The Individual Drive and Actions as Read in To Kill a Mockingbird

There lies a certain drive within all of us. This is the drive that pushes us through our menial days as we labor at a field that bears us no fruit. This is the drive that replenishes our gas tank with fuel when our spirit runs low as we toil towards our goals and aspirations. This is the drive that whispers consolation to us when the screams of life overwhelm our ears. This drive- whether it be an influential person in our lives or a goal we set that we hope to achieve, we all require something that will give us that extra push towards our greatest ambitions in life.

In the historical fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the presented characters develop an adept application of simplistic ideas to their everyday lives. In relation to them, influential speaker Michelle Obama lectures these applications in her final speech from leaving the White House in a knowledgeable, didactic manner. A synthesis forms between the portrayal of the characters in the novel and the explanations of Obama to create a blend of simplistic ideas and proactive utilization of such ideas. Both of these sources offer suggestions that taking simpler concepts to higher levels of application can result in favorable outcomes.

Starting with To Kill a Mockingbird, characters Atticus and the Scout are portrayed to be great illustrations of active application of ethical values and simplistic teaching. In the instance of Scout, she is able to refrain from fighting any other kids when she recalls the austere request Atticus made for her to not fight anyone, "I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away," (Lee 79). Scout is able to take both Atticus' teachings and his instruction and turn a possible skirmish into a mere quarrel.

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In turn, this prevents any further tension developing within the town-especially within the younger portion of the town. Moreover, this simple act of abstaining from a fight displays a development of maturity; Scout has reached a point where she can understand a command instead of just following it. In the prospect of Atticus, he illustrates the simplistic use of ethics when he never loses hope in the trial-even when Tom Robinson makes the grave mistake of saying, "Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em-" in his testimony, breaking the fragile code between the whites and the blacks.-Following the testimony, Atticus delivers an eloquent, yet stern cessation to his case. Furthermore, in the wake of all of Atticus' tribulations, he is able to change the mentality of Mr. Underwood, who is known to despise negroes, to a more empathetic patron among blacks.

In relation to Atticus' conclusive statements to the jury, he uses the long 'respected' ethics of the town against the jury. In his explanation he says, "You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women-black or white" (Lee 208). His conclusion calls out the town and the jury on how they contradict themselves if they convict Tom Robinson; a clever act of taking the prejudiced and trusted concepts of the people, and turning it against themselves. When these characters applied certain aspects of their ethics to their complications, they created a better situation for themselves and a better result overall.

Moving on to Michelle Obama, she voices her insight on how to succeed as youth in her final public speech before leaving the White House. In her first few points, she explains how a good education and the right use of it can create a situation where "...anything is possible" (Obama). In relation to Scout's situation, Atticus provided Scout with the required ethical knowledge to act properly in the right situation where Scout then proved her maturity through a noble act. Obama goes on to explain how to use the "power of hope" to rise above the depths of doubt (Obama).

She explains how forming a strong mindset that aims directly at a certain goal develops an even stronger drive towards it. This parallels exactly with Atticus' unending perseverance throughout the trial. His hope carries him from beginning to end, and it becomes most prevalent in his ending message to the jury. Finally, Obama addresses how our diversities and ethical ideologies "make us who we are" (Obama). In this instance, it parallels yet again to when Atticus explains how the prejudiced ethics of the town are corrupting them. While Atticus may be using their ethics in a belittling manner, his final message struck near gold with the jury. Overall, Michelle Obama's ideas show real meaning to active application of our ethics-notably in To Kill a Mockingbird.

In summary, Success can be reached just as easily with natural, simplistic ethics as with grueling hard work. Finding success may seem like an immense task filled with arduous work and an inescapable paradox of trial and error, however, it is just the simple mean of applying what is known to the task at hand that can make the difference between finding success and finding frustration. We, as a human race, might need to learn how to take a step or two back instead of rushing into college and making decisions on impulse. Even Obama said that mere hope can take a desperate situation to a flourishing outcome. There is always a way to use more simplistic ideas to get to the top; to reach the top is not to start near the top and with the top.

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