Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird English Literature Essay

Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird English Literature Essay Miss Maudie uses her intelligence to give Scout wise advice. Scout learns many life lessons and matures using Miss Maudie’s insightful words. One evening, as Scout and Miss Maudie are sitting on her front porch, Miss Maudie teaches Scout an important lesson: â€Å"‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of–oh, of your father'† (46). Miss Maudie shows Scout that [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦]. Another important life lesson Miss Maudie teaches Scout is after the shooting of old Tim Johnson. While the children are glum that Atticus can’t do anything, he is revealed to be the deadest shot in town. However, they also learn of Atticus putting his gun down: â€Å"Maybe I can tell you,† said Miss Maudie. â€Å"If your father’s anything, he’s civilized in his heart. Marksmanship’s a gift of God, a talent–oh, you have to practice to make it perfect, but shootin’s diffe rent from playing the piano or the like. I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things. I guess he decided he wouldn’t shoot till he had to, and he had to today.† â€Å"Looks like he’d be proud of it,† I said. â€Å"People in their right minds never take pride in their talents,† said Miss Maudie. (98) Miss Maudie helps Scout sees why Atticus put his gun down. She shows Scout that Atticus saw he had an unfair advantage over other living things. Scout learns that Atticus didn’t take pride being the deadest shot in Maycomb and instead put his gun down because having an unfair advantage wasn’t really anything to be proud about. And she also implies that Scout should be humble, a good trait of character in life. Miss Maudie is a reference for Scout as she helps her understand major lessons. After the children receive their air guns, they are excited to go out and shoot. Atticus tells them to shoot all the blue jays they want, but never mockingbirds. Confused, Scout goes to Miss Maudie in which she finds her answer: â€Å"‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird'† (90). While Miss Maudie is saying it is a sin to kill mockingbirds, she is really referring to the big picture. Miss Maudie is comparing mockingbirds to weaker people of the society who can’t help but be abused. While they benefit us in so many ways, all we do is harass them. This is a key theme and idea in the book and also a very important lesson for Scout. Through intuitive advice, Miss Maudie helps Scout become a mature, wise child. In addition to being the intelligent woman she is, Miss Maudie is also just. Miss Maudie treats people the same way no matter what their circumstances are. During the summertime, while Jem and Dill are busy scheming over plans to get Boo to come out, Scout becomes closer to Miss Maudie. One evening, Scout asks Miss Maudie about Arthur â€Å"Boo† Radley and tells her about the rumors, which causes Miss Maudie to say: â€Å"‘I remember Arthur Radley when he was a boy. He always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did. Spoke as nicely as he knew how'† (45-46). This example shows that Miss Maudie is not prejudiced against other people. Miss Maudie doesn’t judge Arthur based on rumors and other information. Instead, she sees Arthur for who he really is, based on true experiences and facts. She sees Arthur as a nice boy while everyone else sees him as a delinquent all because she based her opinions on the truth, bringing out the good in people that the lies cover. But Miss Maudie’s righteousness doesn’t stop with the white people. Miss Maudie also believes in justice for people at the bottom of the hierarchy in Maycomb, the African Americans. During the night of the trial, Miss Maudie sits down on her front porch and waits for the Finches to come home. While she waits, she begins to have thoughts, which she tells to Jem the next morning: â€Å"‘as I waited I thought, Atticus Finch won’t win, he can’t win, but he’s the only man in these parts who can keep a jury out so long in a case like that. And I thought to myself, well, we’re making a step–it’s just a baby-step, but it’s a step†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ (216). Miss Maudie knows that Atticus won’t win because of the racism still around from years of traditions. However, she also sees the case would have been an easy decision with an inexperienced lawyer, except that Atticus held the jury out for so long, it was apparent they were wavering in their decisions. While they still voted Tom guilty, Miss Maudie sees that that momentary indecision is another step, no matter how small, towards justice and freedom for all people. She associates herself with the people that want to make a step towards justice by saying â€Å"we’re† and also praising Atticus for helping make that step. And even though there are racism and injustice, there are people like Miss Maudie to spread fairness throughout the town, one baby-step at a time.