To Kill A Mockingbird Rhetorical Analysis

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The tone of Atticus when he repeatedly stands up for Tom shows you must stand up for who you love and what you believe in. Miss Lee illustrates this first when she wrote Atticus sat in front of the jail and refused to let an angry mob of men in, "'You can turn around and go home again Walter.' Atticus said pleasantly."(Page 151, To Kill A Mockingbird) Atticus knew he was up against a much more powerful and strong group of men but he kept calm and slyly defied their orders for him to move from his spot in front of the jail, which was restricting them from entering it. Atticus's brave actions saved Tom Robinson who was sitting inside the jailhouse, these men came to see him for one reason-to kill him. Atticus quickly became Tom's only hope…show more content…
He lives in that little settlement beyond the town dump. He’s a member of Calpurnia’s church, and Cal knows his family well. She says they’re clean-living folks. Scout, you aren’t old enough to understand some things yet, but there’s been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t do much about defending this man. It’s a peculiar case—it won’t come to trial until summer session. John Taylor was kind enough to give us a postponement...' 'If you shouldn’t be defendin‘ him, then why are you doin’ it?' [Scout asks] 'For a number of reasons,' said Atticus.'The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.' (Page 75) Atticus knew very well that he should not be defending Tom because he almost no chance of winning. This didn't stop him though. He still defended Tom because he knew it was the right thing to do. He would never be able to face the town again, even though they would be happy he didn't take the case. Atticus Finch would be so shame-filled, he wouldn't even be able to parent his own kids because he would've set a bad example.…show more content…
The Finches visited Atticus’s sister, Alexandra, and her grandson, Francis on Christmas. Scout absolutely hates Francis, and the fact that he was accusing Atticus of being a disgrace to the Finch name didn’t help. Scout said, “This time I split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth.” (Page 84) Francis was saying harsh things to Scout about Atticus because of his stance on the case about Tom Robinson. Francis didn't ease up even when Scout was getting mad, and she ended up punching him. In her mind his avenged Atticus because she silenced Francis when he wouldn't stop accusing Atticus of being an evil man and bringing disgrace to the Finch name. Cecil James tried to pull the same stunt of Scout, “‘You can just take that back, boy!’ This order, given by me to Cecil Jacobs, was the beginning of a rather thin time for Jem and me. My fists were clenched and I was ready to let fly. Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more; I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be. I soon forgot. Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers. I denied it, but told Jem.” (Page 74) Scout didn’t know what Cecil meant by this but

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