To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 1-3 Analysis

To Kill a Mockingbird Question 3
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is considered by many to be the “great American Novel” because it depicts several parts of the “American Dream” including liberty and the fight for equality. One example of the depiction of liberty in the novel is when Bob Ewell gets a job. “The first thing was that Mr. Ewell acquired and lost a job in a matter of days and probably made himself unique in the annals of the nineteen-thirties: he was the only man I heard of who was fired from the WPA for laziness.” (p. 248) Mr. Ewell was given as equal a chance as everyone else to make a respectable living but because he was unwilling to do so he was fired. The fight for equality in the nation between blacks and whites is depicted throughout the entire novel,
Among these characters Atticus stands out the most as he is the most willing character to stand up for what he believes is right. This is shown numerous times throughout the book, most notably during the trial for Tom Robinson, as Atticus tries to the most of his ability to defend Tom Robinson, despite the color of his skin. Atticus tries where others would have simply given up, and would’ve succeeded had the public opinion of blacks in Alabama not been so one sided. Atticus says that he is defending Tom because “...if I [Atticus] didn’t I couldn’t hold my head up in town, I couldn’t - represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.” (p. 75) This quote shows that Atticus isn’t just defending Tom because it’s his job, but because he feels that he needs to show his children what is right and what is wrong, and he feels he needs to show his children that what is popular is not always right. Finally, To Kill a Mockingbird is considered the “great American Novel” because of its accuracy in illustrating life and the nature of the majority in the South. One example of this is the majority of the townsfolk in