{"id":23486,"date":"2025-02-07T16:56:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T00:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/?post_type=teachertoolkit&p=23486"},"modified":"2025-05-19T15:32:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T22:32:38","slug":"to-kill-a-mockingbird-harper-lee","status":"publish","type":"teachertoolkit","link":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/to-kill-a-mockingbird-harper-lee\/","title":{"rendered":"To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Harper Lee\u2019s classic novel, the narrator, Scout (five years old at the story\u2019s beginning), describes the events surrounding her father\u2019s defense of an African American man charged with raping a young white woman, portraying the world of the Deep South of the 1930s. The novel inspires exploration of many philosophical questions. General philosophical questions raised by the text appear the Discussion Questions tab and questions related to specific passages appear below.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PASSAGE 1<\/strong>
\u201cDo you really think so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the second time I heard Atticus ask that question in two days, and it meant somebody\u2019s man would get jumped. This was too good to miss. I broke away from Jem and ran as fast as I could to Atticus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jem shrieked and tried to catch me, but I had a lead on him and Dill. I pushed my way through dark smelly bodies and burst into the circle of light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cH-ey, Atticus!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion questions<\/strong>
What makes Scout run to Atticus?
Does Scout demonstrate courage in this passage, or does she act from instinct?
Can acting from instinct involve courage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n


PASSAGE 2<\/strong>
Atticus got up from his chair, but he was moving slowly, like an old man. He put the newspaper down very carefully, adjusting its creases with lingering fingers. They were trembling a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo home, Jem,\u201d he said. \u201cTake Scout and Dill home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were accustomed to prompt, if not always cheerful acquiescence to Atticus\u2019s instructions, but from the way he stood Jem was not thinking of budging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo home, I said.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jem shook his head. As Atticus\u2019s fists went to his hips, so did Jem\u2019s, and as they faced each other I could see little resemblance between them: Jem\u2019s soft brown hair and eyes, his oval face and snug-fitting ears were our mother\u2019s, contrasting oddly with Atticus\u2019s graying black hair and square-cut features, but they were somehow alike. Mutual defiance made them alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSon, I said go home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jem shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion questions<\/strong>
Why does Jem refuse to leave?
What kind of a person does Jem seem to be? Atticus? Scout?
Do we decide to be certain kinds of people or are we made that way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n


PASSAGE 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you shouldn\u2019t be defendin\u2019 him, then why are you doin\u2019 it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a number of reasons,\u201d said Atticus. \u201cThe main one is, if I didn\u2019t I couldn\u2019t hold up my head in town, I couldn\u2019t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn\u2019t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou mean if you didn\u2019t defend that man, Jem and me wouldn\u2019t have to mind you
any more?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s about right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause I could never ask you to mind me again.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion questions<\/strong>
Why does Atticus risk what he does to defend Tom Robinson?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does Atticus think that if he didn\u2019t defend Tom Robinson, he couldn\u2019t hold up his head in town?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the role of moral imagination in determining the person you want to be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does Atticus see himself? Can the way we see ourselves influence what we do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n


SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL I<\/strong>
“I’ve been taking all these philosophy courses, and we talk about what’s true, what’s important, what’s good. Well, how do you teach people to be good?” And she added: “What’s the point of knowing good, if you don’t keep trying to become a good person?”
(From Robert Coles, “The Disparity between Intellect and Character”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion questions<\/strong>
What is the relationship between intellect and character?
Is character higher than intellect?
What makes someone a good person?
Why do we do good things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n


SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL I<\/strong>I
Plato’s Ring of Gyges: Lesson Plan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Harper Lee\u2019s classic novel, the narrator, Scout (five years old at the story\u2019s beginning), describes the events surrounding her father\u2019s defense of an African American man charged with raping a young white woman, portraying the world of the Deep South of the 1930s. The novel inspires exploration of many philosophical questions. 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