...There are many animals in the world that are used to convey positive values. Mockingbirds are a species of birds that are emphasized for their positive values in To Kill A Mockingbird. Mockingbirds are symbolized as an example of peace and innocence in the story. “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy”(90). There are multiple characters in the story that have committed no crime but are still questioned for their actions. Two of these characters would include Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Boo Radley would be a good example of a mockingbird as he has shown peace and innocence throughout the story. Miss Maudie explains to Scout in the exposition of Chapter 5 that “ Arthur Radley just stays in the house, that’s all” (44). Therefore, Boo Radley must have stayed in the house to isolate himself from friends and family. Consequently, if he wasn’t in contact with anyone, it would be unlikely that he would be capable of destroying peace. Miss...
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...Boo Radley. who is he? what is he? what have the children done to him? what has he become through the children thoughts? In the novel To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the children disclose Boo Radley as a monster that withholds his life from the outer world. Jem received the information from Miss Stephanie saying the story of Boo Radley “Boo was sitting in the living-room cutting some items from the Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook. His father entered the room. As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulling them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities”(13) When boo was doing his scrapbooking he had an accident with his father and he didn't react, he just wiped it and continued....
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...victimized in Maycomb. Lee also gives us insight of hope and optimism through individuals who persevere for justice and equality. In the novel, we see Arthur (Boo) Radley constantly victimized by the prejudice of Maycomb’s society. Boo Radley is not accepted nor does he fit into society and from his unusual ways he is wronged and deceived. Boo Radley isolates himself from the people of Maycomb. If Boo chooses to go outside, he will be unfairly viewed as a visitor from abroad because of his mysterious ways. He remains in his home all day and all night because he knows that his society will ridicule him. After being isolated for so many years ‘Arthur Radley was not seen for fifteen years’, Boo is developmentally challenged and has lost his basic social skills. Boo is the object of rumours and is viewed as the town’s erratic figure. The town blames and accuses Boo for any petty crime or unexplained phenomenon. Under the influence of the adults we also see the children speculate over Boo. They describe him as a ‘malevolent phantom’ ‘six-and-a-half feet tall’ with ‘bloodstained’ hands. He was said to eat "raw squirrels and any cats he could catch". Boo brought wonder and fear to the children and he fascinated them so much that they created a game about him originally called ‘the Boo Radley game. The town portrays Boo Radley as a monstrosity in their society when he is just an individual who made mistakes and is a little bit diversified. This is a clear example...
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...experience. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee isolates characters and depicts ways prejudice is used. She demonstrates the evils of prejudice and the result can be quite confronting to readers. Lee reinforces the idea that all men and women are created equal and have the same rights. To Kill a Mockingbird exposes the dangers of stereotyping and prejudice. In the novel the idea of equality is lost even in the house of god. Prejudice appears in many forms in the novel. An early form of prejudice in the novel is the children’s obsession with Boo Radley which appears all throughout the novel. Local Gossip portrays Boo as a malevolent phantom. The children run by the Radley house out of fear acting as if the house has some deadly curse. Lee also shows the other side, showing that Boo had a troubled past and a strict upbringing. At the end of the novel, in Scout’s and Boo’s first encounter, readers are clearly able to see Boo’s timid nature. “Boo saw me run instinctively to the bed where Jem was sleeping, for the same shy smile crept across his face”, the alliteration of ‘same shy smile’ confirms...
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...children think that Boo Radley is some kind of a monster. Or the way people call Atticus Finch is called a nigger-lover. One of my most favorite quotations is that of Martin Luther King Junior. "I have a dream, that one day my children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." People should make judgments of the person's character, not by their appearance, race, religion, sexuality, and morals. One of the main focuses of the book is the Finch children trying to get Boo Radley next door to come out of his house. To them he is a mean monstrous person. But for some reason they seem to think that tormenting him is the best way to occupy their time. In fact, to the whole town the Radley family are mean people that kept to themselves. "There goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into," said Calpurnia (page 12). This shows how mean people can be just by judging others by their outsides. What gives these people the right to make these kind of conclusions without ever even meeting the person(s)? Later in the book the Finch children find presents hidden in a tree next to the Radley place. They can't figure out who would set these nice gifts out for them. Later they find out that is Boo Radley. He is just trying to be nice and other people won't accept his original approach on life. At one point in the book the children decide to go up onto the porch to try and get a peek inside the window. Then they see Mr. Radley inside with a shotgun...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird, by Nelle Haper Lee was published in 1960, after the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education and during a time of increasing civil rights unrest (Johnson). It was also a time of great social change in the United States, and a novel about the racial injustices of 1930s Alabama carried a powerful message to its readers. After the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, literature and literacy were used to expose and educate on racial injustice (Prendergrast 2). The dominant theme of the novel is prejudice and ultimately the courage needed to overcome prejudice. There are three main types of prejudice that are explored in the novel; racial prejudice, social prejudice and fear of the unknown. Racial prejudice is present throughout the novel in the people of Maycomb’s everyday life, as it is a novel set in the ‘deep south’ of America in the 1930’s. This period is not so long after the American civil war, so slavery’s abolishment had occurred not all that long ago, and the horror of slavery was still on the mind of many black people at the time (Brundage 86). Because of this, most people’s attitudes towards black people had not changed very much. The situation that shows the best examples of racial prejudice is the trial of Tom Robinson. In his trial, Tom Robinson is misjudged and mistreated because he is black. One of the clearest examples of this is the way in which Mr. Gilmer, Tom’s prosecutor, calls Tom “boy.” He uses a tone of voice towards...
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...Gates class, Tom Robinson’s trial, the treatment of Boo Radley, and the mass rape spree that recently happened in Germany. These are all examples of evil, hypocrisy, and injustice in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, and our world today. The examples of evil that the kids saw in To Kill A Mockingbird are the treatment of the African-American community of Maycomb and the actions of Bob Ewell. The African-American community of Maycomb is not treated fairly in many ways. One way is that they are pushed to the worst part of the town near the dump and do not have any opportunities in Maycomb. An example of this is that no one in colored community could read because they were never taught unlike the white community. Also, most of the people in Maycomb county are racist towards the colored community, just like many other southern places during this time. The other example is Bob Ewell’s actions. The first reason for this is that he followed Mrs. Robinson and harassed and threatened her....
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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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...1. Though many people think Sheriff Tate and Atticus breaks the law by hiding the truth of Ewell’s murder but actually it is right for Ewell, as he trapped the Tom Robinson in false case, and to keep the secret is also righteous for Radley Boo because he did the murder of Bob Ewell just to save the lives of Scout and Jem as Ewell was trying to kill both the kids. Although to save Radley Boo is not according to law, but it also not a sin to save an innocent citizen whose intention behind the murder is only to save the children lives from Bob Ewell. If Mr. Boo did not came outside form his house at that time, then probably Atticus could lost Jem and Scout. By killing the character Bob Ewell, author Lee provides the justice to Tom Robinson because he is the one who has blamed Mr. Robinson and hides the reality from the court; even though he is not...
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...theme of appearance vs. reality to portray many characters in the book in a relationship that can give readers two different sides of a person. For the residents of Maycomb County, Boo Radley is rumored to be a malevolent phantom that mutilates animals, stalks people at night, and runs with the rebellious crowds before he was locked up in his room. Although, the children have never seen Boo Radley, Jem speculates that “Boo was about six and a half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels… that are why his hands are bloodstained… There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time (pg 16).” This description shows how misguided they are due to the outrageous myths about Boo spread around town by adults. However, as the story moves forward, more insight on the real character of Boo is revealed through various incidents. When Jem and Scout were walking home one day, Jem finally confesses what happened to his pants that night when they tried to sneak a peek at Boo Radley. “When I went back, they were folded across the fence… like they were expectin’ me… And something else… They’d been sewed up, Not like a lady sewed ‘em, like somethin’ I’d try to do (pg 78)”. Slowly, the dark images of Boo Radley painted in the children’s minds disappear as they begin to see a more kind and sensitive side of him. These small acts of kindness add up until at...
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...innocence. In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, loss of innocence is displayed through Jem's experiences and coming of age. Jem's visitation to Calpurnia's church had introduced him to the many negative qualities of Maycomb and its people. He also takes in the flaws of prejudice and judgment through his time with Boo Radley. Particularly, it was the trial that shattered his innocence entirely. Jem's witnessing of the harsh racism and brutal injustice during Tom Robinson's trial brought it two steps further, and he broke down. Innocence is something many strive to maintain, but life experiences and viewings of racism and injustice as portrayed by Harper Lee prevent just that. Calpurnia’s church had greeted Jem with prejudice, poverty, racism, as well as the birth of Jem’s realization of how Maycomb truly was. Upon arrival to Cal’s...
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...Atticus. She changed, with her perspectives about Boo and all the things about life as she experienced it, by means of Atticus, as Atticus explained it briefly. She also improved her personality as well; at the end. Atticus Finch is Scout and Jem’s father. He is also a lawyer. He defended Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping Mayella, a white woman. With his strong will and empathy, he fought for justice that made his family vulnerable of immoral hearsays and of seeing that justice doesn’t always prevail. He is a good teacher to his children. And he was able to put his self in the same situation, which makes him a great teacher. Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch is Scout’s brother. He is four years older than Scout and he remains as a close companion and protector of Scout throughout the story. Jem finds himself in an unstable situation with his traumatic experience at Tom Robinson’s trial. His disappointment upon seeing that justice does not always prevail led to his confusion, but what Atticus instilled in him dominates and guided him to the right path. Arthur “Boo” Radley is a loner who never goes out of his house. Boo never had his time to socialize with other people in Maycomb. No one even ever had an idea about his status now, which brought out some speculations about him. Upon hearing such speculations, the curiousity of Scout, Jem and Dill developed. And Boo dominates the imaginations of Jem, Scout, and Dill. Boo was used in the story to show the...
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...scout losing her innocence. In the first chapter of this story Scout recalls the summer when her brother broke his arm and she looks bad at the incidents that lead up to the big bang. As scout starts school she has a teacher that’s new to Maycomb with a different teaching style. Scout does not have a good first year at school experience. She gets her hand spanked by the teacher for explaining another student’s financial problems (he couldn’t pay the teacher back for lunch)....
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...is Harper Lee's classic 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Set in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930s, the novel is narrated by Scout Finch who lives with her widowed father Atticus and her brother Jem. I found the ending of this novel most unexpected as it features a dramatic event at a point Every Studied Fiction answer should begin with these same two opening sentences. The final sentence/s in the paragraph should refer directly to the question and show the examiner the direction your answer will take. in the story when I thought the tension had more or less subsided. As if that weren't surprising enough, a mysterious recluse who has fascinated the children for years appears in time to the day. The incident occurs as Scout and Jem are walking home from the Halloween pageant. Their journey is slow because Scout is dressed as a ham and her elaborate outfit is like 'a wire prison'. As the children walk, they hear footsteps behind them and realise they are being followed. They try to get home as quickly as possible, but are hampered by Scout's awkward and bulky costume. Suddenly, the children are attacked. Scout is unclear about what happens, as she is knocked to the ground and her costume tangled around her. Jem fights with the unknown assailant, and is knocked unconscious. Amidst all this confusion and panic, someone comes to the children's aid. Scout cannot see who it is, but this person defeats their attacker and saves their lives. She feels...
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...Scout’s character is her learning to understand other people and their desires and needs, rather than just her own. A notable example of this is her treatment of Boo Radley. At the beginning of the novel, the children’s games concerning his lifestyle and family history demonstrated childish and immature fantasies and, ultimately, a selfish obsession with him, revealing no thought of Boo’s feelings or point of view. Atticus advises them against this habit, telling the children to “stop tormenting that man”. The Radley games is also the one of the first times in the novel when Atticus uses one of his commonest pieces of advice: to “climb into his skin and walk around in it”. However, as the novel progresses, it is obvious that Scout and Jem do become more thoughtful of Boo Radley, stopping their constant annoyance of him, and starting to realise Boo’s sentiments as well. This is shown when Jem has an epiphany that the reason “Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time . . . because he wants to stay inside”, and Scout decides against pursuing the activities of the houses’ inhabitants, deeming that it was “better not to bother him”. Finally, at the end of the novel Scout offers Boo a seat on the porch, knowing that it would be more comfortable showing a clear change in her thought pattern’s concerning Boo Radley. At this point...
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