How do the various parental figures, develop and change the views of Scout and Jem in 'To Kill a Mocking bird'.

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Matthew Harrison 10F2

How do the Various Parental Figures, Develop and Change the Views of Scout and Jem

                In ‘To Kill a Mocking bird’ Harper Lee focuses on the teachings of many parental figures. Atticus gives readers an insight into the ways of parenting in the 30’s. He has his kids call him ‘sir’ and not dad. On the other hand, Aunt Alexandra is snobby, big headed and egotistical. She sees herself right in every sense. She treats Calpurnia as a slave, this proves she is prejudice and jealous. Probably because Cal has been a mother figure to them.

                Mrs Maudie however plays an intricate role. She is much the quiet observer looking on from afar but still is key in the children upbringing. All in all, parenting places the novel in place for the kids to take the central roles. With Scout’s narration the parents are placed at the back, but with a closer look the parents are seen as the key figures.

                Through studying the novel carefully it is clear that Atticus is a major role model to his children. He has brought them up to be un-prejudice; he even has a black woman be their ‘nanny’ in a time with high racism. Atticus always makes it clear what he feels to his kids. He never conveys these feelings in an angry or abusive way; he is always calm and collected. Only once he seems to ‘blow his top’, when Scout is rude to Aunt Alexandra, ‘Lets get this clear; you do as Calpurnia tells you, you do as I tell you and as long as your Aunt’s in the house, you will do as she tells you. Understand?’. Even looking at this, you could draw conclusions from it. He mentions Calpurnia first, this shows his respect and acknowledgement of what Cal has done for this family.

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                Atticus brings up his children to believe, understand and make use of two main things: Empathy and Courage. He uses empathy to teach the kids to get through other peoples misdemeanours. This helps Scout immensely, ‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’.

                Atticus helps his kids become better people through his definition of courage. ‘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 ...

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