...To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a chilling historical fiction novel that centers around the trial of an innocent black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The novel is set in Alabama during the 1930s, and it follows an old lawyer and his family in the small town of Maycomb. Atticus Finch, the lawyer and father, is often called upon by the town for help due to his stature. He is level headed and focuses on the belief that everybody deserves to be treated equally. It is this belief that leads him to being chosen to represent Tom Robinson, the accused black man, in court. Because To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Alabama during the 1930s, the odds that he will be found innocent are exceptionally low, so Atticus must do everything...
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...In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus teaches his children many lessons about life. Atticus teaches his children the importance of acceptance, how to avoid stereotyping, and lastly how racism shows the people of Maycomb’s true colours. To conclude Atticus makes it clear to his children that they should never judge a person before getting to know them. Firstly,stereotyping is the main thing in To Kill a Mockingbird.Scout and Jem learn from their mistakes or they learn from the people themselves. For example, Scout judged Mr.Dolphus Raymond because she thought he was a drunk and he had mulatto children from a black woman. She thought that it was wrong to speak to a drunkard and to even deal with someone that loves and lives with black people. But he confronts her and Dill, as a result he makes a simple point that he prefers blacks over his kind because they are uptight and are hypocrites. The white people have their views and judgemental ways against the black community. Mr.Dolphus Raymond tells them this so they can change their views on how they see people. "I try to give 'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason... folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskeythat's why he won't change his ways... that's why he lives the way he does." (Chapter 20)... I shouldn't be here listening to this sinful man who had mixed children and didn't care who knew it, but he was fascinating. (Chapter 20). People stereotype ...
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...In the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird Jem sees his father Atticus as different and lazy/boring compared to the other fathers in Maycomb. Jem’s psychological evolution on Atticus happens when gives his closing speech to the jury. After this Atticus changes to realizing he had been wrong on who Atticus was as a father. Jem’s father was actually courageous and deserved recognition. To Kill a Mockingbird is Jem’s bildungsroman because his outlook on Atticus goes from weak and embarrassing to strong and admirable. At first Jem’s philosophy on Atticus is that Atticus is unalike to the other fathers and Atticus didn’t do work to get praise from the people of Maycomb. “..or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone” (Lee...
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...Within the collection of unit 6, “Finding Ourselves in Nature”, Linda Hogan quoted “How often I’ve wanted to escape to a wilderness where a human hand has not been in everything”. That quote can relate to a few other stories that we have read throughout the trimester. This quote all together to me is basically saying that everyone should look at everything in their own perspective or even be their own person. One of the novels that we have read through this trimester was “To Kill a Mockingbird”. With Hogan’s quote and this story, they can relate to something in the end. Hogan’s quote ties into the story “To Kill a Mockingbird” by basically recapturing what it is told throughout the quote. In the story “To Kill a Mockingbird”, one of the main characters...
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...In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, justice is demonstrated throughout Atticus’ actions. His strive for equality can be represented by the scales of justice. Atticus believes that everyone should be treated fairly regardless of race, socio-economic or familial background. Having such an honorable and just character, propels Atticus to defend the wronged individual, Tom Robinson. Atticus believes that Tom Robinson is innocent of the crime accused against him and he believes Robinson should not receive the death penalty. Atticus knows Tom might lose this case due to the racial attitudes and prejudices prevalent in the community. When an African-American is accused of a crime, the person is undoubtedly presumed guilty. Atticus still persists in...
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...“How Does Harper Lee Present Her Ideas About Childhood in the Novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’?” In the novel ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ written by Harper Lee, childhood is expressed throughout the story. The narrator of ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ is Scout, an adult when the book was written, but a child when the story was lived, with this narration Harper Lee, uses Scout to portray the events which, normally would have had a biased review by adults at the time, but because it is written by a child it has non-judgemental views. Therefore, because of the child narrator, and the other main characters being children, this shows that childhood in ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ is important and crucial. In the chapters 1 to 12, childhood is presented by friendship, gullibility, pride, questioning and fear. The fear element, is a major part through ‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’, because at different stages of the novel at least one of the main characters is scared. The Finch children first experience real friendship in ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’, when they meet Charles Baker Harris – Dill. Before Dill has passed the ‘Jem test’, Dill boasts to Scout and Jem that he can read. Which was not usually common in Maycomb at the time, but Jem and Scout could both read, which meant that they thought Dill was showing off and they wouldn’t want to be friends with him. Also what makes Dill become an issue about friendship, is how he introduces himself. He recites his entire name, and makes fun of...
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...also something Scout learns. She begins to realize that if the people would try to see the world through Mayella’s eyes, they might understand what brought her to commit her crime: isolation and loneliness. If the people looked through Tom’s eyes, they would understand the cruelty and injustice behind the Jim Crow Laws. In the last chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is attacked by Bob Ewell, who is killed when Scout is saved by Boo Radley. Once she arrives home after the attack, Scout finally recognizes Boo. She immediately begins making accommodations for his shyness, expressing her understanding of his introverted personality: “Feeling slightly unreal, I led [Boo] to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate. It was in deep shadow. Boo would feel more comfortable in the dark” (272). Scout also understands completely when Heck Tate hints that it was Boo who killed Mr. Ewell: “‘Scout,’ he said, ‘Mr. Ewell fell on his knife. Can you possibly understand?’ … ‘Yes sir, I understand,’ I reassured him. ‘Mr. Tate was right.’ … ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?’” (276). Scout knows how much it would pain Boo to be put in the spotlight,...
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...“To Kill a Mockingbird” Analysis Harper Lee published “To Kill a Mockingbird “ in 1960, a time buzzing with racial segregation and irrational injustice. She based the book on various events that were all to real, only fifty years ago. Throughout the book, the author captures these horrendous inequalities and is able to explore these subjects through various situations and characters. However, it is not always just the color of one’s skin as to the reason of why they are treated differently. Lee is able to display examples of prejudice based on class and status of a person, rather than race alone, through the use of abstract symbols through the use of characters. Harper Lee use birds to symbolize traits in various characters throughout the book. Although it is not just mockingbirds used as the only bird example. When Jem and Scout receive guns to shoot for fun, Atticus warns them against shooting mockingbirds. However, he states that they may shoot all the blue jays they desire. Blue jays are the nuance bird; this connects to Bob Ewell due to the fact that he is the perfect display of a blue jay. The blue jays represent the prejudiced citizens of Maycomb; they are ever present and continue to taunt others. Atticus goes on to tell the kids that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. The mockingbird is the innocent bird and therefore sums up Tom Robinson the most clearly. As being an innocent man that is only being tried due to his race, he embodies the mockingbird perfectly. Throughout...
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...character, Atticus Finch, in “To Kill a Mockingbird” demonstrates diverse emotions of how society works; as the trial goes on, Atticus’ point of view shift. Atticus thinks that he has the same beliefs as the people in Maycomb, later he realizes he doesn’t and follows his own beliefs. He sees two sides of people. He thought they were something they were’t. As the story goes on he learns the truth about people. To begin with Atticus believes that he can only defend a white person and that black people are guilty, later on in the story he started to follow his own feelings with Tom Robison. Atticus was worried about what the people of Maycomb would think of him when he decided to defend Tom Robinson. As Atticus learned Tom’s story he didn’t care what people thought. Atticus states, “You’ll never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”(33). During this time I would...
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...“To Kill a Mocking Bird”: Teaching Tolerance Through Empathy Mary Ellyn Fogarty December 8, 2012 America in the mid 1950’s and 1960’s was undergoing a profound social metamorphosis. Events such as, in 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, with the Supreme Court ruling public school segregation illegal, which many believe sparked the civil rights era, in 1956 Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, “precipitating the Montgomery bus boycott, led by Martin Luther King Jr.” (To Kill a Mockingbird: Civil Rights Era, 2012), in 1957 federal troops were sent to Little rock Arkansas to protect nine African American students who were going white high school, per the court ordered desegregation of school, were challenging and for some forcing the way in which Americans lived, their beliefs and their treatment of African Americans that had been indoctrinated into their consciousness from the time they were born and many did not understand why this treatment was inappropriate, prejudice and unconstitutional. For some these changes were viewed as not an intrusion or criticism of their way of life but as...
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...and Jem from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsb by Scott Fitzgerald. Each of these characters encounters different processes of coming of age. When these characters process of maturation and coming of age are compared, the most relevant coming of age best exhibited by Holden from The Catcher in the Rye, following with Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird and Mr. Gatsby from The Great Gatsby; however, differences in coming of age are apparent in the different time periods of each novel setting, practicality, and present social issues. Holden Caulfield, the main character in The Catcher in the...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird: Prejudice Essay Prejudices are all around. Race, gender, religion. There really is no way of making this stop, but there are ways of making them more obvious, so the people can see how bad they can be. One way is through literature. Harper Lee did this very well in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird which is told by Scout, a six-year-old girl, and her life through a few years when racism was at its peak. Scout's father is a lawyer who supports most everyone and causes much controversy when he accepts a case where he must defend a black man. Racism is the most emphasized prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird because of the time that this book was set in. That was the norm. Some examples are when Aunt Alexandra wouldn't let Scout visit her housekeeper's house only because she was black. Another example is when Tom Robinson, the black man Atticus is defending, is in the Maycomb City jail. There was an angry mob of white men outside of his cell wanting to kill him. Some may say that gender is the most emphasized prejudice in this novel. While it is brought up a lot,...
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...Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel centered around a few years in Jean Louise “Scout” Finch’s childhood, featuring her experiences and the lessons that she learns growing up in the 1930s. Scout and her brother, Jeremy “Jem” Finch, mature in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, in a one-parent home. Their father and aunt, Atticus and Alexandra, raise them with help from Calpurnia, their African American maid. Harper Lee weaves several different themes throughout the novel, but some are more prominent than others. Lee develops the main themes of growth, protection of innocence, and perception throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, disguised in the form of lessons learned during the narrator’s childhood. Harper Lee reveals her theme of growth...
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...Final Analysis on “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee Jackie Berry Colorado Technical University LITR 240 Prof. Peggy Huey May 9, 2011 Abstract When an author writes novels, short stories, or poems, most of their ideas come from life experiences. The author is trying to send a message that may mirror what the reader can understand. Many writings address conflicts, themes and symbolism. Harper Lee (2006) introduced many of these elements into her novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Harper Lee gives accounts of the story as if she was a young child and learns many life lessons that change her life forever. “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (2006), takes place a small populated town in Maycomb, Alabama. The author has taken us back when hatred and prejudice is very common in the 1930s. Atticus, Scout, and Jem Finch are frowned upon because Atticus is defending a black man of allegedly raping a white woman. Atticus uses this opportunity to teach Scout and Jem morals that we teach our children today. Atticus teaches Scout and Jem to not to be judgmental towards anyone, not be afraid to stand up for what is right, and violence does not solve anything. Jem and Scout will also learn the true symbolizing of why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Harper Lee described the town of Maycomb as being a very poor and run down. The community is very small and everyone knew each other. The blacks and whites are divided and some that...
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...In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is a well known lawyer, father to Scout and Jem Finch, and citizen in Maycomb County. His predominant characteristic is integrity. The definition of integrity is, “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty” (Dictionary.com). Atticus Finch shows this in the court and in his home. Most people only play by the rules and keep people’s wellbeing in mind when it can affect their own reputation or they are out in public. Atticus not only shows his integrity in town, but also in his own home and to his children as well. Scout and Jem have absorbed the genuineness of their father, through many daily lessons to life-threatening troubles. Mr. Finch is very unique...
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