To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

By: Adam Burford

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live. The decisions we make
each day shape the people we become. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird the children learn
valuable life lessons. The children learn not to judge a book by the cover. They also realize it is
important to respect other peoples beliefs. The children also grow to understand the value of
standing up for what you believe in. The children in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird make
important decisions throughout the novel showing the important decisions that they are
making that shape their moral beliefs.
In the story the children learn not to judge a book by its cover which was important in
developing their moral beliefs. The children were shot at when trespassing on Boo Radleys
property. Jem lost his pants trying to escape. He came back later to find them folded and
mended. When I went back, they were folded across the fence........ Like they were expecting
me. Pg.78 The lesson the children learned was that Boo Radley was not really the evil person
they thought he was. This is a valuable lesson because they had judged him to be evil and scary
based on rumour and the way he lived but realized he was a good person. The children also
learned the lesson of not judging a book by its cover by reading to Mrs. Dubose after Jem cut
off the heads of the camellia. Jems punishment was to read to her. I wanted you to see
something about her--- I wanted you to see what real courage is instead of getting the idea that
courage is a man with a gun in his hand pg.149 The children learned the lesson not to judge
Mrs. Dubose by all the mean things she said but to understand she was courageous in the end.
After reading to Mrs. Dubose they realized she was not the mean old lady they thought she
was. The important moral lesson the children learned was to not judge a book by its cover.
Respecting other peoples beliefs is important because it shows the ability to put
yourself in other peoples shoes which is important in developing moral values. A moment in
the novel where the lesson of respecting other peoples beliefs happens when Scout is out
watching the town people fight the fire on a cold night and realizes someone has put a blanket
around her. Then whose blanket is that? Blanket? Yes maam blanket. It isnt ours. I looked
down and found myself clutching a brown woollen blanket. Pg.95 She discovers that Boo
Radley has the right to live the way he does without people deciding that he is a scary and evil.

This is a valuable lesson for Scout she puts herself in Boo Radleys shoes and realizes how
cruelly and unfairly people have judged him. A second lesson about respecting others ideas is
shown when Scout asks Atticus why he is defending the negro man when the people in the
town are against it? Well most folks seem to think that they are right and you are wrong. They
are certainly entitled to think that and they are entitled to full respect for their opinion but
before I can live with other folks I have to live with myself. Pg. 139 Scout learned that just
because the town is against you does not mean you should not do what is right. The outcome is
that Scott learned to treat people fairly not matter what their beliefs. Respecting others beliefs
is important in shaping your morality.
Standing up for what you believe in is important part of what can shape your decision
making and your moral values. An encounter in the book that demonstrates standing up for
what you believe occurs when Scout stands up to Cecil without fighting when he calls Atticus a
negro lover. I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists
and walked away. Scout is a cow..ard ringing in my ears. It was the first time I ever walked
away from a fight. Somehow if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down.pg.102 The lesson she
learned in this encounter is to stand up for what you believe in and Scout believed in her father
and what he was doing. A second event in the book that shows the children standing up for
what they believe in occurs when Atticus is confronted in front of the jail by the mob that came
to deal with Tom Robinson. The children distracted the mob to protect Atticus and Tom.
Suddenly Jem screamed Atticus the telephone is ringing The men jumped a little and
scattered. Pg. 195 The lesson the children learned was standing up for what they believe in
and what Atticus believed in. The outcome of this is that Scout stops the mob by calling out
Walter Cunnigham in the crowd and calms the mob. The children develop their moral beliefs by
standing up for what they believe in.
The children in the book To Kill a Mockingbird made good choices throughout the book
that show the development of their moral beliefs. The children learned not to judge a book by
its cover, they realized the importance of respecting other peoples beliefs and the value of
standing up for what they believe. The decisions we make each day and the lessons we learn
shape the people we become in the future.