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Examples Of Judgement In To Kill A Mockingbird

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You Cannot Judge a Book by its Cover
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus teaches this to Scout to explain to her why she should not judge others. People everywhere make false judgements based on gossip. Reputation, popularity, and rumors determine how great a person is, as opposed to their true character. In this book there are many individuals that appear to be amazing or terrible people on the outside, but then are proved to be different people on the inside. People should not be judged by the way they look, but by their courage, their compassion, and their integrity. …show more content…
An example of someone who has been judged falsely is Aunt Alexandra. “Her Missionary Society refreshments added to her reputation as a hostess… she joined and became Secretary of the Maycomb Amanuensis Club. To all parties present and participating in the life of the county, Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had river-boat, boarding-school manners; let any moral come along and she would uphold it; she was born in the the objective case; she was an incurable gossip” (172). In Maycomb, she is portrayed as an amazing woman who is wise, intelligent, and classy. When she comes to stay with Scout, Jem, and Atticus for a while, Macomb accepts her quickly into its society. Her genuine personality is revealed when Scout expresses interest in inviting Walter Cunningham over to play. “‘And I still say that Jean Louise will not invite Walter Cunningham to this house.’… ‘But I want to play with Walter, Aunty, why can’t I?’… ‘Because--he--is--trash, that’s why you can’t play with him. I’ll not have you around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what. You’re enough of a problem to your father as it is’” (300-301). This conversation underlines the fact that Aunt Alexandra is not what she appears to be. Contrary to what Macomb thinks about her, she is actually a judgemental person who is more afraid of what people think of her than of making a wrong choice. …show more content…
One character who is judged wrongly by society is Arthur Radley. When Scout asks about him, Jem describes him as a frightening character. “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained--if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (16). As Arthur Radley’s nickname suggests, he is depicted to be scary, nasty, and cruel. People think he is some giant figure who enjoys eating raw animals and wandering the town at night. He is portrayed as more of a wild animal than an actual person capable of feeling compassion. This opinion is proven wrong when Scout gets the chance to meet him in the end. “When Boo Radley shuffled to his feet, light from the living room windows glistened on his forehead. Every move he made was uncertain, as if he were not sure his hands and feet could make proper contact with the things he touched… He turned to me and nodded toward the front door. ‘You’d like to say goodnight to Jem, wouldn’t you Mr. Arthur? Come right in’” (371). When Scout gets the chance to meet Arthur, she finds out he is actually gentle and kind. He is not the crazy person she has heard about. When he starts leaving, he is

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