by Harper Lee.

Here is one of the great American novels.

One scene near the end of the novel has Scout watching as Jem, bedridden from injury, is worried over by Atticus Finch and Sheriff Heck Tate. Atticus tries to remember Jem’s age in order to determine whether he is subject to juvenile or adult law for purposes of prosecution for the death of Bob Ewell. Boo Radley is in the room.

Boo Radley has killed Bob Ewell in defense of Jem. In order to protect Boo Radley, Sheriff Tate determines to fabricate the story that Bob Ewell fell on his knife.

The scene is an instance of The Beautiful. We can see in this scene that Sheriff Tate is enacting The Beautiful and behaving morally, even though he is lying about the facts of the case.

Here is the chapter on YouTube: