Honors Essay #8

Harper Lee uses literary devises such as, paradox, contrast, and character development in To Kill A Mockingbird, to develop a theme that characters have the ability to successfully work through social issues and prejudices in their personal lives, even if they cannot do that in the courtroom. Lee allows us into a world where social injustices our brought to the readers attention through racism, social class, and a mysterious neighbor.  Atticus Finch, the father of Scout and Jem, spearheads the injustice train—it seems only fitting, as he is a lawyer.

Atticus Finch does all right for a lawyer, taking on cases in the town of Maycomb. But his most controversial case stirs up a lot of trouble in the seemingly quiet town. When a black man is accused of raping a white woman the verdict is already determined before the trial: guilty. Although Atticus prepares for the case and presents evidence to exonerate his client, Atticus himself seems to accept the verdict without any sense of distaste or dissatisfaction. The outcome is anticipated and Atticus shows no desire to fight it any farther than the courtroom. As a lawyer it would seem he would thrive and feed off of social injustices. Would he not do everything in his power to prevent them from happening? Possibly start a rally or immediately ask for an appeal with as much vigor as possible. But those things don’t seem to happen, a clear contrast to his own social life when it comes to moral dilemmas.

It’s a bit ironic if you will, a paradox in its own right—a lawyer that fights harder out of the courtroom than in it just doesn’t sound right. But that is exactly who Atticus is, a passive lawyer in the courtroom that shows more passion and attempt to fight for what is right in his personal life than his professional. As a character Atticus doesn’t want there to be wrong doings when it comes to his children. He guides their moral compasses along the right path and teaches them valuable lessons about humanity.  

Scout and Jem are educated, active, and imaginative children. That is in part thanks to their father. Of course imagination can sometimes go too far. When Scout, Jem, and the neighborhood boy Dill find their usual scripted plays to be boring they decide to create their own based on their hidden neighbor, Boo Radley. They base their scenes on the town’s rumors about the Radley family and it is not good. Boo’s father is said to be one of the meanest old men around and his son Nathan follows in his footsteps. There is even talk of a Boo stabbing his father with a pair of scissors. Once Atticus catches on to their play and the scissors he makes it clear to stop their so called play immediately. They needed to mind their own business, leave poor Arthur alone, and stop calling him Boo.

It can be hard for adolescents to understand the full extent of what they are doing. They aren’t fully aware of the consequences and have not had enough life experience to know what it can feel like to be ostracized by a town simply because you don’t leave your house. So Atticus did what he does best, be a father and a lawyer at the same time. And what better way for a lawyer to explain things than to ask his children to imagine what it would be like if you were harassed all the time for wanting to stay in their own house. A simple perspective can sway ones opinion from wrong to right and Atticus succeeds with his own children much as you would expect from a lawyer—only this lawyer has a better track record outside the courtroom rather than in.

But that’s not to say Atticus isn’t a fine lawyer. In fact being able to convince your own children of right from wrong can be the biggest challenge to overcome. Atticus may not have won in the courtroom when it came to a racial injustice most but he convinced the toughest jury of all not to stereotype a neighbor based on prejudices—his children.