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To Kill A Mocking Bird

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout experience major changes in how they view their world and learn many lessons along the way. As the novel begins Jem and Scout are unaware and innocent kids, however as the story progresses they encounter racism and prejudice people. At the end of the novel Jem and Scout begin to understand people’s views and learn many things from the events they encounter.
The two characters who play a major part in Jem’s and Scout’s life and who they learn the most from is Atticus and Miss Maudie. Atticus teaches them their most important lessons in life. One important thing he tells them is that you will “never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view”(30). This is a very important lesson they learn because throughout the novel they use it to begin to understand other people. At the end of the novel they start to understand why people do what they do in certain situations because they take Atticus’s advice and consider things from other peoples perspective. Miss Maudie teaches them that “it’s a sin to kill a mocking bird”(90). She explains how mocking birds don’t harm anyone or anything they just sing for people which is why it’s a sin to kill mockingbirds. However the main lesson is that it’s a sin to do something bad to someone who hasn’t done anything wrong.

Jem and Scout learn what real courage is from Mrs. Dubose and Atticus. Atticus teaches Jem and Scout what real courage is by telling them that real courage is “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what”(112) and that courage isn’t a man with a gun in his hand. Atticus tell Jem and Scout that Mrs. Dubose was very brave because she was a morphine addict, broke herself out of that addiction, and died “beholden to nothing and nobody”(112). One way they learn courage from Atticus is when he decides to take Tom Robinson’s case and tries to win even though he can’t win...