Essay #10
Most People Are Nice When You Finally Meet Them In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, it concludes with Atticus telling Scout, "Most people are nice when you finally see them." This is true to some people that Scout and Jem have met throughout the novel. Some characters such as Boo Radley was thought of as mean and evil before they really knew him. And Mrs. Dubose was mean before they really knew her. Even Mr. Cunningham was mistaken for a while in the novel, not until Atticus explained to the children about him did they understand. Boo Radely was thought of as a tormented mean, evil man who lived in his house all his life. These rumors were spread about him since he was a child so it was hard to avoid them, so he never left the house. When Boo saved both Jem and Scout, Scout realized that he was not so evil and mean after all. He was just a very silent and shy man, nothing to be afraid of. Mrs. Dubose was also a cruel character when Jem and Scout first meet her. She ends up to be a silent, loner old grandmother. Nothing to evil just a weird way of thinking and a frail person.
Even Mr. Cunningham was thought of as a bad person, after the meeting with the mob at the jail scene. The Finch children thought he was the main person to convict Tom Robinson, but he was a main person fighting for him. Atticus showed them that he wouldn't have turned his back on Jem and Scout and that he was fighting for Tom Robinson's life.
Each community has good or bad elements that characterize it. Whether it be in 1930 or in modern times, there are still going to be qualities that can't be avoided. Maycomb county was a tightly knit, family oriented county.
People were mostly friendly and promoted good values most of the time. Everybody knew everyone and there was barely ever any crime. There wasn't much to fear, but there was a lot of racism there. Black people were not given the same chances as white people to live peacefully. It was a good community but had some major moral value flaws such as prejudice. Orange County has a wide array of characteristics. Crime is very high here and there is a lot of violence that wouldn't be found in Maycomb County. People are strangers in this county, and there is a lot to fear that isn't found in Maycomb County. One big difference is a lack of prejudice, there still is some prejudice in Orange County but not nearly as much as there was in Maycomb County.
Orange County is a hectic place where people are strangers and violence is high, but there is less prejudice than Maycomb County. Comparing the two counties there are some obvious differences, such as with people knowing each other. In Maycomb, everyone knew everyone, in Orange County almost everyone is a stranger. Crime is much higher in Orange County than Maycomb, but Maycomb has greater prejudice than Orange County.
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