Skip to main content

What are three reasons why Atticus takes the Robinson case in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

There is no question that Atticus Finch has been asked to take the Tom Robinson case because of his integrity. For, Judge Taylor knows that he is, indeed, as Miss Maudie has said, "...the same inside his house as he is on the public streets."


Here are three reasons for his taking the case which involve his integrity:



  1. Atticus is assigned this case by Judge Taylor. Atticus tells his younger brother Jack in Chapter...

There is no question that Atticus Finch has been asked to take the Tom Robinson case because of his integrity. For, Judge Taylor knows that he is, indeed, as Miss Maudie has said, "...the same inside his house as he is on the public streets."


Here are three reasons for his taking the case which involve his integrity:



  1. Atticus is assigned this case by Judge Taylor.
    Atticus tells his younger brother Jack in Chapter 9 that he had hoped to get through life without having a controversial case involving racial issues. However, "John Taylor pointed at me and said, 'You're It'."


  2. If Atticus were to refuse this case, he would feel like a hypocrite before his children.
    In his conversation with Jack, Atticus also mentions that he could not refuse the Robinson case and face his children honestly again. For, all their lives, Atticus has taught Jem and Scout to treat people fairly, and, as he says in Chapter 3, to "climb into [another person's] skin and walk around in it. Atticus feels that Tom Robinson is owed the respect of being treated fairly, and Atticus realizes he is the best man to afford the man a fight for a fair trial.


  3. Atticus feels that the Robinson case goes to the principles of a man's conscience.
    Atticus feels that he must take this case because it involves the moral principles by which he has lived. He tells Scout,


This case, Tom Robinson's case, is something that goes to the essence of a man's conscience--Scout, I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man. (Ch. 11)



Clearly, Atticus feels that he must "practice what he preaches," as the old saying goes, or he will lose all respect given him.



...if I didn't [take the case] I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again…



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more