Part 1 To Kill a Mockingbird Response

The most impactfull moment in part 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird is the scene when Mrs.maudie place catches fire. 

It starts when her fireplace is left unattended and her house catches fire. The townspeople move things around their homes to try and prepare for the fire to spread and head out to the scene to help get mrs,maudie's things out of her house. The narrator of this scout is left watching all this through the night,standing out in the cold. She doesn't even notice when boo radley comes up behind her to give her a blanket to shelter her from the cold. Scout doesn't even notice his presence as he too was most likely helping move things during the fire. Perhaps she didn't even recognize him. 

It shows how they would come together as a community and how they look out for each other even though they all have separate goals in life. It's further clear that this took place during the great depression especially with how the fire is responded to. It takes quite a while for everyone in the area to come help with the fire as well as prepare their own homes in case they catch a flame. This is because most houses are made out of wood at this time.

One of the biggest moments that highlights racism, sexism, and abuse is the town’s discussion of Tom Robinson being accused of assaulting Mayella. This moment reveals the deep-rooted racism and the intersection of sexism and abuse in Mayella's story, as she claims injustice while masking her own victimization within her household.The adversity revolves around racism, where a Black man, Tom falsely accused of assaulting a white woman, Mayella Ewell, based on him being black. And meanwhile Mayella faces sexism and abuse as a powerless woman, controlled and likely abused by her father, Bob Ewell. Atticus, explaining prejudice, says "Maycomb's usual disease"(Chapter 9). Atticus used this phrase to describe the deep-seated racism that infects the town. It reflects how prejudice and racism are so ingrained in Maycomb's culture that they are seen as a "disease" passed down through generations. This moment is impactful because it introduces the themes of prejudice and moral courage. It affects multiple characters, for Scout and Jem These moments challenge their innocence and help them understand morality and justice. And Tom was immediately presumed guilty because of his race.

The most impactful event is when the town finds out Atticus is working on a court case in which he defends Tom Robinson, a black man. Tom was accused of Sexual Assault on a white woman and because she was a white woman there is a stigma to Atticus defending Tom, "there's been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn't do much about defending this man." (Lee 86) Racism is a big thing in the town especially at this time period. People believe that Atticus shouldn't defend Tom Robinson because he's a black man further tying this into the racism adversity. This moment is impactful because it sets in motion the rest of the book and kind of sets up how Scout is going to grow and become more understanding of how the town works and why people don't particularly like black folks in that town and in the south in general. 

The most impactful example of racism in To Kill A Mockingbird is, in my opinion, when Francis speaks of Scout’s familys’ view of Atticus and his trial. I don’t say this because it impacts the story so much, but because it impacts Scout in a way she displays throughout the rest of the book. She instantly reacts when Francis speaks badly of Atticus, “ ‘Just what I said. Grandma says it’s bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out to be a n**-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb again. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he’s doin’.’ Francis rose and sprinted down the catwalk to the old kitchen. At a safe distance he called, ‘He’s nothin’ but a n**-lover!’  ‘He is not!’ I roared.” (Pg 94) She shows here how willing she is to defend her father from Francis, but also this shows how negatively defending a black person is viewed in this time, to the point that even one’s own family turned on them. This attitude about Atticus and his case is shared by many people and heavily impacts Scout’s mental health and thoughts throughout the book.

I believe the most impactful moment of part one of To Kill A Mockingbird is when Scout, Jem, and Atticus are visiting Scouts landing and Aunt Alexandra and Atticus are talking about scouts attire "Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire.I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches."(Lee 92) This quotes shows how sexist people were at the time period and how Scout is affected by it not really caring about being ladylike and just wanting to be comfortable which Aunt Alexandra does not agree with but I believe that this quote perfectly shows sexism and how people viewed women at the time.

i think that the most impactful moment was when Atticus decided to defend tom Robinson.By Atticus doing this act I feel it exposes jem and Scout to the town's deep-seated racism. they face taunts and insults from their peers and even other older adults. wich is a harsh intro to the racial prejudice in their community. i feel like an important moment of this would be when atticus is explaining to scout why he took the case and is defending tom " simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us to try not to win" I feel like this is important because atticus does not care about skin color or background and he wants to make sure scout knows that 

A good example of sexism I think is mostly with Scout because shes more like a tomboy thought at the book but shes forced by her aunt to wear girly clothes because she needs to be more presentable and act more like a girl instead of all in the mud and dirt and grimy outside like a boy like in (chapter 9)(pg 92) Scout says "when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants" shes talking about how her aunt said that she should be doing anything that she needs pants for because that's just what girls in that time didn't do. 

An impactful moment that shows racism is when Atticus picks up a case that defends a black man (Tom Robinson) who was accused of assault on a white woman. It didn't take long for the town to find out about Atticus picking up the case when they found out Atticus and his kids faced personal attacks Scout was taunted by her classmates ,Scout's classmate Cecil announces on the schoolyard that “Scout Finch's daddy defends n*s” (Lee 102) this quote highlights the racial tension and prejudices in their community. This is important because young kids like that don't really understand those kinds of things but they have to be learning that language from somewhere and they are most likely hearing it from their parents. 

In my opinion one of the biggest impactful moments speaking about racism, in To Kill A Mockingbird, is when Atticus is defending Tom Robinson. I feel like this makes Scout and Jem understand more about how the society works because a lot of people turn towards them and say bad things about Atticus, and their family. The quote from Mrs. Dubose, "Your father’s no better than the n** and trash he works for" (Lee, p.117) is an example of that because that’s a bad thing said towards their dad.