One theme in The Odyssey that is also in To Kill A Mockingbird is the importance of treating all people with respect. Telemachus models this respect when he greets Mentes (who is really Athena) with honor when Mentes arrives at his home in Ithaca. The suitors, however, treat Telemachus, Penelope, and the memory of Odysseus (who has long been gone from home) with disrespect by endlessly eating their food, drinking their wine, and trying to wed Penelope. In the end, the gods punish the suitors for their disrespectful behavior.
Atticus also displays the kind of universal respect that Telemachus has for his guests. Atticus treats Tom Robinson, a black man he is defending, with respect, though the Alabama town he lives in during the 1930s is incredibly racist. He also respects characters such as Calpurnia, his black housemaid, Mrs. Dubose, a drug-addicted elderly neighbor, and "Boo" Radley, who is developmentally disabled. Both Telemachus and Atticus respect others, no matter what their station in life.
Both the novel To Kill A Mockingbird and the epic poem The Odyssey can be analyzed as a bildungsroman—otherwise known as a coming-of-age story. Specifically, both works of literature concern the growth of a boy who gradually matures into a young man who is then able to better understand his father.
The theme of a developing father-son relationship is evident in To Kill A Mockingbird, especially in the descriptions of Jem's relationship with his father, Atticus, who is a bit of a mystery to both Jem and his younger sister Scout. Additionally, this theme is observable in The Odyssey, as Telemachus barely knows his father, Odysseus. However, by the end of both works of literature, both sons do know their fathers better and are able to understand their own roles in the father-son dynamic with more confidence and more affection.
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