Journal+8

I find the connotations that the author of the article is suggesting are woven into T.K.A.M to be very interesting. While I recognized certain symbols and metaphors within the book, the symbol of "right" being moral correctness and overall good, and "left" being immorality, ignorance, and overall evil, honestly did not occur to me. With the many examples of this symbol being shown throughout the book such as that Mayella's right eye was bruised, Bob Ewell was right handed, the rabid dog had shorter right legs, Atticus had a very strong left eye, Tom Robinson's only good arm was his right, and that Jem injured his left arm, one cannot possibly perceive all these facts to be mere coincidences. My question though is what was the actual purpose for Harper Lee in painting "right" as "good" and "left as "bad". Is there perhaps any political meaning with associations to political party included in the symbolism?
 * __Right vs. Left Good vs. Evil:__

**__**The Redemption of Atticus Finch:**__ including letters from Joseph Crespino, Marcus Jimison, Wayne Flynt, and Jewell Knotts While it probably makes most people feel good after reading T.K.A.M to view Atticus Finch as a hero who stands as a modern day symbol of racial justice, Mr. Crespino certainly brings up some valid points on reconstructing him as a paternalistic liberal. Some examples of the points he makes is that Atticus really didn't lose much by defending Tom, however that point can be easily argued that the risks Atticus took at the time he took them had the **potential** to warrant great personal sacrifice. Although I'm still a little unsure of what paternalism is, it seems that Crespino wants to make it seem that Atticus was helping Tom on a "high and mighty" attitude, that because Atticus is a better man he must do the right thing. Somewhat ironically, it seems this point is actually made in the story itself when one of the white ladies at Aunt Alexandra's little tea party, ridicules the northerners by saying that they want fair treatment for blacks and whites alike, but hypocritically are not willing to sit across the table from a black family for dinner. As for me, I think I'll just keep on believing that Atticus is a hero.