A man of his word: Atticus Finch (by Dr Jennifer Minter, English Works)
“This case is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience. I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man.”
One of the defining lessons for Jem and Scout from the trial is that it is important to adhere to your conscience. Atticus believes that morally, and legally, he must defend Tom Robinson against the charges of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. He knows that he is likely to fail because it is rare for an African-American, in a racist town like Maycomb, to be accorded legal justice, but this does not deter him. He states, “the one thing that does not abide by majority rule is one’s conscience.”
And again: “If I couldn’t hold up my head in turn, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.”
Why Atticus?
To work through the steps of an A+ essay, please See our Resources: How to write an A+ Essay: To Kill a Mockingbird
Writing essays:
Be clear about the author’s message as this will help you write topic sentences.
- We can best expose prejudice by learning to identify with another’s pain and suffering and their (unfair) sense of exclusion. (Trace through the symbolism of “standing” in another’s shoes or “wriggling” in their skin.
- From a legal perspective, one must adhere to the letter of the law: everyone is equal in a court of law.
- It is important to defend one’s principles even if they are doomed or unlikely to succeed in a court of law; also the ability to withstand considerable scorn and ridicule becomes a test of one’s integrity as well as the strength of one’s convictions.
- Courage should not necessarily be equated with brute physical strength.
Also include some symbols, images and literary devices: (Do a list of your favourite devices and quotes)
- The use of the child narrator; to expose the prejudice and degree to which people become conditioned to follow conservative and traditional views.
- The symbolism of the mockingbird: “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird”: it is unjust to persecute the innocent and the good; cf Mayella’s red geranium.
- The comments relating to : “wriggling” in another’s skin.
- Lee often uses the setting symbolically: the church; the children sit in the “Coloured Balcony” in the court room
- Mother figure parallels: Calpurnia versus Aunt Alexandra and numerous character parallels and their purpose
English Works: Dr Jennifer Minter
To improve your persuasive and reasoning skills and written expression, see The Language of Persuasion: become an expert. Download the key exercises and work through the suggested responses and extension activities. You will soon see a difference in your expression, sentence construction, and more sophisticated use of vocabulary.