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Zain Salman

Mr. O’Meara

Adv. Freshmen English P#2

10 May 2019

Kindness Creates Respect

John Ruskin, a leading English art critic, states,“A little thought and a little kindness are

often worth more than a great deal of money“ (Brainyquote). Treating an individual with

kindness is worth more than money because it could change someone’s viewpoint of another

individual. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, the father of Scout and Jem,

displays his values of humility and empathy when he reveals his skills as a shooter, gives advice

to Scout and Atticus, and what Miss Maudie says about him. Throughout the book, the author,

Harper Lee reveals the theme that kindness creates respect through Atticus’s character and the

symbol of the soda in the bag.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus’s actions and what others say about him reveal the

theme. After Atticus shoots Tim Johnson, Miss Maudie tells Scout and Jem that Atticus is one of

the best shooters in the county and also one of the most talented men. Scout wants to tell

everyone how her father is one of the skilled shooters in the county; however, Jem tells Scout to

keep his secret because he understands that Atticus does not want to attract any attention, and he

does not want to boast about his skills. The author states,”Jem said,’I reckon if he’d wanted us to

know it he’da told us. If he was proud of it, he’da told us’”(130). When Jem says “ If he was

proud of it, he’da told us,” Jem says the statement in a calm way, and he is explaining to Scout

how Atticus does not want to boast about his skills as a shooter. The following phrase shows how
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Atticus values humility because he does not have pride in being a skilled shooter, and he does

not use a gun in front of Scout or Jem until the situation with Tim Johnson. As Jem says how it

was Atticus’s choice to tell them about his skills, Atticus’s choices reveal how he values the

principle of empathy because Jem realizes that Atticus does not want his skills to interfere with

Jem’s or Scout’s pride. Atticus’s principle of empathy supports Atticus’s kindness towards Scout

and Jem, and the children pay Atticus back with respect. Not only do his actions shape his

values, but Atticus’s choices also determine his values. Jem and Scout follow Atticus out of the

house and find him protecting Tom Robinson from a mob of people, so Scout goes into the

crowd and talks to Mr. Cunningham. At first, Scout talks about what she is interested in, but she

then starts to talk about Mr. Cunningham’s interests because of the advice that Atticus had

previously given to her. Scout states, “Atticus had said it was the polite thing to talk to people

about what they are interested in, not about what you were interested in.”(205) Scout says it is

the ‘polite thing’ to talk about others’ interests, which displays how Atticus puts others’ opinion

before him. The following quote emphasizes that Atticus values empathy, and he values the

principle of humility because he does not do everything for his own pleasure. Not only does what

Atticus says reveals the theme but what others say about Atticus also determines the theme. After

the event when Atticus shot Tim Johnson, Jem and Scout went to Miss Maudie’s house, and Miss

Maudie explained to them how Atticus was one of the best shooter’s of the county and the best

checker player. The author writes,”’Maybe I can tell you,’” said Miss Maudie.”’If you father’s

anything, he’s civilized in his heart.…I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that

God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things’”(130). When Miss Maudie says

that Atticus stopped using a gun when God had given him an unfair advantage over most living
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things until the situation with Tim Johnson, Atticus displays how he values justice because he

did not want to express his abilities to those who might lack his skills. Miss Maudie says that

Atticus is civilized in his heart because of his decision to give up some of his skills, and it shows

Atticus to value the principle of equality. Furthermore, Atticus has a positive effect on Miss

Maudie because she compliments Atticus and describes him to be ‘civilized in his heart’ in the

quote. According to the quote, Miss Maudie views Atticus to be a compassionate man, who had

to give up and stop using some of the skills he was famous for in order to humble himself for

people who are lower in skill and status than he. For example, Atticus was the best shooter and

best checker player in the county, yet Atticus did not want to be an unfair advantage or

distraction towards Jem and Scout because of his fame in the past. Atticus never used a gun in

front of his children until Tim Johnson because they might think of him as a different individual

compared to what they think of him now. Individuals, such as Miss Maudie, admire Atticus as a

role model for Maycomb County, and they say positive things about him, which displays how

Atticus’s humility has created a respect between the people of Maycomb. The people are

thankful for him in many ways; for example, the blacks all gifted Atticus some type of food

when he tried with all his power to win the court case for Tom Robinson, and he tried to prove

that Tom Robinson was not guilty of raping Mayella Ewell. According to Miss Maudie, Atticus

began to believe that he was given an unfair advantage over many individuals, so Atticus put

Tom Robinson before himself. Even though Atticus lost the court case, he was, as stated by Miss

Maudie, a ‘ civilized man,’ who had earned respect from the black people. As a result of his

values of humility, empathy, and equality for the people of Maycomb County, Atticus has created

a kindness between the people and he, which forms the feeling of being respected.
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In the novel, the soda in Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s bag represents truth. Dill is unhappy

about the fact that Tom Robinson will lose the case no matter how much evidence there is to

prove he is not guilty because he is a black man. Dill and Scout go out of the courtroom and find

Dolphus Raymond outside. Mr. Raymond lets Dill take a sip out of the liquid in the bag, and Dill

finds out that the liquid that he was drinking was actually soda. Mr. Raymond says, ”When I

come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack; folks can say

Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey- that’s why he won’t change his ways. He can’t

help himself, that’s why he lives the way he does”(268). Because he is trying to hide the

beverage, individuals infer that Mr. Raymond is trying to hide his whiskey; however, the soda in

the bag could represent truth because Dolphus Raymond is using the bag to hide the truth. As a

result, the soda represents truth because he does not want the people of Maycomb to know that

Dolphus Raymond supports black people when the people of the county do not like black people

much. Slowly, the children begin to feel sorrow for Mr. Raymond because they want black

people to have equal rights as white people. In addition, Mr. Raymond also adds that he is

actually not a drinker, and he tells the children how the people of Maycomb will never support

the way he lives, so he uses the bag to protect his truth. Furthermore, Mr. Raymond

says,”’Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never

understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to be’…’I had never encountered a

being who deliberately perpetrated fraud against himself’”(268). Dolphus Raymond says how

the people will never understand his truth, but he tells Scout and Jem about the truth behind his

actions because he is aware that children are able to understand each other’s feelings more than

adults. Scout begins to feel sorrow for Mr. Raymond when he says that the people of Maycomb
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will never understand how he lives and Scout understands that Dolphus Raymond wants black

people to have equal rights along with white people. Scout then starts to respect Mr. Raymond

when she talks about how she had never seen anyone who had committed fraud against himself.

Therefore, the soda in the bag represents truth because he is hiding the soda to distract

individuals from finding out the truth of his actions.

As a result, the theme where kindness creates respect is supported by the characterization

of Atticus and the symbol of the soda in the bag. Characters such as Atticus Finch and Dolphus

Raymond present the theme present in the novel which concludes that kind individuals create a

respectful society because of the positive paradigms that they spread. Therefore, Atticus’s and

Mr. Dolphus Raymond’s actions have created more respect towards their character between

society and them.

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Work Cited

Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. Grand Central Publishing, 1960.

Ruskin, John. “John Ruskin Quotes.” Brainyquote.com, 2019. Accessed 21 March 2019