To Kill A Mockingbird
...icus was willing to take his own son to court when there was doubt over him committing a crime. This shows that he is a very fair man. Even though Atticus is a great lawyer, he prefers that everybody calls him Atticus instead of Mr. Finch even his children so that there is no gap created between them. Atticus was the first character to refer to the mocking bird motif, when he gave Jem and Scout their first gun: “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” I think this is a very important quote and it has a lot of affect on the novel because this brings out the whole meaning behind this book and the message that Atticus is trying to get across of that you should never hurt anyone if they have not brought harm upon you or without a valid reason. When Maycomb finds out that Atticus is actually going to defend Tom Robinson and try to win the case he and his family are constantly targeted with abuse and disrespect. He is repeatedly called a “nigger lover”. Atticus though takes no attention to this and does what he thinks is right. This shows that he is a very emotionally strong and confident person. The Ewells play a significant part in this novel. At the very beginning Scout mentions that the “Ewells started it all" so we find out from the start that the Ewells will play a very important role in the novel. The story involves the rape allegations that the Ewells made against Tom Robinson and this shows the racism and prejudice that runs through the family which is being brought in by Bob Ewell. We can see from the start that Bob Ewell neglects his children and physically abuses them. We find out that he forbids them from education. We also uncover more when we meet Burris Ewell- the son of Bob Ewell- Burris shows us how bad their living conditions are. He has head lice and is very dirty. Scout describes him as: "The filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick". Bob Ewell is an unemployed man who lives off the benefits he is given. He is ranked below every white man and is classified as “white trash”. However, he is still above the black community and he uses this power for injustice. He is the type of man that is capable of any crime, he shows this when he attacks Jem and Scout. He could do this since he had no reputation to ruin and because he was angry at Atticus. He could not get to Atticus so he set up this ambush to murder his children. During the attack he managed to break Jem’s arm but he could not finish his job because Boo Radley interfered. Harper Lee describes Bob Ewell in great detail because she wants us to be able to understand the prejudice that he represents. One of the many themes in this novel is the contrast between Atticus Finch and Bob Ewell. They both have a little in common for example; they are both male and white, but their reputation in Maycomb is nothing alike. Atticus is a well respected man with a lot of dignity, however on the other hand Bob Ewell is the outcast of the town and he can never win the town’s respect because of his actions. Before the trial, Atticus is respected by Mr. Ewell, but Bob soon turns sour upon the realization that Atti...