Flawed Heroes in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example

Heroes may be everyday people with weaknesses. They are found throughout literature, such as in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. This novel is set in Maycomb, a small, Southern town where everyone knows everyone else. The tale is set in the 1930s, during a time when racial injustice was widespread and common. Judge Taylor appointed Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer, to represent Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape. Atticus is the face of empathy that one sees in this book, he wants everyone to be treated equally. Atticus is also the father of Jem and Scout, as well as Alexandra's brother. Alexandra is the aunt of Jem and Scout and is overly obsessed with their family image. Arthur had not left his house for years, and, because of this, the children loved to speculate about what he looked and acted like. Because of this air of mystery, he had become something of an urban legend. These characters may all seem very different, but they have one, key quality in common: they all have shown heroism despite natural, human imperfections. Atticus's defense of Tom, Alexandra's strength, and Arthur's bravery proved that flawed humans can be heroic.

Atticus demonstrated his heroism by attempting to defend Tom despite social repercussions, although his motivations were selfish. Tom was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Mayella was a white nineteen-year old girl, while Tom was black in a town where the average white person is racist and internally prejudiced against non-whites. Atticus was appointed to defend Tom, which would not normally result in backlash from the society, but because he requested to push the original court date forward so he could have more time to prepare a well thought out defense, the townspeople made fun of him and his children (Lee 68). Others in Atticus' position might seek to minimize Tom's sentence rather than defend him after the all-white jury was elected. Atticus, on the other hand, wanted Tom to be found completely not guilty. Atticus defended Tom in order to preserve his own conscience and integrity, as shown by his statement, "[I]f 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.” (Lee 68). Apart from his actual court defense of Tom, Atticus also risked his life for him. Tom had been in a holding cell until his trial and a lynch mob came to take him, but Atticus was already there guarding him (Lee 137).  Atticus knew that he was not going to win the case, but he still put everything he had into his defense, if only to save his conscience. 

Alexandra is solely focused on the Finch family image, yet she still demonstrated heroism through her strength and ability to inspire. When Alexandra first went to stay with the Finches, she tried to make Scout act like a lady, and frowned upon Scout’s overalls and behavior (Lee 114). She gossiped and is judgemental toward other people, but she did show and inspire strength, a key trait of a hero. Alexandra did not know Tom personally, but his murder still affected her. At the time, she and Scout were in a missionary circle’s social hour. Alexandra had to walk back out to the ladies and put on a brave, unflustered face. This act of strength inspired Scout, who was present at Tom’s trial and affected deeply, to do the same (Lee 217). Despite Alexandra’s superficial cares, she still exhibits heroism through her strength. 

Despite his earlier wrongdoings, Arthur's heroism was proven by his rescue of Scout and Jem. When he was a teenager, Arthur mixed into the wrong crowd of people and faced legal trouble (Lee 8). To prevent Arthur from going to jail, his father promised the judge that he would never cause trouble again (Lee 8). All of the years after that, Arthur had spent in his house, never going out where people could see him. However, he finally revealed himself when he realized that Scout and Jem were going to be killed by Bob Ewell. Before that, Arthur had been leaving them gifts in a tree and had mended Jem’s pants so he had already developed a connection with the children before he saved them. To rescue them, he grabbed a knife from his kitchen and stabbed Bob (Lee 240).  Arthur gathered his courage and was willing to face retribution just so that he could save Jem and Scout. 

Despite their imperfections of character, Atticus, Alexandra, and Arthur show heroism. Although his motives were selfish, Atticus displayed his heroism by trying his best to defend Tom despite the dangers that arrived. Alexandra is excessively concerned with her family image, yet she still demonstrated her heroism through her strength. Arthur, in spite of his background, reveals his heroism through his saving of Jem and Scout. As these three characters have proven, heroic acts can be performed by anyone, imperfections do not hinder one’s ability to do good. 

Works Cited

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Mass Paperback, 1983.