasons.
“If I didn’t, I couldn’t hold my head up in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again”.
From this quote from Atticus we can see that he believes that he has to represent Robinson because he is a lawyer and therefore has a duty to his client. Atticus says “even” showing that the least he expects from his children is respect. The moral sense of duty and honesty is explained to Scout, and we see her using this later in the book, when she refuses to fight Cecil Jacobs. Scout says, “If I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down”. This quotes shows that she has taken on what Atticus said, and is slowly gaining values and morals. She doesn’t realise she would gain more dignity from not fighting.
Another example of Scout learning during the book is on page 92, when Scout says “I swear before God if I’ll sit there and let him say somethin’ about Atticus”. This shows that she has a sense of honour in her family and won’t let anyone, even her cousin, say something bad about Atticus. This shows that sometimes, even Scout has a sense of integrity, even though she is young. The way the sentence is written seems like it would be said with a lot of force and attitude, showing Scout has strong feelings about this. The phrase that suggests this the most is “Ill swear before God,” as it is quite strong language for someone as young as Scout to use.
The way the story is told also leaves lots of opportunity to see courage and integrity. It does this by having lots of smaller situations and stories, e.g. Mrs Dubose, Tim Johnson, the fire, The Cunninghams etc that Jem and Scout can learn lessons from.
One of these smaller stories in the book is about Mrs Dubose. In this part, Jem learns that sometimes you have to be the better person. Atticus also wants Jem to understand what courage is. Atticus says “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”. This is telling Jem that bravery and courage is more than just a physical thing, that it can be mental. Mrs Dubose is an example of mental bravery as she lived the final days of her life in serious pain, all to die without being under the influence of drugs. I think this is meant to show that Jem finally understands about courage. The Mrs Dubose situation enables Lee to show the reader a message that she is trying to get across to them. This is another example of Lee using characters together to illustrate and emphasise the importance of having courage and using it well.
Language is occasionally subtlety used in the book to try and illustrate these points, but it does not have a big effect on how the reader thinks. The one way that it does make a difference is showing the difference between the way Atticus talks and the way that Scout talks. This really only shows that Atticus is obviously more mature and has learnt more about life in general.
A contrast between Atticus, Scout and some other residents of Maycomb is also quite effective in showing integrity and courage in the book. We see Atticus doing what he believes is right regardless of what everyone else thinks, and we see the other residents of Maycomb just trying to fit in. If we only had people and characters like Atticus in the book, the reader might believe it is normal for people to have behaved like that, but having other people emphasises how moral Atticus is. Making the character of Scout so blunt and naïve also contributes to showing how much integrity Atticus has, and how it is important to have it in life. This is a much cleverer method that Lee has used of showing that courage and integrity are important themes in the book.
The themes of courage and integrity run throughout the book with the main example of them being Atticus defending Tom Robinson. Lee clearly wanted to make these values important in the book and so created many opportunities and used different characters so that they can be shown effectively.
