This essay will talk about the Theory of Moral Development. Lawrence Kohlberg developed the theory. He believed that people develop morals in stages on his scale of 1-6. Three characters from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee who illustrates Kohlberg’s theory of moral development are Scout, Atticus, and Jem Finch.
Scout Finch, appears to be on level 2 of Kohlberg’s moral scale. Scout sees eye to eye with other people. When she first meets Dill she treats him the same as she would any other person she would meet. Dill is black and Scout and Jem did not treat him differently because of that. Scout treats all people the same. On the first day of school Walter Cunningham gets Scout in a little bit of trouble. Scout is very angry with him but quickly has a change of heart and invites him to have dinner with her family. Even though Walter is poor and has a different life than Scout she still treats him the same as anybody else. Scout also shares with other people equally. Jem and Scout find a pack of gum in Boo’s tree and they split it up evenly. Scout is a kind, sharing individual that treats all people equally.
Atticus Finch, who appears to be on level 5 of Kohlberg’s moral scale. He is constitutional and democratic. The trial is an example of this. Atticus gives everybody a fair chance at the trial and defends Tom fairly. People respect his relativity of personal values. Even the people that do not agree with him still respect his opinions. Everyone at the trial could clearly see that Tom Robinson was innocent and even though Atticus lost they still respect him. Atticus is legalistic but he thinks that the law can be changed for the benefit of society. Atticus hates how the jury would never let a black man win in the courtroom. He would change this if he could but it would take so long he would not live to see it changed. Atticus Finch is between a 5 and a 6 in this book. He is very smart and always understands what is best for society.
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Jem Finch appears to be on level 3 of Kohlberg’s moral scale. Jem is always telling Scout to put herself in other people’s shoes. He does just this himself. Jem tries to explain to Scout why Boo Radley never comes out of his house. Jem is looking at the world from Boo’s point of view. Jem always considers other people’s feelings. Jem sticks up for Walter Cunningham when Scout is trying to beat him up. Jem was thinking about Walter’s feelings when he did that. Jem focuses on being nice, being approved by others and he wants to please the people he hangs out with at school. Jem told Scout that she could not talk to him at school when he was with his friends. Jem is trying to get approval from that group. Jem Finch displays level 3 behavior in this book.
Scout, Atticus, and Jem have shown themselves on various levels of Kohlberg’s theory of morality. Everyone goes through different levels of morality and in this book there are three that stand out. Jem started to display higher levels of behavior as he got older in this book. Right around his age is when you would step up to the next level of the scale. There is a spread of common levels of morality shown in the story. It looks as though most of the Finches will reach a level of 4 to 5.
