Andrew Sanchez

Explication #2
2/12/18
Period 1

Ethics & A Risked Life

In Harper Lee’s ​To Kill A Mockingbird​, Atticus shows an ethical character when he fights his
hardest for an African American in a racist town like Maycomb. Ethics are moral principles that
govern a person’s behavior. Atticus shows ethics by being against violence, not fighting back
when Bob Ewell spit on him, teaching his kids about ethics, and always wanting to do the right
thing. Maycomb is full of people who look down upon people of color and people who support
people of color. Despite the racism of Maycomb, Atticus doesn’t give up on defending an African
American, even if it risks his own safety. Atticus always teaches his kids about ethics so they
grow up to be well behaved/well mannered human beings. In the novel, the kids were trying to
give Boo Radley a letter to get him to come outside. In chapter 5 page 54 of the novel, Atticus
says “If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to stay inside his own house he had the
right to..”. This quote shows how Atticus tells his children to be polite and not barge in on other’s
business. Atticus shows he himself is an ethical person by wanting his children to do the right
thing. Towards the end of the novel, we see Atticus being ethical as he starts thinking of how
Bob Ewell could have died. Once Atticus thinks Jem might have done it, he says he wouldn’t
want to cover it up for him because Atticus wants to do what’s right and not lie about something
for his children. In chapter 30 page 314 of the novel, Atticus says “I don’t want my boy starting
out with something like this over his head.” When Atticus says this, he shows that he doesn’t
want Jem to have to live with the fact that he killed Bob. Atticus basically says he won’t want to
cover this up for Jem because he would be unethical to lie for his children. Atticus wants to
show his kids that he is 100% truthful and ethical and wants his kids to be the same way.
Harper Lee represents Atticus as an ethical character to show that when everyone else is doing
things that aren’t right, there will always be someone who wants to do what is right. Atticus is a
lawyer and as a lawyer, he must be ethical. Atticus is even ethical outside of the courtroom. Lee
shows this with the quote “[Atticus] is the same in the court-room as he is on the public street”. I
feel like Atticus is a very ethical person by the way he acts in the story. Atticus is always wanting
to do the right thing and risked his life to defend someone he knew was innocent. Harper Lee
did a great job of showing this by how well he taught his kids about ethics, and how he handled
the Tom Robinson case.