To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 9 Essay
When Atticus is given the job of defending Tom Robinson, Scout finds herself facing the dark, ugly side of her friends, neighbors, and family. This situation would be difficult for anyone, but for an innocent, unformed child such as Scout, it also presents the danger of influencing her very badly as a person. What’s at stake here is not just her happiness and her sense of belonging in her small town, but also her good character. All of these issues come to a head in chapter 9—the Christmas chapter—when, in Scout’s words “disaster struck.” Not surprisingly, several adults in her life step in and try to help her grow in the right way – or at least what they see as the right way.
Essay Question: out of Aunt Alexandria, Uncle Jack, and Atticus, who is best equipped to help Scout attain good character? Consider…
- The challenges Scout faces in developing good character. These challenges probably involve a combination of external factors and internal factors. This should take one paragraph.
- Given Scout’s challenges, who is best equipped to help her develop a good character?
o Do one paragraph per adult.
o For each adult, address…
§ What s/he thinks good character is, and why this idea is/isn’t appropriate for Scout
§ The way the adult tries to teach Scout their idea of good, and why this approach is/isn’t effective
o Go from the least effective adult to the most effective.
§ Adult 1: Why this adult is not well equipped, in spite of what s/he may believe
§ Adult 2: Why this adult is more equipped than adult 1, but also why they are not equipped enough
§ Adult 3: Why this adult is more equipped than both of the others
This essay should be based mostly on chapter 9. However you are encouraged to bring in details from other chapters if they seem relevant. One example that springs to mind is the time in chapter 3 when Atticus suggests to Scout that the only way to truly understand a person is to “’climb into his skin and walk around in it’” (39).