lit shit

8/10/2019 Lit Shit

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/lit-shit 1/14

To Kill a Mockingbird

1. Characterization

a. Scout (Jean Louise) Finch

-

Her unusual intelligence

- Read and learnt reading plays a role of paramount importance in her life

compares reading as “ breathing”, a way for her to dispel boredom and get to

know the world; claims that she can read since she was born; “reading was

something that just came to me, as leaning to fasten the seat of my Union suit

without looking around”… “I never deliberately learnt to read” a

manifestation of the culture at the Finch household reading was a routine

action and an inherently inborn ability, very educated and well- informed

which distinct them from the rest of the town.

- Scout and Jem‟s experience in reading, wide repertoire “ based our drams on

works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton, and Edgar Rice Burroughs”

- Was not very adept at reading between the lines and getting a sense of the

situation blunt, told Miss Caroline straightforwardly that it was impossible

for Walter to pay her back because he was too poor to pay her back

- Boyish, out- going, brave fights boys, hits Walter for getting her into

trouble; hates to identified with girlish traits; “sometimes you act so much like

a girl it‟s mortifying”; “and on the pain of being called a g-irl” - Relationship with Jem constantly challenging Jem‟s big brother status, and

his supposed macho-ness, bravery and masculinity--> bickering about Jem‟s

bragging on his bravery in touching the Radley house

- Initial shock and lack of acceptance towards practices that she is not familiar

with, eg. disparaging Walter Cunningham because he was “drowning his

dinner in syrup”; Learns to adopt Atticus‟ way of thinking throughout the

plot encompassing the views and actions of different people by putting

herself at their perspective, taking different sides and respecting other ‟s

choices through Atticus and Calpurnia‟s education

- Scout‟s initial horror at Jem‟s plan to retrieve his pants from the Radley yard

and the succeeding anxiousness reflects that she cares about Jem a lot, deep-

rooted sibling love and close knit relationship

- Immense love for Atticus, defends his reputation and honor in school and loses

her control when Cecil Jacobs insulted Atticus

-

Hot headed, pride is extremely important to her “ but Scout‟d as soon jump

someone as look at him if her pride‟s at stake”

-

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


b. Jem Finch

-

Lover of football- broken/ irregular arm does not bother him as long as he could

play

- Sense of masculine honor and responsibility, egoistic living up to one‟s name;

takes bravery and honor as his biggest pride “in all his life, Jem had never

declined a dare”; “I supposed he loved honour more than his head, for Dill wore

him down easily”; “to make me understand that he wasn‟t afraid of the Radleys in

any shape or form, to contrast his own fearless heroism with my cowardice”

- Cannot stand to be teased/ seen by Scout as unmanly/ incompetent; “then I

sneered at him… Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house”

- Strong sense of protection of family, especially Scout; responsible and loves Scout

dearly, takes his role of “ big brother ” very seriously “Besdies, Jem had his little

sister to think of ”; “If I got killed, what‟d become of you?”; cares for Scout andher safety immensely tyre rolling incident, extremely terrified at the prospect

that Scout may be harmed in the Radley yard

- Fighting for the honor of his family and town “when he told Jem that folks in

Meridian certainly weren‟t as afraid as folks in Maycomb…. This was enough to

make Jem march to the corner ”

- Unwilling to be seen with Scout during school hours masculine identity, acting

cool and independent among friends “I was to leave him alone”

-

After his “visit” into the Radley Place where he left his pants, he was determinedto retrieve his pants in the risk of being shot of Mr Radley because he didn ‟t want

to let his father down, does not want Atticus to know he ignored his teachings

“Atticus ain‟t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way”

sense of responsibility to Atticus, honour and pride

-

Adores/ Values Atticus‟ opinions of him completely “Jem‟s ears reddened from

Atticus‟s compliment”, looks to him for advice/ an assessment of the situation:

“see there, he ain‟t worried yet”; “let‟s not pester him, he‟ll know when its time”

- Fierce sense of righteousness/ standing up for the misunderstood spilled the

beans about his and Scout‟s secretive deeds of bothering the Radleys to Atticus

even though he risks a chance of being punished by him, to ensure that Boo

wasn‟t wronged and did them no harm

c. Atticus Finch

-sharp distinction between him and the residents of Maycomb: pursues further

academic/. Intellectual enhancement, tertiary education study law, doesn‟t

pursue family business

- a revolutionary of sorts- aspires for higher purposes, breaking conventions and

traditions, which delineates him as a hero from the start

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


8/10/2019 Lit Shit


- values his conscience reasons for defending Tom Robinson even when he knew it

would bring forth great discrimination and insult from the town “…If I didn‟t I

couldn‟ hold up my head in town, I couldn‟t represent this county in lefislature, I

couldn‟t even tell you and Jem not to do something again” firmly believes that one

has to adhere to his values all the time, cannot give up one‟s beliefs due to public

pressure. To be able to tell others what to do one must first follow their preached

values through in their life.

- morals and value system as the most important aspect of life “…every lawyer gets

at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one‟s mine, I guess”

Believes in non- violence, fighting with intelligence and reason”… you just hold

your head high and keep those fists down.. try fighting with your head for a change”

-perserverance, not giving up to the prospect of failing/ being ridiculed by town

gossip/ not giving up to public opinion and pressure “ Simply because we werelicked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win”

- treats children as individual beings with intellect and thought, listens to both sides of

the story, does not assert his own judgment and prejudice, decisions are fair and well-

informed

Believes that children have the right to know what they want to know not dumb,

should get to process the information themselves. “Atticus don‟t just listen to Jem‟s

side of it he hears mine too”; “Jack! When a child asks you something, answer him,

for goodness‟ sake, but don‟t make a production of it” -extreme distaste for Maycomb‟s extreme prejudice and preference towards gossip

and rumors describes racism as a “disease”, “why reasonable people go stark raving

mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don‟t pretend to

understand…I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for answers instead of

listening to the town.”

d. Aunt Alexandra

- already foreshadows her strong belief in tradition and conservativeness followed

family tradition, stayed at home and married a farmer

Conservative condescension, fixed gender roles believes that Scout should be a

comfort and “ beam of sunshine” in Atticus‟ life instead of being the boyish adventurer

she is; thinks that Scout will end up doing no good if she does not act like a lady and

wear dresses and breeches

e. Calpurnia

-righteous and strict housekeeper, but loves children dearly in her heart “I missed

you today…I wonder hoe much of the day I spend just calling after you.”

-a symbol of an educated and righteous black in the story, instills correct moral values

in children

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


Stern and strict “In Calpurnia‟s teaching, there was no sentimentality; I seldom

please her and she seldom rewarded me”

Teaches Scout to respect others practices and ways of life instead of judging them and

discriminating against them due to their difference in social class/ income and

practices (parallel to Atticus‟ values) Walter Cunningham incident “Don‟t matter

who they are, anybody sets foot in this house‟s „yo company, and don‟t let me catch

you remarking on their ways like you‟re so high and mighty! Yo‟ folks might be better

than the Cunninghams but it don‟t count for nothin‟ the way you‟re disgracing them”

f. Dill

- queer, humorous, full of interesting words and ideas, small compact yet fascinating?

Slightly awkward

-“I‟m little but I‟m old” -quick- minded and quirky “his blue eyes would lighten and darken; his laugh was

sudden and happy, he habitually pulled at a cowlick in the centre of his forehead”

“Dill... as a pocket Merlin, whose head teemed with eccentric plans, strange longings

and quaint fantasies”

“Dill was a villain‟s villain; he could get into any character part assigned him”

Dill‟s puppy love relationship with Scout reflects their childish and innocent games

and practices”He had asked me earlier in the summer to marry him, then promptly

forgot about it” “He staked me out, marked as his property, said I was the only girlhe‟d ever love, then neglected me”

“Dill Harris could tell the biggest lies I ever heard”

g. Old Mr Radley lifeless, uninteresting and stern man “thin leathery man with

colorless eyes, so colorless they did not reflect light”, mean/ cruel? Foreshadowing

“his cheekbones were sharp and his mouth was wide”- religious, stern”he took the

word of God as his only law… posture was ramrod straight”

h. Miss Caroline Fisher

- cosmopolitan, wordly and sophiscated? More urbanized somehow “she wore high

heeled pumps and red finger nail polish” “she looked and smelled like a peppermint

drop”

i. Miss Maudie Atkinson

- straightforward and matter of fact, does not gossip

-indulges in her own interests freely and does not care about other ‟s harsh opinions

-kind and nice to the children, also contributes to their character building teaches

Scout that one should not believe the neighborhood legends and myths and judge

based on rumors and surficial impressions observations and judgments should be

empirical, based on own observations and facts. Eg. “I know he‟s alive… because I

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


haven‟t seen him carried out yet”; “Arthur Radley stays in the house, that‟s

all…wouldn‟t you stay in the house if you didn‟t want to come out?--> does not

follow the general negative gossip about the Radleys; “no child, this is a sad house. I

remember Arthur Radley when he was a boy. He always spoke nicely to me, no matter

what folks said he did”

- an exception in the madly and unreasonably religious town of Maycomb “foot-

washers believe anything that‟s pleasure is a sin… think women is a sin by definition.

They take the Bible literally, you know”; disapproves of the non- sensible and

fanatical religiousness of Maycomb “ “ but sometimes a Bible in the hand of one

man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of- oh, of your father.”; “…who‟re so

busy worrying about the next world they‟ve never learned to live in this one, and you

can look down the street and see the results”

-optimism ability to laugh at herself and reflects on what she‟d gained even afterthe tragedy of her house being completely burnt down, thankful for the aid of the

neighborhood cheerful and positive, grateful

j. Uncle Jack Finch

- takes a more condescending stance towards teaching children until Atticus corrects

him, but still listens to Scout‟s opinion

- unwilling to explain things to Scout that he believes she shouldn‟t have knowledge

of; when asked of the meaning of swearwords he avoids the subject

2.

Setting- Maycomb: slow, lazy, sleepy and lacks energy and vigor, tired and old not

exciting

- Imagery: run down, not groomed, neglected and mismanaged “grass grew on

the sidewalks”, “In rainy weather the streets tuned to red slop”

-

“the courthouse sagged in the square”

- Hotness and stuffiness contributes to the stifling boredom and stagnation of

development in the town “ bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked fliew in

the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square” sense of poverty? “ bony

mules” and desolation, barren land

- Men‟s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning rigidity of dress, lack of vigor

- which highlights the sluggishness and boredom of the town.

- People‟s living style slow, laidback and boring, not exciting unwilling to

explore beyond the boundaries of the known, content with current state

- Long hours, dragging slowness of time low productivity, idleness

-

“But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb county

had recently been told that it had nothing to fear by fear itself.” allusive

reference to Roosevelt‟s inauguration speech which highlights the severity of

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


impact of Great Depression

-

Radley Place: sloppy, run down and neglected

- Use of verbs “drooped, drunkenly guarded”… “Johnson grass and rabbit- tobacco

grew in abundance”

-

Grey color, low, shutters, rain rotted shingles somewhat ominous and sinister,

lifeless and unwelcoming foul and neglected parallel to the somewhat gothic/

evil and creepy neighborhood legends surrounding the Radleys

- “gate hanging crazily on its home- made hinge” reference to the madness of

Boo? Ominous quality of house

3. Themes

- State history (Alabama) & characteristics of the South

a.

Pride in taking part in Civil War, heavily proud of state identity? “BeingSoutherners, it was a source of shame to some members of the family that we

had no recorded ancestors on either side of the Battle of Hastings.” Emphasis

on town/ local identity and belonging;

b. View on other states (esp. Northern states) “the class murmured

apprehensively, should she prove to harbor her share of the peculiarities

indigenous to that region”; “When Alabama seceded from the Union on

January 1th, 1861, Winston County seceded from Alabama, and every child in

Maycomb knew it”

sense of rivalry between North and South even when theCivil war was long over; “ North Alabama was full of Liquor Interests, Big

Mules, steel companies, Republicans, professors and other persons of no

background” false, negative and vague impressions on the outside world

and the more worldly Northern States, think it is cosmopolitan and secular,

“out of place” and peculiar, not “ proper ” prejudice and impressions, state

history and rivalry

c. Extremely religious Finch ancestor Simon so- called strict adherence to

the word of God not to be obsessed with material wealth

- “don‟t have any picture shows here, except Jesus ones in the courthouse

sometimes”

- “they did not go to church, Maycomb‟s principal recreation, but worshipped at

home” church as a main venue of socialization and cultivation of town

relationship

d. Hypocrisy of religion residents are heavily racist ( associated with the

exigent racism embedded in slave culture) “So Simon, having forgotten his

teacher ‟s dictum on the possession of human chattels, bought three slaves and

with their aid established a homestead”

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


e. Importance of family heritage and tradition, adherence to its associated and

established characteristics

“It was customary for the men in the family to remain on Simon‟s homestead

and make their living from cotton” people are contented with the existing

conventions, not willing to accept change, sticks to own beliefs and ways

- “ but they were Haverfords, in Maycomb county a name synonymous with

jackass” relating family reputation to people, prejudice and impressions

- “…with some of the Cunninghams from Old Sarum, an enormous and confusing

tribe domiciled in the northern part of the county”

- “Miss Caroline, he‟s a Cunningham”; “ the Cunninghams never took anything

they can‟t pay back ” “they don‟t have much, but they get along with it”

association with family and its reputations, expected conduct

-

“Mr Cunningham, said Atticus, came from a set breed of men” - “He‟s one of the Ewells, madam… whole school‟s full of em. They come first day

every year then leave…He‟s a hard down mean one.” “…the Ewells have been the

disgrace of Maycomb for three generations…they were people, but they lived like

animals… when a man spends his relief cheques on green whisky…” establish

Ewells as troublemakers who do no good, poverty, lack of welfare and suitable

care and education for children

f. Importance of agriculture

“a misunderstanding arising from the alleged wrongful detention of a mare” “Miss Caroline seemed unaware that the ragged, denim shirted and floursack-

skirted first grade, most of whom had chopped cotton and fed hogs from the

time they were able to walk, were immune to imaginative literature”

children‟s lives are inherently tied to agriculture, uncultured, mostly

uneducated, lack of aesthetic appreciation.

“you hafta know about cows, they‟re a big part of life in Maycomb County”

“Mr Cunningham could get a WPA job, but his land would go to ruin if he left

it, and he was willing to go hungry to keep his land and vote as he pleased”

strong attachment to agriculture, unwilling to give up family business even

when he was extremely poor

- Family relationships

a. Sibling relationship between Jem and Scout

close? Always fighting

b. Parental relationship

-

Atticus as a role of teacher/ idol solutions to problems can always be referred to

him as a consultant

-

Atticus was a more detached, hands- free parent “Jem and I found our father

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous

detachment”

- Impact of Great Depression, widespread poverty Walter Cunningham “if

Walter had owned any shoes he would have worn them the first day of school and

then discarded them until mid- winter ”; “he did have on a clean shirt and neatly

mended overalls”; “He didn‟t forget his lunch, he didn‟t have any”; “he had

probably never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life”

“the Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them the

hardest”…” Atticus said that professional people were poor because the farmers

were poor ”; “Maycomb was a farm county, and nickels and dimes were hard to

come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers” “Walter looked as if he had been

raised on fishfood…there was no color in his face except at the tip of his nose ”

-

“Mr Cunningham…the acres not entailed are mortgaged to the hilt, and the littlecash he made went to interest”

-

Residents are somewhat backward no regard for convention/ actual law

“insisted that the- son- of- a- bitch had it coming to him was a good enough

defense for anyone”;

“Mr Conner said they cussed so loud he was sure every lady in Maycomb heard

them”

- Childhood superstition and myth:

a.

“the Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description ofwhom was enough to make us behave for days on end” Radleys as a symbol

of something ominous and evil, sinister

b. “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six and a half feet

tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could

catch, that‟s why his hands were blood stained- if you ate an animal raw, you

could never wash the blood off. There was long jagged scar that ran across his

face; what teeth he had was yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he

drooled most of the time” use of “reasonably” evoked a sense of irony as it

was clearly not a reasonable nor accurate description based on gossip and

township myth, childish imagination and superstition. highlights the

foolishness of childhood superstition and rites, and the destructiveness of

gossip and fabricated rumours

c. “turtles can‟t feel, stupid”

d. “Don‟t you know you‟re not supposed to touch the trees over there? You‟ll get

killed if you do”

e. Hotsteams “A hotsteam‟s somebody who can‟t get to heaven, just wallows

around on lonesome roads… you‟ll go around at night sucking people‟s

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


breath”

f.

Indian heads “they‟re real strong magic, they make you have good

luck …things like long life and good health, and passing six week tests”

g. “Finders were keepers unless title was proven”

h.

“Mr Avery said it was written in the Rosetta Stone that when children

disobeyed their parents, smoked cigarettes and made war on each other, the

seasons would change”

-

Pervasiveness of neighborhood gossip and legend, superstition and prejudice,

repetition of “ people said, people‟s…” emphasizes its “gossip” quality, not exactly

trustworthy but based on legends and rumors “lived a malevolent phantom….

He went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When

people‟s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any

stealthy small crimes in Maycomb were his work.” - people avoided the Radley place or were scared of it unknown or confused?

Superstition, myths and tales

- “cursed” any contact with the Radley Place was considered bad luck/ causes

death (eg. poisoned pecan trees, lost balls in the Radley yard are not collected by

the school children)

- Related to stealthiness, bad deeds

- Town atmosphere: open and friendly, close knitted neighbor relationship, people

knew each other well

“the Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept tothemselves, a predilection unforgiveable in Maycomb”; “the shutters and doors

and the Radley house were closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb‟s

ways- closed doors meant illness and cold weather only” no privacy,

everything is open, no secrets (Maycomb culture)

-

Anyone not following the fixed practices and conventions of the town was

considered alien and unfamiliar/ queer and unacceptable

a. (Mrs Radley seldom if ever crossed the street for a mid morning coffee break with

her neighbours, and certainly never joined a missionary circle) reiteration of

importance of religion; alienated by town people: “ but to climb the Radley front

steps and call, „he-y‟ was something their neighbours never did”

b. “they did little, but enough to be discussed by the town… they hung around the

barber shop, they rode the bus to Abbotsville on Sundays and went to the picture

show, they attended dances at the county‟s riverside gambling hell, the Dew Drop

and Fishing Inn and Fishing Camp; they experimented with stumphole whiskey”

-

The town as a collective entity again, closely knitted, with similar opinions and

prejudices “the town decided something had to be done”

-

Desolate state of education and infrastructure in Maycomb+ the state due to the

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


Great Depression the Maycomb gang was sent to industrial school, which was

in fact the best secondary education in state that provided the best accommodation

and food bare necessities that were unoffered in their own home due to the

extreme and widespread poverty in the country; “most of the first grade failed in

last year ” people were uneducated/ give little attention and importance to

education, didn‟t even know the alphabet, fails first grade etc. literacy was

considered weird

-

Theme of secrecy truth interwoven with lies, based on perspective only; “from

where I stood it looked real”; “the things that happen to people we never really

know. What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets- ”

- Deep Rooted Racism and racial prejudice “the sheriff hadn‟t had the heart to

put him in jail alongside the Negroes” segregation and distinction of race;

inheritance of wrong racist values in Maycomb kids are often a repetition of whattheir parents/ seniors say Cecil Jacobs, Francis Finch “My folks said your

daddy was a disgrace and that nigger ought to hang from the water tank ”/ “…like

Grandma says, so it ain‟t your fault. I guess it ain‟t your fault that Uncle Atticus is

a nigger- lover besides…”;

Grandma says its bad enough that he lets you all run wild.. he‟s turned out to be a

nigger- lover we‟ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He‟s runin‟

the family.”

-

Bureaucracy of education

Dewey decimal system- Honor system Cunninghams repay Atticus for his services with farm produce

even when they didn‟t have much themselves Cunningham characterization

keeps to promise, honest and down to Earth?

- Maycomb‟s original education system “Duncecap” much more

straightforward and strict to the children, based on punishment? eg. Ms. Blount:

“If I hear another sound from this room I‟ll burn up everyone in it”

- Gothic element? Supernatural and somewhat ominous events unusual snow,

unprecedented fire that destroyed Miss Maudie‟s home

4. Techniques

a. Retrospective Narration: repetition of “when” (when he was… when enough

years have gone by) at the beginning of the book introduces the element of

time and an adult‟s prospect looking back towards her childhood ( adopts a

more childish mindset to depict the story innocence and naïve superstition

vs. the prejudice and evil of Mayomb) + Jem‟s serious injury vs. the

nonchalant tone of narration, emotionally detached the event happened a

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


long time ago;

exact quotes of childish sayings and superstition and town gossip that

obviously made no sense nonchalant and neutral tone, adult perspective

exact quotes and reiteration

b.

Foreshadowing: 1. Introduction of Ewells as the antagonist (do harm to the

Finches) 2. Dill‟s eventual plan to make Boo Radley come out, which also

introduces Boo as a subject of childhood mystery, fascination and superstition

induce the children to devise various plans/ get into trouble in their

curiosity 3. State and family history foreshadows the North vs. South

relationship and state rivalry+ importance of family name, reputation and its

associations in Maycomb 4. “Mrs Dubose was plain hell” 5. “…we saw an

inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny, almost invisible movement, and the house

was still” foreshadows that the house was not acutally “dead” Boo radleyobserves and looks after the children; 5. “someone inside the house was

laughing” after Scout‟s tyre rolled into the Radley yard foreshadows

Boo‟s presence 6. Continuous discovery of small gifts in the knot hole in the

Radley tree gum, Indian coins, soap figures of Jem and Scout, twine

Boo‟s love and care towards children, friendliness 7. Mended pants in Radley

yard after Jem‟s intrusion

5.

Significant incidents- Maudie‟s fire unity and fraternity of townspeople, cooperating to help Miss

Maudie, residents are empathetic towards neighbors and always help when other

have needeg. Avery, who was usually nonchalant and emotionally detached/

grumpy towards everything in general helped save Maudie‟s furniture to the point

where his life was under threate/ Miss Stephanie (neighborhood scold+ mild

rivalry with Maudie) offered to let her board at her house; somewhat contrasts

with the town‟s heavy prejudice and racism? Points out that Maycomb residents

are not necessarily bad people despite their immoral values and wrong beliefs, but

that racism and prejudice has become an inherent part of American culture, deeply

embedded in people‟s lifestyle/ Maycomb has a capacity for goodness and unity

but also for evil; Boo‟s active protection of the children, Maudie‟s optimism

- The change in the children‟s view towards Atticus

Jem and Scout‟s initial shame of their father ‟s inability in doing the things

that other Maycomb men did fishing, hunting, playing football, did not do

substantially contributive work for the county” he did not… do anything

that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone

Physical frailness and his relative old age+ his partial blindness (wore

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


glasses) considered a symbol of weakness and lack of physical ability

Prefers Atticus to be inconspicuous due to his supposed incompetency and

ordinary attributes “Atticus can‟t do anything”…”this modest

accomplishment served to make me even more ashamed of him”;

“everybody in town‟s father was playing… except Atticus”

After Atticus‟ shooting of the mad dog, Jem and Scout came to realize their

father ‟s hidden talent, and admired him intensely+ learnt that Atticus kept

silent about his talent because he believed that shooting/ violence was an

unnecessary advantage that God gave him, shouldn‟t be used unless

absolutely necessary god- given talent, should not be used to inflict harm

upon other living things; modesty, compassion and gentleness is what‟s

important, not shallow and surficial physical abilities “Atticus is real old,

but I wouldn‟t care if he couldn‟t do anything…he‟s a gentleman, just likeme”

-

Mrs Dubose incident

Dubose heavily partriotic and traditional, conservative “CSA pistol

hidden among her numerous shawls and wraps”; “You should be in a dress

and camisole, young lady!”; believes that Atticus‟ liberal parenting style is

an absolute disaster

Atticus‟ parenting self control, respect of other ‟s opinions, quality of

one‟s reaction towards insults and one‟s conduct= true measure of one‟scharacter and bravery “…you just hold your head high and be a

gentleman… it‟s your job not to let her make you mad”. Atticus was

extremely courteous, nice and polite to Dubose despite her mean insults and

personal assault of Atticus‟ honor and dignity Atticus‟ greeting+ wishing

Dubose have a good day tomorrow etc

Reiteration of the importance of conscience and standing up to own beliefs

despite the onslaught of criticism and insult from others; “I couldn‟t go to

church and worship God if I didn‟t try to help that man”; “the one thing that

doesn‟t abide by majority rule is a person‟s conscience”

People entitled to their own opinions, should always respect them to the

best that they can

Insults do not matter if the insulted does not take offense “I do my best to

love everybody… it‟s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a

bad name. It just shows you how poor the person is, it doesn‟t hurt you”

Atticus‟ parenting through hands- on experimentation and experience

teaches Jem and Scout perseverance and adherence to own goals and beliefs,

importance of defying the odds despite the possibility of failure through

8/10/2019 Lit Shit


Mrs Dubose‟ resistance towards her morphine addiction “I wanted you to

see something about her … 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

you know you‟re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it

through no matter what… she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She

was the bravest person I ever knew” reinventing the idea of bravery and

courage in the children‟s minds by emphasizing that bravery does not

necessarily mean physical courage dealing with gore and violence, but

the perseverance and determination of will+ following through one‟s belief

system at all times and occasions

lit shit

Documents