Good_and_Evil

Good and Evil To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a great classic about a family during the Great Depression. Scout and Jem are the two kids who get themselves into some pretty hairy situations. They also learn a lot throughout the book about people and about friendship. Their Father Atticus is a great parent who teaches them morals throughout the book. Jem goes through a big change in his life when he meets Mrs.Dubose and watches her die. Scout, the narrator of the book learns an important part of life by meeting a man named Boo Radley and by slowly learning more about him. Scout and Jem learn a lot from their father and by experiencing some pretty wild events. The author throughout the book shows us that no one person is good or evil and sometimes to realize that you have to look at things from their point of view. Mrs. Dubose is an old mean lady who lives close to the Finches. She has a rather strong addiction to Morphine and she dies while Jem is taking care of her. Jem always hated her and so did Scout but after she dies Atticus has a talk with them. Atticus tells them, “ She was, and she had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe but… Mrs. Dubose won…she was the bravest person I know.”(112) Atticus realizes that Mrs. Dubose isn’t the nicest person he knows, but he knows in his heart that she wasn’t all that bad. Yeah maybe Mrs. Dubose was an incredibly mean old lady and she was even mean to kids, but she also was an extremely courageous person with battles of her own. Scout and Jem thought she was really just a horrible person until Atticus explained to Jem that he needed to see Ms. Dubose in a different way than they always did. He says to Jem, “ I wanted you to see something about her- I wanted you to see what real courage is.” (112) He wants Jem to see that the important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and have a better understanding of their bad qualities by treating people with respect and looking at things through their eyes. Boo Radley shows his good and evil throughout the entire book. Scout goes to Miss Maudie to talk about Boo Radley and she says,” Arthur Radley just stays in the house, that's all…Wouldn't you stay in the house if you didn't want to come out...He should be crazy by now. The things that happen to people we never really know. What happens in houses behind closed doors”(44) Scout, Jem, and Dill were always scared of the Boo because he just stays indoors and never really talks to anyone. He was their cliché man who is the quiet man who never leaves his house and everyone is scared of. Nobody knows much about Boo but all of the kids are scared of him and always get freaked out going near his house. It isn’t until the end of the book, that Scout sees that Boo isn’t really as bad as she always thought. She really sees him for who he really is. She stands on Boo’s porch after walking home and looks out at the neighborhood. She summarizes everything that happened in the book and then she says, “ Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough”(279) Scout sees Boo for who he really is and what it must be like for him. She struggled with this the whole book and is able to see what life for Boo is like. Scout doesn’t seem to really understand that people have another side to them that you can’t always see until the end of the book. Through the book we see Jem and Scout see the inner good and evil. . They find out that, even in their small town, there is evil in people. It is a hard lesson to learn for them, especially for Jem. After seeing Tom Robinson's trial, he sees the world as a horrible place and people are horrible. He cries and gets so mad at the jury until Atticus talks to him. They are talking about the jury and Atticus tells him, “ There’s something in this world that makes men lose their heads-they couldn’t be fair if they tried.”(215)Atticus sees that it isn’t always the person’s fault if they are messed up and that most men are. Bob Ewell might be a real messed up guy but he could have been good once. Bob Ewell represents evil in this book but Atticus shares that all men lose their heads. In Bob Ewell’s case it is just a bit extreme. The author wants us to realize that people are neither good nor evil, but that they are both and the best thing to do it to see things through other's perspectives. At the end of the book, Scout begins to see the world that Atticus sees. While Atticus is tucking her into bed, she tells him about the story they just read. She says that the character,” was real nice." He responds, "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."(281) The danger and misunderstanding in earlier parts of the book are resolved as Scout says this we begin to feel peace. Scout has finally come to peace with Boo and has understood that sympathy and understanding of people can triumph over someone’s evil. Scout and Jem start off the book being scared of Boo Radley and not really knowing anything about him. As they go through the book they realize more about him and he doesn’t seem to scare them as much anymore. Scout and Jem begin to see the evil sides come out of people, like when they see Bob Ewell but also see the good sides of people like Boo or Mrs.Dubose. As they get to know people better they have a better understanding of the good and evil in people. Especially that no one person is all good or all evil but some have more of some than others.