To Kill A Mockingbird - The Challenge
Before I start making my point, I would like to state here that I am only a student studying this novel and therefore, if my argument has flaws, feel free to comment and correct anything that you disagree upon. Personally, I have gained many insights from this novel and am not criticizing it in any way, for it certainly teaches many lessons I have adapted into my life. But then again, how perfect can one book be?
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that portrays a White lawyer standing up for a Black man in the 1930s in Maycomb County, a fictional small town in Alabama. In Maycomb County, prejudice reigns as "There was indeed a caste system in Maycomb".
It is a novel that questions a man's conscience - "I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man." Atticus is described as a man with high moral values, full of integrity. He teaches lessons to his children throughout the novel, especially from the trial, when they have to "keep your (their) head about far worse things" and "make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down".
Throughout the trial, we see Atticus Finch doing his best to defend the Negro, Tom Robinson. Constant questioning, probing for details, meticulous repetition, anything that helps prove the case. We see how Bob and Mayella Ewell constantly contradict themselves on the testimonials they attempt to give.
Finally, in the end, we sympathize with Tom Robinson and come to terms that Maycomb is indeed a place filled with prejudice where a Black man will never win a case in court. We admire Atticus for his courage to fight for the Black man, when all the White man were putting him down, when he faced certain dangers.
Yet, how courageous is Atticus Finch actually?
Atticus Finch fought against someone who lived "behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin", someone regarded even lowlier than Negroes themselves. He fought against a girl who "white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn't have anything to do with her because she was white."
The dangers he had to face were "Mr Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him", "Atticus remained where he was" when the mob came to get Tom Robinson in the jail, and his children nearly being killed in the end by Bob Ewell.
But, how dangerous are these dangers actually?
Atticus Finch did not have to face anything that would jeopardize his whole career, for he did not fight against someone rich in the town who had the capability of bringing him down. "people were content to re-elect him to the state legislature that year, as usual, without opposition."
Atticus Finch's moral courage was to fight against somewhat who had no standing in society, "varmints that feasted on Maycomb's refuse". He did not worry about offending the whole town for Bob Ewell was a poor nobody.
The scariest dangers are not ones that are physical and can be guarded against like the ones Atticus Finch faced, they are those that come on a higher level. When one offends a rich person, and the whole of society turns against one. Bob Ewell, although being white, was a plain blatant liar who could not be trusted. Nobody in Maycomb was on his side, although because of prejudice, Tom Robinson could not win the case.
So, how courageous was Atticus Finch?
And, how great was his challenge in To Kill a Mockingbird?
Just some food for thought.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that portrays a White lawyer standing up for a Black man in the 1930s in Maycomb County, a fictional small town in Alabama. In Maycomb County, prejudice reigns as "There was indeed a caste system in Maycomb".
It is a novel that questions a man's conscience - "I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man." Atticus is described as a man with high moral values, full of integrity. He teaches lessons to his children throughout the novel, especially from the trial, when they have to "keep your (their) head about far worse things" and "make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down".
Throughout the trial, we see Atticus Finch doing his best to defend the Negro, Tom Robinson. Constant questioning, probing for details, meticulous repetition, anything that helps prove the case. We see how Bob and Mayella Ewell constantly contradict themselves on the testimonials they attempt to give.
Finally, in the end, we sympathize with Tom Robinson and come to terms that Maycomb is indeed a place filled with prejudice where a Black man will never win a case in court. We admire Atticus for his courage to fight for the Black man, when all the White man were putting him down, when he faced certain dangers.
Yet, how courageous is Atticus Finch actually?
Atticus Finch fought against someone who lived "behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin", someone regarded even lowlier than Negroes themselves. He fought against a girl who "white people wouldn't have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes wouldn't have anything to do with her because she was white."
The dangers he had to face were "Mr Ewell approached him, cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him", "Atticus remained where he was" when the mob came to get Tom Robinson in the jail, and his children nearly being killed in the end by Bob Ewell.
But, how dangerous are these dangers actually?
Atticus Finch did not have to face anything that would jeopardize his whole career, for he did not fight against someone rich in the town who had the capability of bringing him down. "people were content to re-elect him to the state legislature that year, as usual, without opposition."
Atticus Finch's moral courage was to fight against somewhat who had no standing in society, "varmints that feasted on Maycomb's refuse". He did not worry about offending the whole town for Bob Ewell was a poor nobody.
The scariest dangers are not ones that are physical and can be guarded against like the ones Atticus Finch faced, they are those that come on a higher level. When one offends a rich person, and the whole of society turns against one. Bob Ewell, although being white, was a plain blatant liar who could not be trusted. Nobody in Maycomb was on his side, although because of prejudice, Tom Robinson could not win the case.
So, how courageous was Atticus Finch?
And, how great was his challenge in To Kill a Mockingbird?
Just some food for thought.
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