Integrity, or the lack of such, is a huge component in the creation of personal beliefs of a person. Those with integrity show compassion and empathy with many of the decisions they make, and they usually have a strong set of morals; they stand up for what they believe in even in the face of adversity. Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is one such person. Harper Lee helps readers follow the journey of Atticus as he attempts to end the ignorance with which the citizens of Maycomb grew with.
In this small town where nothing happens and everything stays the same, a single event causes the citizens to stir and, in a way, “wake up”. As citizens are exposed to these new situations, Atticus forces them to reconsider their personal morals and decide whether they are ethical or not. As they people reflect on themselves, they start to change their perception of what is and is not right. When people are pushed to reflect on the very fundamentals of their way of life, they sometimes find that what they originally thought was fair is actually not so.
Lee showcases this by focusing on the changing beliefs of some secondary characters, as well as focusing on Atticus’ moral integrity and perseverance. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Atticus to represent an ideal personality and goes on to suggest that when faced with an unusual situation, groups of people tend to act impulsively, which results in decisions lacking integrity. When a life-changing event takes place, some people become afraid and make impulsive decisions that aren’t very wellthought out.
First of all, when Tom Robinson was transferred to the Maycomb jailhouse, a group of scared men approached Atticus at his home and tried to convince him to not defend Tom. They started off by telling Atticus that, “It’s that Old Sarum bunch [we] are worried about”, which was to imply that they came to him for the greater good of the county rather than to comfort themselves. Tom had only been moved to the jail for a short time, and these men were already afraid of what might happen.
They had never experienced anything even close to the intensity that surrounded the Tom Robinson case, the controversy surrounding the case worried them and caused them to act irrationally. They ignored their common sense and instead acted with only their confused emotions as a guide. Later on, Mr. Deas, in an effort to have Atticus stop defending the case, brought up that “[Atticus had] everything to lose from this” although this statement seems to imply that Mr.
Deas simply had Atticus’s best interests in mind, the undercurrent of desperation also shines through in the argument (Lee 195). These men were bent on trying to get the source of their troubles, Tom Robinson, out of Maycomb so that they could go back to living their lives normally. If the men had been forced to calm down and consider the situation with a clear mind they would react a lot differently. The men would have had time to make a ethical decision on how to move forward based on their personal beliefs.
Soon after, the Old Sarum Bunch showed up to the jailhouse covered with the stench of alcohol on their breaths. What ensued was a heated conversation between the men and Atticus, followed by Scout innocently speaking with Mr. Cunningham, unaware of the tense atmosphere. “How’s your entailments gettin’ along? ” she questioned Mr. Cunningham. When Mr. Cunningham didn’t respond, she meekly asked him to “tell [Walter] hey for” for her (Lee 204-205).
Following Scout’s request, Mr. Cunningham finally responded, after which he told the rest of the men around him that they should clear out” and “”get going” (Lee 206). All of these men, had felt a sense of urgency to do somehow diffuse the Tom Robinson situation, and the only response they could figure out was to fight. The reason the group of men resorted to violence was because they were confused and scared; this was the first time any of them had been a part of something like the Tom Robinson case, and they were desperately trying to make sense of the situation.
In doing so, the men grasped onto anything that seemed to make sense to them, and the only thing that they thought they knew was that Tom was the cause of all their current dilemmas. Lee helps readers understand that when faced with uncomfortable scenarios, some people choose to react impulsively, which can end up with bad decisions being made. Many a times when people are surrounded by something they don’t understand, they become afraid and begin to act without integrity. Boo is a normal man who is just very introverted, he stays in his home and almost never comes out by choice.
Scout seems to at least have a partial understanding of this, because at one point she says that, ‘What Mr. Radley did might seem peculiar to us, but it did not seem peculiar to him,” (Lee 65). Many people of Maycomb are afraid of what they don’t understand, and they don’t understand how exactly someone could spend their entire life in a house, so they begin to make up stories and legends about Boo. These people think that it’s okay to criticize Boo’s way of life and that it’s okay to make fun of him just because there’s no immediate consequences, but that’s not true.
They only participate in ridiculing him because he doesn’t meet the town’s societal norms, and so he is metaphorically banished under the guise that he’s a monster or a murderer. People choose to ignore their integrity and sense of righteousness when they have an idea or prejudice stuck in their mind, and that makes it hard for them to act fairly, As Jem was growing up, he talked about how he was “beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 304).
Jem showcased his newfound understanding and empathy by defending Boo in this statement. He, instead of mocking Boo’s ways like before, gave value to Boo’s decisions and even respect. Jem could have continued to act without integrity by doing things such as creating scenarios in which Boo was nothing but a character, but instead he grew up and started acting with integrity. Originally, he used the “Boo Radley Legends” to create games and have fun, and even though mocking was disrespectful and lacked integrity, Jem didn’t stop because he had never been in a situation like this before.
He had never dealt with a recluse, so instead of trying to understand, he acted without integrity by acting rude and appropriating the stories people told about Boo. Lee shows readers that sometimes, even without meaning to, people can get afraid in situations where they have no idea about what’s going on, so they make decisions that don’t alway reflect positively on their ability to empathize and act with integrity. Lastly, Atticus Finch is someone who Harper Lee would probably refer to as an ideal character, most likely because of his abundance of integrity and comfortability in his opinions.
Originally, Mr. Cunningham was a part of the group of people believed that Atticus should drop the case. Not only was he one of the men that showed up at Tom’s jail on the night he was transferred to Maycomb, he was the one who seemed to have the power over other men. When Scout was trying to speak to Mr. Cunningham, “… seemed uncomfortable; he cleared his throat and looked away” which leads readers to believe that Mr. Cunningham doesn’t have the courage to be comfortable in his opinions and thoughts (Lee 204).
He also seems to be more comfortable when participating in crowd mentality, so he was a character that could use some improvement overall. Atticus, on the other hand, has been completely at peace with his decisions and was comfortable with how people may perceive him differently if he continued to follow his own opinions throughout the entire book. At one point, Atticus talks about how if he didn’t defend Tom Robinson in the case he, “… couldn’t hold up my head in town… represent this county in legislature… or] tell [Scout] or Jem not to do something again” (Lee 100). Atticus has such a strong sense of integrity that he refuses to do anything that would breach it, and when he explains the major reasons he had to defend Tom, one could easily group them all into the category of honor. Atticus respected himself and people in general too much to break his beliefs and act without a rational mind. Throughout this entire storyline, Atticus acts with a clear conscious and his integrity as a guide, and that’s why Harper Lee depicts him as such an ideal personality.
Atticus’ morals are so sound that they even tend to rub off on others around him. When Scout was speaking to Mr. Cunningham, he could barely look her in the eye, but regardless, she spoke to him until he responded to her compassion and curiosity by saying that he would, “… tell him [Walter] you said hey, little lady,”” (Lee 206). Although this seems like it is completely unrelated to Atticus, it is very much related. Atticus raised Scout to be curious, but respectful, and to always act how she feels.
In the scene at the jailhouse, Scout was desperately trying to find a familiar face so she honed in on Mr. Cunningham and began a conversation with him with her best intentions. She wanted to do what she felt like was the right thing in that situation, and Atticus was the one who taught her to do that. That is the reason Harper Lee shows Atticus Finch as an ideal personality to strive for, because not only does he himself act with integrity, he urges others to do the same.
Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, describes the reactions of many people when in the face of new, unexplored situations by showing Atticus Finch’s principle manner of being versus the reactions of those who were afraid and acted without moral beliefs or integrity, When in a different situation unlike any before, people tend to act with uncertainty and impulsivity, which is why many of Maycomb’s finest reacted by attempting to get Tom Robinson out of their town; they wanted to rid themselves of the “root of their problems”.
However, a multitude of the citizens developed their morality and learned how to deal with unusual instances and by reflecting on themselves, the people of Maycomb found peace again for the first time in years.