Tolerance and Kindness in the Novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

There are many situations in life where you have to show tolerance and kindness. For some maybe more tolerance than kindness. In To Kill a Mockingbird a fictional book written by Harper Lee there are many characters that show tolerance and kindness. Scout has to tolerate her Aunt Alexandra while she visits her, Jem and Atticus. Many people do not always approve of the things scout does and that is something Scout has to tolerate. Acharacter that shows kindness in the book is Arthur Boo Radley.

Boo has always been perceived as someone who just lives in his house and never leaves but that is just the tip of his story. The last character that shows both tolerance and kindness is Atticus Finch.

Atticus has to tolerate many people because of his job; because of his job he shows kindness towards Tom Robinson. Throughout the book, there are many events and characters that show both kindness and tolerance. Scout is a great example for a character that has to show tolerance, Aunt Alexandra is the typical Maycomb citizen.

She is polite, and well-mannered and she fits in. Aunt Alexandra expects Scout to, “behave like a sunbeam” because she is a Finch. Alexandra thinks that the family name is everything and needs Scout to act like the Finch she’s supposed to be. Alexandrajust wants Scout to fit in. Scout is not someone who stays quiet. She is very open-minded and always speaks what is on her mind. In Maycomb, if you are a lady and not, “In a dress and camisole” you won’t go very far in life.

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That is what most women think in Maycomb.

Scout has to deal with people in Maycomb trying to change her into something that she clearly is not. She tolerates these people because she is just a child and can’t do much about it, Scout is an eight-year-old girl that has to show tolerance towards the people in Maycomb. Another character that shows not only tolerance but also kindness is Arthur Boo Radley. In the beginning of this book, Arthur was just a myth in Maycomb. Everyone thought he was this creepy guy that stays in his home all day. No one really gave much thought about what kind of a person he was. Arthur shows his kindness by putting. “a brown woolen blanket” over Scout. When Miss. Maudie’s house was burning down Scout found herself clutching a blanket yet she had no idea who gave it to her.

Scout was overwhelmed with the house burning down and the blanket that Boo left for her just comforted her a little bit. When Scout and Jem was attacked by Bob Ewell, Scout only saw a man, “going around the corner…carrying Jem” to their house. Scout finds out that Boo was the one that saved her. Boo didn’t know much about Scout and Jem and he voluntarily risked his life to protect them, He could have gotten hun in the process, Arthur Boo Radley showed his courage and kindness towards others. Atticus Finch is another good example of showing kindness towards others. He also shows tolerance in this novel. Atticus is a lawyer and he took on one special case. He knew that by taking this case people in Maycomb would see him differently. He didn’t care what they thought he just tolerated them. Atticus was defending Tom Robinson a Negro and from then on most of people didn’t just see him as a lawyer but a lawyer defending Negroes.

People in Maycomb say that he, ”shouldn’t do much about defending” Tom Robinson. He took Tom‘s case because he was proud of being a lawyer and being in the legislature. He would not been able to, “hold up [his] head” in Maycomb. By defending Tom Robinson he was, “fighting his friends” and he believed that no matter what happened they were still going to be his friends. Atticus was a kind man and he did well for his county. All three characters did well in the novel. They showed kindness and tolerance towards the Citizens of Maycomb. Atticus held is head high when he was defending Tom Robinson. He didn’t let all the talks about him loving Negroes get to him. Boo Radley showed his kindness all throughout the novel and by protecting Scout and Jem, everyone saw that he was a good man. Scout had to tolerate Aunt Alexandra constantly trying to change her into the perfect Maycomb women. There is both tolerance and kindness in a person and in the right moment they will prevail.