To Kill A Mockingbird: 2nd Entry

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, I realized the conflicts are really insignificant. You have the misadventures of sneaking into the Radley's house and also the misadventures of school. But, when you read further into this novel the plot thickens and the real conflict emerges. I started to realize that Maycomb is not really so simple and innocent town I thought it was. In chapter 15, Tom Robinson, an African American that Atticus has to and wants to defend in an upcoming trial. A gang of Maycomb's citizens visits the local Jail to teach Robinson a lesson. But, thankfully Tom Robinson had good people to defend him. These people were going to hurt him. This problem started because of racism. Racism, is the real conflict of this story. After witnessing in chapter 15 what they were about to do to Tom and the trial Atticus lost in (chapter 21), was unfair. Racism is the realistic conflict in this novel.

Atticus Finch, a humble and righteous man. Humble because of his everyday actions such as the the incident with the dog (pg. 111 chp. 10). During the incident with the craxy dog, Jem and Scout just realize that their dad is the best sharpshooter in Maycomb. Atticus has never boasted how well he can shoot a gun. You can tell because even his own kids never knew about it. Being the best gunner is something everyone would brag about once in a while if you had the skill. But, Atticus would never. Also, another way he examplified his humbleness is when Mrs. Dubose, in chapter 11, spoke to Atticus so rudely, but he always he kept his manners. Atticus is righteous because of the large scale decisions he makes. For example, when Atticus defended Tom Robinson in jail (chapter 15) and also when he had to defend Tom Robinson in court (chapter 20). These were righteous actions because even though mostly everyone in Maycomb was against Robinson because if his ethnicity, Atticus defended him because it wasn't right for people to treat others unfairly because of their skin. And Atticus expressed this unfair treatment, on pg 233, through the words of Thomas Jefferson. Even small things that would anger others Mr. Finch would still hold his righteousness. For example, in the end of chapter 22, Mr Bob Ewell spat in Atticus's face. Atticus didn't violently respond. He kept his composure and simply walked away.