Demonstration of the Golden Rule in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
According to Harper Lee, the golden rule refers to the basic principle, which requires each person to treat others the same way they would want to be treated. In his book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Lee provides various examples of characters and contexts where the rule has been used. This discussion would, however, only examine how Atticus, one of the characters used by the writer, applies the law in various environments.
The actions of Atticus on behalf of Tom Robinson are perhaps the most appropriate use of the golden rule. Atticus had defended the plaintiff, Tom Robinson, in court, irrespective of his skin colour. When asked by Scout to explain his basis for justifying an individual from another race, Atticus informed her daughter that Robinson’s racial heritage was insignificant and immaterial in such a critical issue. He said, “The main one, if I didn’t, I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature…”
When Atticus comes home and finds his children have built themselves a snowman, he gets excited before understanding what it was meant to represent. Later, he discovers that the snowman made by Jem was a representation of Mr. Avery, their neighbour. In other terms, it was an insulting caricature. Although amused by the engineering skills of his children, Atticus explains to them that they should do to others the things that ought to be done to them. He wants his children to embrace humanity and ethical behaviour.
In both the two cases, Atticus demonstrated that human beings should treat one another with love and equality as they would want themselves treated. All his actions and behaviour always upheld the golden rule.
According to Harper Lee, the golden rule refers to the basic principle, which requires each person to treat others the same way they would want to be treated. In his book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Lee provides various examples of characters and contexts where the rule has been used. This discussion would, however, only examine how Atticus, one of the characters used by the writer, applies the law in various environments.
The actions of Atticus on behalf of Tom Robinson are perhaps the most appropriate use of the golden rule. Atticus had defended the plaintiff, Tom Robinson, in court, irrespective of his skin colour. When asked by Scout to explain his basis for justifying an individual from another race, Atticus informed her daughter that Robinson’s racial heritage was insignificant and immaterial in such a critical issue. He said, “The main one, if I didn’t, I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this country in the legislature…”
When Atticus comes home and finds his children have built themselves a snowman, he gets excited before understanding what it was meant to represent. Later, he discovers that the snowman made by Jem was a representation of Mr. Avery, their neighbour. In other terms, it was an insulting caricature. Although amused by the engineering skills of his children, Atticus explains to them that they should do to others the things that ought to be done to them. He wants his children to embrace humanity and ethical behaviour.
In both the two cases, Atticus demonstrated that human beings should treat one another with love and equality as they would want themselves treated. All his actions and behaviour always upheld the golden rule.