From the start of the novel, Atticus has a surplus of ideas that the rest of society does not agree with. One day, Scout comes home from school upset, she was being ridiculed by her fellow classmates because Atticus is defending an African American. Atticus finds her on the porch and explains to her that he is “simply defending a negro- his name’s Tom Robinson.” (Page 123) Most Caucasian men believe they are superior to African Americans, and deem it unnecessary to reference them by name. Thus, when Atticus casually references Tom Robinson by name it shows how Atticus thinks of Tom Robinson similar to an equal of himself, a belief that most people in society did not hold at the time. Later on in the novel, Aunt Alexandra and Atticus are debating