Essay Example on Defend the defenseless despite public Opinion

If you had the opportunity to defend the defenseless despite public opinion would you Your choice will affect you and those around you This is exactly the choice that Atticus faced with Tom Robinson s case Atticus choose to defend Tom Robinson despite Maycomb s opinion of it His actions had a profounding effect on numerous characters from Harper Lee s To Kill a Mockingbird Cecil Jacobs bullies Scout during recess Harper states He announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch s daddy defended niggers I told denied it but told Jem Lee 99 This is Scout s first encounter with her loss of innocence Harper quotes But I must have been reasonably awake or I would not have received the impression that was creeping into me 281 At the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout thought that Maycomb was an upbeat and happy go lucky town This is shown by her playing the Boo Radley game and running up to touch his house Harper states As the summer progressed so did our game We polished and perfected it added dialogue and plot until we had manufactured a small play upon which we rang changes every day 52 By the end of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout begins to notice that Maycomb is racially biased and towards Tom Robinson and blacks alike Although Scout never truly interprets Tom s trial she loses her innocence as a result of Atticus choice to defend Tom Jem witnesses Atticus decision to defend Tom learned to accept racism while holding his views and learned how his actions affect others 

At the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird Jem is nine years of age He was a very oblivious young boy and didn t think about how his actions affect others Harper states Jem attached the note to the end of the fishing pole let the pole out across the yard and pushed it back toward the window he had selected 64 Immediately after Tom s trial Jem thought that racism is wrong and there shouldn t be an exception to this rule Atticus Scout and Jem hold a conversation about Tom s trial During the conversation Atticus revealed to Jem that racism exists it will exist for years to come and he must adapt to it while still holding his views Harper states There s something in our world that makes men lose their heads they couldn t be fair if they tried In our courts it's a white man's word against a black man s the white man always wins They re ugly but those are the facts of life 295 Jem is saddened by Atticus words Jem learned to accept the reality of racism Jem learned how his actions affect others This is shown by Jem yelling at Scout to not kill a roly poly bug Aunt Alexandra has changed since Atticus choose to defend Tom At the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird Aunt Alexandra believed in racism and displaying strength by appearing etiquette before others both physically and emotionally Aunt Alexandra also disapproved of Atticus choice to defend Tom Harper states Calpurnia was serving Aunt Alexandra more coffee she shook her head at what I thought was a pleading winning look You re still too little she said I ll tell you when you aren't 

She was not fat but solid and she chose protective garments that drew up her bosom to giddy heights pinched in her waist flared out her rear and managed to suggest that Aunt Alexandra s was once an hourglass figure 209 170 171 Aunt Alexandra displayed her raci through her mistreatment of Calpurnia She also forced Calpurnia to serve her coffee and that was also racism As the plot progressed Atticus gathers Miss Maudie Aunt Alexandra Scout and Calpurnia Harper states What's the matter Aunt Alexandra asked alarmed by the look on my father's face Tom s dead Aunt Alexandra put her hands to her mouth didn't they try to stop him Didn't they give him any warning Aunt Alexandra s voice shook 315 It is at this very moment that Aunt Alexandra began to have sympathy for the Robinson family and those alike She began to cry in front of Scout something we never see her do besides this one time This moment is important because we saw Aunt Alexandra change from an unsympathetic person to a person with sympathy Lastly Aunt Alexandra interprets Atticus choice to defend Tom and understands that racism is wrong Defending the defenceless is a bold move to make Atticus took the opportunity to do so despite the opinions of Maycomb Scout lost her innocence Jem matured into a man and Aunt Alexandra became more sympathetic towards others All of these changes occurred because Atticus choose to defend Tom