Characterization Essay

     "If you learn a simple trick Scout, you'll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you see things from his point of view; until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."(30) I believe that several characters serve as a moral compass in this story. One of those characters is Atticus, from whom the children learn many specific examples of right and wrong from his wisdom.
     Atticus serves as a voice of reason for the children and for everyone throughout the story. One fine example is mentioned above where in he tells Scout not to judge somebody until she walks around in their skin and see's how it would feel. This gives Scout the knowledge to not judge people without haste through the rest of our story, If not for Atticus's words she could have very well thought less of the fine people at First Purchase Church or even Tom Robinson in his trial. With those words Atticus taught Scout a life lesson; You cannot understand someone if you do not know what it is like to be that someone. It is an important lesson and Scout should be thankful that she had someone to teach it to her early in life.
     "They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for they're opinions. . . But I can't afford to live with other folks, I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a persons conscience."(105) Through this example Atticus teaches his children that you can go on trying to please other people but you can never be content with your own life if you can't live with yourself. The children learn this through Atticus and his defense for Tom Robinson. People think that he is shaming himself and his family by defending a black man. But Atticus knows that he could not live with himself if he did not grant everyone a fair trail. The children see what Atticus is trying to exemplify and learn from his actions and the quote stated above.
     "The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right to the jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash."(220) This quotes explain to the children that In Atticus' eyes all men are equal and you are trash if you choose prejudice. This is a strong value for the children to keep if they are to live in the South where racism is very prevalent. This is just one more example of Atticus's moral compass and the right direction that he points Scout and Jem towards.
     Though wise words and a thorough thought process Atticus serves as a moral compass for Scout and Jem throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, and serves as possibly one of the most important characters in the book itself. 

Ch 12-16 Discussion Director

Question one as a Discussion Director was; What did you find yourself think about during the reading process? Well during the reading process I was thinking about how the Finch children have grown up so much from the beginning of the book, they seem like totally different people. Another thing that was an my mind during the process was how insufferable Aunt Alexandra was, just terrible.
Question Two; Select two passages from this section, why did i pick them, and what do I think about them?     " The jail was Maycomb's only conversation piece: its detractors said it looked like a Victorian privy; its supporters said it gave the town a solid respectable look, & no stranger would ever suspect it full of niggers."
&
"I know what he was trying to do then, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work."

Ch 6 -11 Summarizer

Jem, Scout, and Dill try to see inside the Radley place, but get shot at by Boo's Brother; Nathan Radley. During the ordeal, Jem gets caught in a fence and has to lose his pants. When accused of being in the Radley's yard, all members deny and say they were playing strip poker. But Jem realizes that he has to go back to the Radley's to retrieve his pants or their lie will not hold up. When Jem finds his pants, they are neatly folded and crudely sewn back together, presumably done by Boo. More gifts are left in the knot hole, Jem and Scout try to write the mysterious giver a thank you note, but when they go to do so, the hole is filled with cement. Nathan Radley tells them that it was because the tree was sick, but the children know better, and suffer internally.

Later on the seasons changed from Autumn to a very cold winter and it snowed in Alabama for the first time since 1885, supposedly because of bad children. Jem and Scout build a snowman for the first time, but during the happiness of the children, Mrs. Maudie's house burned down. To the suprise of many she was fine with her house being gone. Afterwards Christmas roles around and the Finch family has to go to Finches Landing to spend the time with relatives. Scout gets into a tussle with her cousin Francis (who she never liked in the first place) because he calls Atticus a "nigger lover."  The rest of the Finch relatives dissaprove of how Atticus is raising his children and running his life. Atticus is worried that his case defending Tom Robins may change his childrens views and feelings for him. After Christmas, a local dog "goes mad."  He had to be shot by Atticus revealing to his children that he was very capable with a weapon in his hands, even though it was something that he gave up a long time ago. Atticus also teaches Scout and Jem that killing a Mockingbird is a sin because they don't do anything wrong, just make music for everyone to enjoy.

Finally Jem and Scout are frequently persecuted by the townspeeople for their fathers defense for Tom Robins, none more than by a new character; Mrs. Dubose. She is a very spiteful woman who always picks on Scout and Jem. Before to long, Jem loses his cool and destroys her flowers, and as punishment he has to read to her everyday after school for a month until she dies.

During the literature cirle on wednesday we talked about chapters 6-11. As we went through the various questions that were assigned to us, we all seemed to have a general consensus that the story was picking up speed and starting to get a little more interesting. We all seemed to have a clear grasp on the story and there weren't to many contradictions that had to be drawn. We finished early and decided to answer some different questions that had a little deeper meaning. Even through this we could answer questions with a clear meaning although we had a few stumbles, but through teamwork we worked them out. All in all we didn't really learn anything new from each other, but strengthened the opinions we had made throughout the book.

I find that Atticus is faced with a situation that we will all have to face through life. This is his moment to do the right thing and prove to himself what right and wrong are. He may be persecuted but if he can keep his head held high and do the right thing, it will show to his children what kind of a man he really is. We should all have a time like this in our lives to prove to ourselves what we really believe in. I myself have been through this, and it has made me into the kind of person I am today.

Ch 1-5 Connector

As I was sitting in the literature circle, I began to find the true connection of To Kill A Mocking Bird to my hometown, Kalispell Montana. We started off with the questions of myself, the connector. My first question was what connections can I make between the settings and the settings of my own life. I would have to say that Alabama and Montana seem to be very vast, open landscape with a agricultural background. The second question was what connection can I make between conflicts in the text and my life.  There are not many connections I can make between the text and my life, but I do have a father with a stern opinion and I could kind of reflect where scout was coming from. The third question was how are characters in the text similar to people I have met in real life.  Well I can think of one of my best friends as similar to Dill, he is always getting me into some kind of trouble. The fourth question was how this story is similar to other book I have read. My response to that is that I have not yet encountered another book like this one. The fifth and final question is what is one connection that no one else had made before.