To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: "To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else"

“To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else”. This quote has many implications in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. What Bernadette Devlin meant in this quotation is that sometimes, you basically have to give to get. In certain situations in life, we have to lose much in order to gain more. I agree with this quote. I find that it’s definitely true that in life you have to give a lot, sometimes everything, in order to gain something of value. In three instances in To Kill a Mockingbird its proven true. In Atticus Finch agreeing to defend Tom Robinson, in Jem reading to Mrs. Dubose, and finally when Boo Radley saves the Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell.

One such example of losing everything in order to gain even more is when Atticus Finch agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman.

Screenshot of To Kill a Mockingbird(an American mo...

Finches!

Tom Robinson Band

In the racist South, for an established lawyer and respected man to defend a black man against a white woman was unheard of. But sometimes, to gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything. In this case, the eminent Finch’s lost their reputation and esteem in the community but the benefit outweighed the cost. Atticus knew that he had to do the right thing, and in this case that was defending the innocent Tom Robinson against the malicious rape charges. Because of Atticus’ decision, Jem and Scout, his children, are subjected to abuse from other children, even when they celebrate Christmas at the family compound on Finch’s Landing. So in the name of justice, not only did Atticus Finch give up everything to do what he believed right, but his children Jem and Scout did so as...