To Kill a Mocking Bird "One Shade of Gray"
Kailey A. McIlwrath
12 April 2013
One Shade of Gray Have you ever heard someone saying that they have a heart of gold? Well what does it really mean to have a “heart of gold”? It means that you are pure good. What about being “pure evil”? That would require someone being completely evil, with absolutely no good. However, no one is actually all good or all bad, though you may be more of one than the other. Most people are neither good nor bad, which could be described as a “shade of gray”. In To Kill a Mockingbird, characters surprised readers by starting off bad and ending good and overall, in a shade of gray. One character that falls into the shade of gray is Aunt Alexandra. The first time she appears in the book, it is discovered that even she, Atticus’ sister, doesn’t want him defending Tom Robinson because it’s bad for the Finches’ reputation. All she seems to care about is how important your family is or seems, how strong your family ties are, and also cares a great deal about acting the way that society is right, not what is morally right. We see these things occur at multiple times throughout the book, and at first, this makes her seem like a terrible person who cares more about what society says is okay than what actually is. Once, when Scout was talking to Francis, he said, “’Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you run all wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he’s doin’” (110). This quote demonstrates how she feels about Atticus defending a black person, despite the fact that he’s her own brother. Eventually though, we see her start to care more for Tom Robinson and Atticus defending him. During her missionary circle, Mrs. Merriweather and Mrs. Gates were saying bad things about Atticus, so Miss Maudie stood up for him. After that, Scout said that Aunt Alexandra, “gave Miss Maudie a look of pure gratitude” (312) and later goes on to say to
12 April 2013
One Shade of Gray Have you ever heard someone saying that they have a heart of gold? Well what does it really mean to have a “heart of gold”? It means that you are pure good. What about being “pure evil”? That would require someone being completely evil, with absolutely no good. However, no one is actually all good or all bad, though you may be more of one than the other. Most people are neither good nor bad, which could be described as a “shade of gray”. In To Kill a Mockingbird, characters surprised readers by starting off bad and ending good and overall, in a shade of gray. One character that falls into the shade of gray is Aunt Alexandra. The first time she appears in the book, it is discovered that even she, Atticus’ sister, doesn’t want him defending Tom Robinson because it’s bad for the Finches’ reputation. All she seems to care about is how important your family is or seems, how strong your family ties are, and also cares a great deal about acting the way that society is right, not what is morally right. We see these things occur at multiple times throughout the book, and at first, this makes her seem like a terrible person who cares more about what society says is okay than what actually is. Once, when Scout was talking to Francis, he said, “’Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you run all wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he’s doin’” (110). This quote demonstrates how she feels about Atticus defending a black person, despite the fact that he’s her own brother. Eventually though, we see her start to care more for Tom Robinson and Atticus defending him. During her missionary circle, Mrs. Merriweather and Mrs. Gates were saying bad things about Atticus, so Miss Maudie stood up for him. After that, Scout said that Aunt Alexandra, “gave Miss Maudie a look of pure gratitude” (312) and later goes on to say to