1. In my opinion the most important character within Part 1 would have to be Atticus Finch. I feel as though he is the most important character within Part 1 of To Kill a MockingBird because of the advice he gives. The advice he gives to Scout and Jem throughout the first part of this book holds true not only in the book and situations when which he gives advice. What I mean by this is that Atticus’ advice is usable in real life situations, like on page 30 Atticus tells Scout, “You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” For the situation Scout was in with Miss Caroline, and with Walter Cunningham this advice is really good.

For example Scout needs to remember that Miss Caroline did not know much about Maycomb at the time for she was new there. But this advice works in many of situations outside of Maycomb, outside of the book. An example could be arguing with somebody who grew up in a different way then you did. Neither is wrong but neither is right, you won’t understand why they think that way unless you think about it from their point of view.2.

 The passage I am going to be talking about is taken from chapter 9 pages 74-76. This passage is about Scout hearing that her father Atticus was a “Nigger-defender” and about how she then denied it and talked to Atticus about it. For most of the passage Atticus tells Scout that if he didn’t defend this man he would not be able to face others. My first question is: Why is it that Atticus defending a colored person turns him into a disgrace? My response to this: This is most likely because of the fact that colored men and women were usually thought as less than people at that time. Meaning that the general population thought that it was a waste of time to put on trial, and that Atticus thought of them not as less than but as the same.

So since Atticus doesn’t think the same as the general population he is thought of a disgrace when really he should be thought of as the opposite. My second question is: Why is Atticus so set on defending this man if it means that he could ruin his career, and force his family to endure hardships? My response to this question: Atticus states that every lawyer has a case that affects them personally. I think that this means that Atticus feels that if he did not defend this man he would be unfit to be called a lawyer and that he had backed down from a challenge that he would eventually be called a coward for not taking on.3. One theme I found is The ability to endure hardship and come out on top is within everyone.