Saturday, September 20, 2008
"Mockingbird" Chapter 3
In chapter 3 of To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus tells Scout that "you can never really understand a person until you...climb into his skin and walk around in it." How does this idea fit into or go against the unwritten rules of life in Maycomb? What does this reveal about Atticus, particularly related to his work as a lawyer?
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Atticus's response tells you that Atticus is really thoughtful and smart. Atticus really thinks about other people and other peoples feelings, which might not always be all that common in Maycomb. By what he is saying to his daughter it seems like Atticus is a fair and just lawyer, and has good strong morals.
In a way his good morals go against the unwritten rules of Maycamb, because one of the unwritten rules is that pretty much everything bad that happens, little bad things that happen are blamed on Boo Radley. But no one really thinks about Boo Radley's feelings, or understand Boo from his own point of veiw. So it is interesting how different Atticus's ideas can be from the unwritten rules of Maycomb. And how in that way Atticus is an outsider simply because he goes against those rules and uses his own morals.
I agree with Djuna. Atticus's response goes against the unwritten rules of Maycomb because in Maycomb, people are supposed to fit in with the sterotype the community has made for them and if they fit in with that, you know everything about them. Atticus is trying to say that if you only judge the person by who the community makes them out to be, you wont actually know them. You have to get to know them personally and have personal relations with the person to know exactly who they are and what their place should be in the community.
I think that the people of Maycomb keep judging people by their outside and not their inside because they have been judging people and their families for so long, that if they stop, it will create mayhem in the community and Maycomb is suffering enough already.
first of all since atticus is a lawyer he knows how to read people without even saying hi. lawyers are very good at that. second the communities unwritten rules do follow what he said. Djuna and Adin are right that he is saying you cant judge a person by their community or by what a person (or family) has done in the past. the unwritten rules say a lot of things about maycomb especially about the fact they are unwritten. i personaly think that maycomb needs a big change in their community or things in the future could go for the worse.
This quote says that Atticus thinks that you can't fully understand someone until you have lived his/her life. This is related to Atticus's job because since he is a lawyer he has seen a lot of people in trouble but he has to either believe or disbelieve the little that he knows about that person but he cant fully understand him because he doesnt know what really happened.
I think that this idea goes against the unwritten rules of Maycomb because people dont care about what is really happening in someones life. People expand the truth about other people and tell people lies about that person. For example: if a working lady tells someone "I work late nights and I leave my kids at home" that someone is going to lie and might tell someone else "She never works, she just goes to parties everyday and keeps her children at home all day".
I agree with Djuna and adin about how this shows atticus is thoughtful and smart.
I think his respnse shoes that Atticus is someone who thinks hard and has the ability to read beetween the lines.
I think that what Atticus said is the same way that we say walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
Atticus is asking jem or scout what it would feel like to be Boo Radley and how you would not want to come out if evryone always used you as a way out of things.
I agree with Djuna and adin. Atticus' response was a very smart response. I think his response does go against the unwritten rules of Maycomb. Usually in Maycomb, people are very nosey but never seem to put themselves in others' shoes. Especially the people who are treated as either inferior or even as outcasts such as Boo Radley. I think Atticus' wanted to tell Scout that she shouldn't treat people different because they don't have what others have. For example, The Ewells are very poor, but Atticus doesn't want Scout to treat them bad because of their poverty. However, Atticus does tell Scout that the Ewell family doesn't even try to change their economic stand. They don't go to school or try to better their lives. So Atticus says not to treat them bad, but also not to be like them. I think Atticus' main point to what he said was not to copy others even though it might seem like they are getting the easy way out of life. Most of the time, they are making their lives worse. I also think that what he said revealed something about himself. He obviously did want to be the best he could, even though he didn't get a great education. He wants Scout to try her best no matter what others may say or do.
just checking if this works because last time my thing had problems and I don't want to have to write it twice
I think that Atticus's response was very smart and understanding. Boo Radley might not be as awful as you may think because you do now know what his life is like or who he really is. The common folk in Maycomb such as Scout have never seen Boo Radley, or talked to him; their only understanding of his is through rumors and gossip. I think that this goes against the unwritten rules of Mayconb because Boo is always framed for everything bad that happens. There are also many lies or rumors spread about Boo Radley just for fun and conversation purposes, and nobody stops to think about Boo's feeings. This shows that Atticus is a very thoughtful, understanding, fair person.
Atticus is telling Scout do don't just cross Miss Caroline off and say "I hate you" but to see what she is like and to don't just go by her fist inpression. He wants Scout to realize that you need to know a person well before knowing how they are.
The response shows that not only is Atticus very wise, but he also has probably had an expierience where he either misjudged someone or was misjudged by someone. This has quite a bit of relevance to the town of Maycomb because everyone knows everyone, and so people are very quick to judge others. An example of this is Boo Radley, because nobody has ever really known him or " stepped into his shoes" but people still judge him. I thinkn that it is brave of Atticus to say something that goes agains the norm of Maycomb so completly. One of the unwritten rules is to believe and take into account all gossip, even if you have no proof or insight, and judging people like that is wrong.
I think that Atticus was teaching Scout a very important lesson by telling her to walk around in other peoples shoes before she judged them. He is always trying to instill the importance of patience and respect upon his children. What Atticus said also gives us a little insight on what kind of a lawyer he is. We know now that he always has a wide perspective when approaching other peoples problems.
Maycomb, on the other hand, does not have such a wide perspective. Anything that happens there that does not follow the strict criteria the town has made for itself, is categorized as weird and unhealthy. I think Atticus knows that if he gives his children the same morals that he has, they will have to be outsiders too. That is a sacrifice he is willing to make...
I think that what Atticus said goes against the unwritten laws of Maycomb. I think that he was trying to say that you really have to know what it feels like to be someone in order to understand them, in other words: treat others as you would like to be treated. We do not see a lot of that happening in Maycomb,where blacks are considered a lower class than whites and where Boo Radley is treated as a monster inside a human body. Atticus is also in some ways defying the unwritten law that everyone know everything about everyone in saying that you never really know someone until you know exactly what they do and go through. It also shows that Atticus has his own ideas on how his kids should be brought up and would rather them doing thins according to the law of his houesehold, rather than the unwritten laws of Maycomb.
I think that this quote shows that Atticus would be a very kind lawyer and also one that would have the patience to listen to his clients account of an incident. Atticus would definitely be willing to try and see himself in his client's position to fully understand his or her point of view.
Maycomb doesnt really have people there who actually care about other people and being in there shoes. They worry about the drama really, you wouldn't find them to be thinking positive about someone and how they should help them. What they do is just receive the information and keep passing it on like a telephone game and wait until it changes to something bigger. Other people would care about helping people out and would put themselves in someone elses shoes. Like Atticus, because he's a lawyer and his job is to help people out and try to make there lives better so they can move on to live like everyone else.
I also agree with Djuna because its very true that all the events that happen are blamed on Boo Radley. And it doesn't make scense why they would think Boo would do that if no one in Maycomb EVER sees him walk out of his house. Obviously hes not home or he's just not looking for troule. They have a valid reasoning to think that he caused some of the recent events because of the past but they just need to move on with the future and forget what happened, they need to start a life that doesn't involve drama.
This says that Atticus is trying to raise his children as smart and curious people. He is telling his kids not to really on what someone else tells you, but to learn for your self. In some ways it also is teaching ambition to kids who live in a community who don't have much ambition. Atticus as a lawyer needs to learn a lot of information on someone for all of his jobs.
This definitely goes against the rules of Maycomb. It is giving the lesson to find out things for yourself. In Maycomb you are supposed to find things out by going and hanging out on someones porch and gossiping. Not to find out things for yourself.
I agree with Djuna and Adin. This goes against the unwritten rules of Maycomb. What Atticus is trying to explain is that you dont understand what it's like on the other side. You dont know the other families situation. In the unwritten rules there are certain ways you are supposed to act and certain categories you are supposed to fit in. Scout didnt understand that not every family has the same privalges as they did. When Atticus does cases fighting for the rights of people who deserve justice. He still doesnt understand the full reason of people who did the unjustice thing. It proves that he still hasnt learnt what the other half is like to. So there are pros and cons to both situations.
When Atticus says this he is referring to the fact that you do not know what it is like to be someone until you have been in their shoes. Since not many bad things happen in Maycomb bad things are blamed on Boo Radley. Adding on to what Djuna said i feel that know one pays attention to Boo Radley's feelings.
Because Atticus is a lawyer he must see some tough cases in court. He has to know what is it like to be in the other person's skin to feel what they are feeling. This allows him to help his client win the case. Atticus is also a very caring father and was trying to tell scout to just consider what it is like to under someone else's skin sometimes.
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