She also learns that people may be poor but they are proud and often can’t accept help. For example, Walter won’t take money from the teacher because he can’t pay it back; “here’s a quarter go eat down town today, you can pay me back tomorrow.” Walter shook his head; “Nome thank you ma’am” he shook his head 3 times. Chapter 2 (pg 21) this reveals that Walter is persistent and sticks to his principles and won’t give in. Scout patiently has to explain to the teacher why he won’t;
“Miss Caroline, he’s a Cunningham that’s okay, ma’am, you’ll get to know all the county folks after a while. The Cunningham’s never took anything they can’t pay back – no church baskets and no scrip stamps. They never took anything off anybody; they get along on what they have. They don’t have much but they get along on it.” Chapter 2 (pg 22) The Cunningham’s are proud and self sufficient and won’t take anything from any one because they know that they can’t pay it back and don’t want to be in debt. This shows that the Cunningham’s have been brought up to be independent and is linked to how scout taught herself to read and write.
Scout learns that society can often stereo type others and jump to conclusions. For example, when Scout goes outside the court for some fresh air she meets Dolphus Raymond and he offers Dill some of his drink; “Here he said offering Dill his paper sack with straws in it. Take a good sip, it’ll quieten you.’ Dill sucked on the straws, smiled and pulled at length but Scout tells him to be careful because she thinks its alcohol; “Dill you watch out now I warned” Dill released the straws and grinned. ‘Scout, it’s nothing but Coca-Cola.’ Chapter 20 (pg 220) Every body thinks that because Dolphus Raymond drinks out of a paper bag and walks abit funny that he is on the drink but it is only Coca – Cola its just the way that he has decided to live so he just goes along with what every one thinks, because he doesn’t want to change the way that he lives.
Question 2
Make notes on the way Harper Lee uses imagery and symbolism in the novel. Give examples from the text to support your ideas and explain what affects they have on you as the reader.
Harper Lee uses imagery to explain the way that people look. For example, when Scout and Jem go to Mrs Dubose’s house to read to her a story as Jem’s punishment and Scout states; “Her face was the colour of a dirty pillowcase, the corners of her mouth glistened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep grooves enclosing her chin.” Chapter 11 (pg 118) Harper Lee uses this description to describe Scout and Jem’s first impression of Mrs Dubose’s face and from this we are able to have a good picture in our mind of what she is like as a person. The first simile of a dirty pillow case is a vivid image and effective because it’s amusing, as you don’t expect to have this comparison, because it suggests that her face objectified and it is soiled and unhygienic with bits of dribble and stains. Furthermore, the second comic simile of her mouth moistened with travelling glaciers suggests that she is almost dead because of the cold glacial description but it could also be an exaggeration by the author to highlight that she may be a cold hearted person. It affects us as the reader because it recreates a dramatic image of her face, and makes us feel like we know her and can almost feel her cold character coming out of the novel.
Harper Lee uses Bird Imagery through out the novel but it is introduced in chapter 8 when Scout says, “Just as the birds know where to go when it rains, I knew when there was trouble in our street.” Chapter 8 (Pg 76), Bird imagery continues throughout the novel to be an essential symbol for sensing, and then doing, the right thing. There is the connection between Lee harpers use of bird symbolism and also Atticus’ last name, Finch.
Another time when Harper Lee uses effective imagery is when Scout and Jem find Dill under Scout’s bed and he tells them a story about why he is there;
“Having been bound in chains and left to die in the basement by his new father who disliked him and secretly kept alive on raw field peas by a passing farmer who heard his cries for help (the good man poked a bushel pod by pod through the ventilator) Dill worked himself free by pulling the chains from the wall still in wrist manacles he wandered two miles out of meridian.” Chapter 14 (pg 154) Harper Lee uses this description of Dill’s dad treating him callously, it isn’t actually true, but the author presents Dill’s character giving fictitious stories about his background to make us question what his life is really like. He could be trying to make them think that his life is better than it is to hide the fact that his life is boring and uneventful. Alternatively maybe he would like his life to be eventful and dramatic and this shows that he is a boy that would like an adventure and who has a great imagination.
When Harper Lee describes what the surrounding area out side the court house looks like before the trial, she states; “the court-house square was covered with picnic parties sitting on news papers, some people were gnawing on cold chicken.” Chapter 16 (pg 176) She vividly describes the excited Maycomb crowds before Tom Robinson’s court case but they’re described as disgusting vermin, eating greedily at the chicken corpse before they feast on the events inside the court house. This portrays them as inhumane life forms who mercilessly picnic and get amusement out of the suffering of an innocent person. Harper Lee portrays their behaviour to show how savage and horrible small towns could be towards black people in America at this time. I think this behaviour is disgusting because they do not show any sympathy and are cold hearted, they are only going along to use it as a day out. She uses alliteration when she is describing the ‘cold chicken’ to make it stand out and sounds harsh, the syllables sound almost like she is swearing and this exaggerates and draws attention to her anger towards the callous crowds. But even though the letters at the beginning of the words are the same the sounds of them are different ‘c’ and ‘ch’.
Another interesting image that she uses is when she gives us a description of Finches landing;
“Finches Landing consisted of three hundred and sixty-six steps down a high bluff and ending in a jetty. A two-rut road ran from the riverside and vanished among dark trees at the end of the road was a two-storeyed white house with porches circling it upstairs and downstairs.” Chapter 9 (pg 84)
From the picturesque description that Harper Lee gives us of the Finch house and it’s surroundings we are able to get a picture of the beauty of the surroundings but they reveal hidden symbolism about the family and the neighbouring community. For instance, the 366 steps show that there house is isolated and that they have quite a harsh climb when they leave their surroundings on travel into the neighbouring community, so it emphasises the physical but also psychological differences between the two as the Finches aren’t racist but their neighbours are. These differences are further highlighted with the use of colour symbolism as the finches white house has connotations of goodness, peace and purity. Where as the dark trees are deliberately juxtaposed with the white house to show evil nearby in the local community. Finally, the ‘rut road’ shows how difficult it is to move around in maycomb and make progress in a town so entrenched with it’s fixed ideas. The reason that she has written about there physical surroundings is to give us insight into the wider problems of the community and where they fit in.
Harper Lee describes Scout and Jem making a snow man on the first day it snows since 1885; “No a real snow man … Jem, I ain’t ever heard of a nigger snowman” Chapter 8 (pg 72-73) By the description that we are given we know that Jem has added mud to the snow, and by what Scout says helps to portray the picture of a black snow man for the reader. How ever this innocent image suggests that Jem doesn’t care about stereo types and what people think as she didn’t see anything wrong with a black snow man. Yet Scout represents the general Maycomb society in reminding his sister that things should be done properly and that colour is an important issue. The effects that this has on me as the reader is that it makes you realise how children were racist at such young age because of the words that they learnt at school.
Furthermore, Harper Lee describes what the Ewell’s house is like;
“Macomb’s Ewell’s lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin. The cabins plank walls were supplemented with sheets of corrugated iron, its roof shingled with tin cans hammered flat so only its general shape suggested its original design: square, with 4 tiny rooms opening on to a shotgun hall.” Chapter 17 (pg 187)
Harper Lee has used a lot of description by telling us so that we can imagine how impoverished the Ewell’s house is because it was once a negro cabin and was made of materials normally thrown away such as tin cans. They may have been resentful of black people because poverty has forced them to live like black people. From the description of their house near the town garbage dump we get the idea that they are also the rubbish of society.
The author gives us a description of what Mr Ewell looks like at the court case;
“In Maycombe county it was easy to tell when some one bathed regularly, as opposed to yearly lavations: Mr Ewell had a scalded look as if an over night soaking had deprived him of protective layers of dirt his skin appeared to be sensitive to elements.” Chapter 18 (pg 197)
This explanation that is written gives us a comic picture of Mr Ewell with a red look on his face because he has scrubbed himself for the court case. As the reader I can tell from the description that Mr Ewell didn’t wash very often but because it was a court case he felt that he needed to look respectable to hide the truth of what he is really like. It is ironic that maybe he is like dirt so the dirt on his face represents his true character and with out it he becomes exposed to the elements so he has uncomfortably changed.
Atticus explains to Jem about it being a sin to kill a mockingbird straight after giving the children there rifles for Christmas
The mockingbird of the title carries great symbolic weight throughout the novel, as it represents good being destroyed by evil. The mockingbird represents the idea of good- therefore to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. This connection is clear For example, after Tom Robinson died when trying to escape from the prison; Mr Underwood writes an editorial in the Maycombe Tribune; “Mr Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples be they standing, sitting or escaping. He compared Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children and Maycomb thought he was trying to write an editorial to be reprinted in the Montgomery Advertiser.” Chapter 25 (Pg 265), this emphasises the part symbolism plays because of the way that Tom Robinson was innocent, clearly kind and did nothing wrong, but was found guilty this is linked with the title because mockingbirds are innocent birds and all they want to do is bring joy and beauty to people’s lives by singing. Throughout the novel Jem, Tom, Dill and Boo are all symbolised as mockingbirds – ie innocents who have been destroyed through contact with evil while miss Maudie represents the concept of the novel when she declares “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but . . . sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The fact that Jem and Scout’s last name is Finch (a small bird) suggests that they are vulnerable and innocent within this racist world.
Finally, symbolism is also presented during the novel because Boo Radley is symbolic of another good innocent person who is in great danger in the surroundings of Maycomb. When he kills Mr Ewell to protect the children, Boo Radley should have been brought before the court; “I may not be much, Mr Finch but I’m still the sheriff of Maycomb County and Bob Ewell fell on his knife Good night sir” Chapter 30 (pg304) Heck Tate the sheriff decides not to get Boo in trouble as he has actually saved the children and Heck Tate decides to report that Mr Ewell fell on his knife in order to spare Boo. But alternatively he might have lied to protect the Ewell’s from the humiliation that bob had tried to kill innocent children. Scout understands that: "bringing Boo to court would be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?" pg 304 Scout uses her common sense and what she has learnt from what people have said and works it out for herself that the reason that Heck says that is because Boo is innocent and only did it to save them so why should he be put in front of the court. This shows that perhaps some people in Maycomb could do the right thing and wanted justice.
Question 4
What is your opinion of Atticus Finch? What roles does he play in the novel and do you think he fulfils them successfully? Remember to support your points with quotations and references to particular incidents.
Throughout the novel he is portrayed as a good father. Although being a single parent, Atticus has an extremely busy schedule, including defending Tom Robinson; his prime concern is for Jem and Scout. Atticus is a good father to Jem and Scout, but he has to gain their respect. In their eyes they see him as an ageing man who has little or no value to them, because of this; Jem and Scout don't see him as a role model until a string of events puts it into perspective. Atticus Finch is used to convey Harper Lee's feelings about race, society as a mass, and morals.
He is an honourable man, for example the way that he must have been so angry with Mayella Ewell when in court, but he still treated her with respect; “we’ve done business in this court for years and years and Mr Finch is always courteous to every body.” Chapter 18 (pg 201) this shows that regardless of his feelings about the rape case, never the less he remains polite and courteous to Mayella Ewell. Atticus in particular actually sees the wider picture and accepts that Mayella has an impoverished home life and so treats her with respect, and he understands how Bob Ewell must feel. Through the character of Atticus, Harper Lee teaches the reader the moral that even though in life we will meet people who behave badly and aren’t nice people with dignity.
One of the roles that Atticus plays during the novel is bringing his children up as a single parent and is trying to do the best for his children. When Scout comes home from school and says;
“Do you defend niggers Atticus” she asked him that evening; “Of course I do. Don’t say nigger Scout it’s common.”; “s what every body at school says.”; “from now on it’ll be every body less one” Chapter 9 (pg 83)
He is a caring father who believes it is very important to mould his children in the right way, and teach them differently to all the other children they know who do not question racial prejudice and are just images of their parents. Whereas Atticus talks simply to influence his children, he has no control over the other children at school but he can influence his own. He doesn’t take any notice of the other prejudice in the village of Maycomb; instead of shouting at Scout for saying it, like a lot of other parents would have he says plainly that she is not going to say it any longer. He just gets on with things with out worrying about other people and what they have to say about prejudice. By this I mean that he does care about the racial prejudice but instead of confronting it he is trying to set a good example through his actions and the way he treats black people.
Another of the roles that Atticus has during the novel is that he sees his position as a father to educate his children not just academically but also morally to educate their conscience, and be brave enough to think differently from most other people. Atticus states angrily;
“I don’t know but they did it. They’ve done it before and they done It tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it – seems that only children weep.” Chapter 22 (pg 235)
Therefore, Atticus is telling Jem simply that only children are aware of injustice because their consciousness haven’t been clouded with predjudiceness and that is what Atticus ironically means when he says; “it seems that only children weep Jesus said “let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Matthew19v14. This is ironic because we would expect the adults to be a role model for the children, but here it is the other way around.
Further more, at the beginning of the novel, Atticus Finch demonstrates his love that he has for Jem and Scout by providing them with an education. How ever the children view education it is very clear that Atticus thinks that education is so very important. For example, although Scout hates enough to pretend being ill, Atticus continually urges her on through the tedious school years.
“I told Atticus I didn’t feel well and didn’t think I’d go to school any more if it was all right with him, you never went to school and you do all right, so I’ll just stay home too you can teach me like granddaddy taught you’n’ uncle jack”
“No I can’t,” said Atticus “ I have to make a living besides, they’d put me in jail if I kept you at home, now what’s the matter?
“Bit by bit I told him the day’s misfortunes – and she said you taught me all wrong, so we can’t ever read any more ever. Please don’t send me back, please sir” Chapter 3 (pg 33)
“First of all” he said “if you can learn a simple trick Scout, you’ll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from him point.” Chapter 3 (pg 32-34)
From what Atticus says to Scout we can tell as the reader that Atticus can tell there is something wrong with Scout by the way she is acting, and he is telling her how learning a simple thing will help her so he isn’t worried about what the teacher says he will carry on helping her. But is telling scout to see it from the teacher’s point of view because that is the main thing. Atticus loves Scout enough to see that obtaining an education is extremely important. Evidently you can see that Atticus must love Scout because he reads to her from newspapers and magazines each and every single evening before bed. I believe he does this to teach her new vocabulary but also to inform her about what is going on in the world outside Maycomb, this is important so that she has a wider view of the important things happening in the world so life doesn’t end in Maycomb. This costs time and as a busy lawyer, time is very precious to Atticus and even though Miss Caroline has told Scout to tell her father to stop reading with her he is very reluctant to stop, so him and Scout come to a compromise and he makes sure Scout knows what one is;
“Do you know what a compromise is?” he asked.
“Bending the law?”
“No an agreement reached by mutual concessions. It works this way,” he said. “If you’ll concede the necessity of going to school we’ll go on reading every night just as we always have. But I have a feeling that if you tell Miss Caroline we read every night she’ll be after me and I wouldn’t want her to be after me.” Chapter 3 (pg 34-35)
This is ironic because although she is so young he is teaching her a very adult skill that some adults never learn. Therefore Atticus’ role in the text is to show we shouldn’t have low expectations of children as they have a lot of potential if we give them a chance as he is doing. Another part that shows how literate that Scout is, is when in chapter one Jem announces to dill “Scout yonder’s been readin’ ever since she was born and she ain’t even started school yet”. Chapter 1 (pg 7) Education is the part of the novel that releases the ignorance that causes such prejudice Because of Atticus teaching Jem about this he begins to use the towards the end of the book, when he begins to wonder if education could be based more on education than on bloodiness and violence. Reflecting on what Atticus has done for his children in the novel, we can see that he cares very much about his children’s futures, and this in turn shows us that he loves his children.
In addition he also functions as a positive model of how to behave in the face of adversity and difficult circumstances. During the first half of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee constructs a sweet and affectionate description of growing up in the world of the small town, in which they live in, Alabama. Harper Lee, however, continues to get further into the description of small town courteousness in the second half of the book. None of the characters in the book are perfect. This begins to show through in the second half of the book when the disguise is removed and it reveals the ugliness of Maycomb and the people there. Through the tough times though, there is only one character who manages to keep cool and manages to maintain his integrity is Atticus Finch, through all the struggles and pressure, stands strong as a very positive , making sure to instill in his children the three very specific values: education, bravery, and acceptance and he tries to teach his children these. “Guns do not make men brave” this is showing the children the concept of braveness. To show the concept of education he tells scout that she must go to school no matter what “sometimes it’s better to bend the law a little in special cases. In your case the law remains rigid. So to school you must go “ he is not giving into Scout who wants to stop going to school but Atticus knows how important it is so is asserting his authority and insisting that she goes.
Atticus also teaches Jem important lessons regarding bravery. Near the beginning of the book we learn that Atticus does not approve of guns; “You’ll have to teach em to shoot” said Uncle Jack; “that’s your job” Atticus said. By Atticus saying this he is trying to enlighten the children that he is not a good shooter because he doesn’t want them thinking he has a lot to do with guns. He doesn’t want to teach the children because he doesn’t want to influence his children by using them. He believes that guns do not make men brave and that children's fascination with guns is debatable;
“When he gave us our air rifles Atticus wouldn’t teach us to shoot. Uncle Jack instructed us in the rudiments thereof; he said Atticus wasn’t interested in guns. Atticus said to Jem one day I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the back yard but I know you’ll go after birds” and because he knows the children will be off shooting birds he gives them one piece of advice; "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em. But remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
To prove his point, he sent Jem to read for Mrs. Dubose who struggles to beat her morphine addiction before she dies. He wants to show his son a way that one can show true bravery "It’s when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (pg 124) Chapter 11. Atticus also shows his sense of bravery by refusing to carry a gun when he goes to protect Tom Robinson from angry farmers and refusing to carry a gun to protect himself from Bob Ewell after he threatens guns. Atticus knows that bravery is more than the decision to carry a gun and life doesn’t revolve around guns and violence and there is other ways to deal with it. Atticus shows bravery when he takes Toms' case despite knowing that his town would turn against him because they are so prejudiced and his children would have to suffer because of the things people at school would say. Cecil Jacobs said in the school play ground; “Scout Finche’s daddy defended nigger” and when they go for Christmas at Finches landing; Francis jerked looses and sped into the old kitchen, “nigger lover” he yelled. Jem shows bravery when the children intervene on behalf of Atticus, and Jem refuses to leave his father's side during the showdown with farmers at the jailhouse. This shows that Jem is proud to support his father even though other people are against him. Perhaps the biggest lesson that Scout must learn is to turn away and show real bravery rather than fight when people antagonize her and in the end she does learn about it and manages to walk away; “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said then dropped my fists and walked away.” Atticus is using his influence on the children and teaching them what he has learnt and that violence is the not only way to sort something out. I think that this is a good way to teach your children as it gets to think for themselves and become strong independent and able to defend them selves and others as well.
Atticus' most important role in the book is being a teacher, to all sorts of people not only his own children, he remains to be the concept of showing acceptance of all people and to try to help them even in difficult circumstances. During the course of the book he helps out with people’s lives and trying to keep people out of trouble. Clearly, with Tom Robinson's case, the characters deal with prejudice head on. The References through the book refer to black men as "niggers" and "boys" and these words are located in various situations throughout the book. The connotations of calling a black man a boy is to suggest that you see them child like and not fully grown and it’s disrespectful. Black people are seen to have a lowly status within the society of Maycomb, within Macomb the white population don’t waste time in making known and telling people their rigid rules and stereotypes for daily life. The fact that Atticus realizes that he has no chance to win his case defending Tom because Tom is black, and therefore powerless and ‘unimportant’. This also shows how deep-rooted the racism in the village of Maycomb is because of the majority of people being prejudice and white, and the contrasting acceptance that Atticus has shown of black people. His closing argument in chapter twenty clearly shows his views on racism. “In the name of God believe him” Chapter 20 (pg 227) by Atticus stating this it shows that he thinks every one should believe in Tom because he really and truly does. By him saying in the name of God, he is pleading in God’s name that they do the right thing because he is certain that there will be an injustice because he knows that Tom is innocent and is so angry that very few other people do not, him because they’re racist.
His conduct and conversation throughout the book show that he is entirely free from the usual Maycomb faults of pride, racialism and hypocrisy. In any ways, Atticus is central to the whole point of the novel. The book also shows examples of prejudice juxtaposed to Atticus’ good treatment of black people as it refers to and class. This is showing Atticus as a moral light and moral guardian the way he teaches people things that he learns in day to day life. Moral means a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event such as the Tom Robinson case. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves. Although the whole town subscribes outwardly to gender roles the way that the men work and the women get together in their pretty dresses, drink tea and chat, Aunt Alexandra's stand plays the greatest role in reinforcing these concepts within the Finch family. Aunt Alexandra believes that, because the Finch family come from a family of landowners, their family has greater social standing because of education, they have a background of educated family members; “Background doesn’t mean old family” said Jem.
“I think its how long your family’s been readin’ and writin” Chapter 23 (pg 250)
She thinks that they deserve greater respect than other people do, this gives them a higher standing in society, although Aunt this like this, it’s not the way that Atticus thinks. She refuses to associate both black and white citizens alike because she believes that black are inferior, many are not educated because they are not given the chance. Atticus, on the other hand, urges his children to "climb into their skin and walk around in it" chapter 3 (pg 33) before they do anything not just to judge or criticize others if they don’t know what they are like because in Atticus’ eyes it would be racist. Scout prefers the male world because they don’t ask lots of questions; “but I was more at home in my father’s world. People like Mr heck Tate did not trap you with innocent questions to make fun of you;” Although the individual characters do not outwardly deal with gender issues, several other characters that are introduced do, Miss Maudie and Miss Stephanie are ones in particular. They are symbolic for the wide range of the womanhood of the south that lies beneath the "southern belle" stereotype. One of Atticus’ roles in the text is to be moral light amongst such dark behaviour.
Also, Atticus makes sure that he teaches his children about ignorance and the concepts of and prejudice. The role that he is playing is being a good father to his children because they don’t have a mum he is doing all he can for them, making sure while they are children they learn lots of concepts about life. He tries to mature their consciences in a way that they will be accepting to all people and not be racist or prejudice in any shape or form but be willing to accept anyone for what they are. This is also reinforced by some of the things that Calpurnia says to the children and tries to teach them. For example, when Walter comes for dinner and she teaches Scout about having manners for guests;
“There are some folks who don’t eat like us” she whispered fiercely, “but you ain’t called on to contradict ‘em at the table when they don’t. that boys yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear” Chapter 2 (pg 27)
Calpurnia is absolutely furious the way that Scout has commented on the way that one of there visitors acts while at the table, and immediately gives Scout a lesson on her table manners so that she learns for the future and as calpurnia is teaching Scout to be a polite young lady. I think that Calpurnia is in some ways an equivalent role model to Atticus because she teaches them right from wrong and how to respect other people who are less fortunate than you. Another role that helps him to educate his children is that he is a lawyer and because of this he was able to widen his children’s consciences.
Overall, I think that Atticus' role in the novel is one of the most important. His children are at a very crucial point in their lives because there is such a lot going on around them. He is the person who acts as his children's consciences, and is helping them to develop their own. Though his actions are very simple, many of his thoughts and ideas are radical for his time. Though the times are very hard and there is a lot of pressure to just give up, Atticus does not give up on his children, he believes in them and he makes sure to impose on them his standards for living, and makes them influence people the way that he has influenced them. He ensures his children will learn three parts in their lives: education, bravery, and not least of all acceptance to accept people how ever they are not for how they look or act but for who they are. Through the character of Atticus Harper Lee gives us the didactic message that respecting others despite their position is paramount for a fair society.
My opinion of Atticus Finch is that he is the voice of reason, and what I mean by this is that how ever other people react, he takes no notice and gets on, on his own and I think he fulfils his roles in the novel well and to the best of his ability.
