...The Help and To Kill a Mockingbird both have many similarities in how prejudice and empathy were displayed throughout the story. Both of the stories were set in the time of segregation in the Southern United States. It also shows the similarity of African-Americans as caretakers or housekeepers – Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird and Aibileen is only one of the examples in The Help. The settings were also similar, a part of a town was where whites lived and part of a town was where African-Americans lived, but there was a twenty-year difference of when the books took place. Prejudice was mainly shown throughout the storied by the way whites treated the African-Americans. In The Help, there were multiple examples of prejudice: African-Americans were not allowed to us the same bathroom as whites and how African-Americans could not use the same plates as whites. The acts of prejudice often stemmed from the fact that whites believed that African-Americans contained diseases, a statement that was supported by no facts. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the main example of prejudice was when Tom Robinson was convicted of raping a white girl when...
Words: 570 - Pages: 3
...Ignorance in To Kill a Mockingbird Merriam-Webster defines ignorance as a lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. It can cause people to reject others because they are different in some way. Because the majority of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee are poorly educated, many of them refuse to accept people because of their race, class, or gender. The ignorance within the novel contributes to the development of the conflicts throughout the book. The racial ignorance within the novel is a factor in the progression of the conflicts. It causes Tom Robinson, a young black man, to be treated unfairly during his trial. Even though there was enough evidence to prove that Robinson was innocent, he was still convicted by...
Words: 633 - Pages: 3
...Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the theme is don’t judge people based on their customs and/or beliefs because they may differ depending on their background. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, many different personalities are introduced, which divide the county. When Scout begins going to school, the reader meets many characters. On her first day she explains the Cunningham family’s ways to Miss. Caroline, “The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back-- no church baskets and no scrip stamps. They never took anything off of anybody, they get along with what they have. They don’t have much, but they get along with it” (Lee 26). This segment shows that the Cunninghams are not the wealthiest, nor the poorest family in Maycomb, but they refuse to not give back...
Words: 417 - Pages: 2
...Literature is composed of archetypes and some archetypes are usually taken from the human experience of coming-of-age. Such is the case in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, where Jean Louise “Scout” Finch and her brother Jem live in their ordinary world of Maycomb, Alabama. However, Scout’s ordinary world changes when their father, Atticus Finch, defends a negro named Tom Robinson in court for being accused of raping a white girl named Mayella Ewell. Harper Lee has Scout’s learn about empathy, courage, and standing against prejudiced ideas from her role models in order to build Scout’s character to prepare for the inmost cave. Scout learns how to empathize with other from her roles models to take the first step out of the inmost cave. Early...
Words: 2132 - Pages: 9
...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...
Words: 1526 - Pages: 7
...The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set during the 1930’s when segregation was practiced as a way of life in the South. Atticus Finch, one of the main characters in the book, is a lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus fathers two children, Jem and Scout, who need his wisdom and guidance as they encounter prejudice and discrimination in Maycomb. Atticus serves as the moral compass in the book as he tries to teach important life lessons to his children, such as not judging someone before getting to know them. Atticus also serves as a “Christ-like” figure in the novel as he exhibits tolerance, humility, and courage. Atticus demonstrates tolerance of people’s differences. Similarly, Jesus also saw everyone the same and treated everyone...
Words: 1046 - Pages: 5
...Petrina Chan Hr. 2 To Kill a Mockingbird Summer Work Characters Scout Jean Louise Finch, also called Scout, is the narrator and protagonist of the story. She is the sister of Jeremy (Jem) Finch and the daughter of Atticus Finch. She lives with her brother, father, and their black cook, Calpurnia, in Maycomb County. Being the main character, she is involved with all of the major events that happen during the course of the novel, including the Tom Robinson trial. While the story progresses, Scout’s views about life mature. Scout is different than most little girls at the time. She wears overalls instead of dresses and learns to climb trees with Jem and Dill rather than learning manners.She starts to understand how to look at things from someone else’s point of view, instead of only her own, and, “step into their skin,” as Atticus tells her, in order to understand people’s feelings. She progresses from a short-tempered tom boy to an empathetic young girl. Although she is still young, her understanding of the world is progressing rapidly. Jem Jeremy (Jem) Finch is the brother of Jean Louise (Scout) Finch, and the son of Atticus finch. He is four years older than Scout. He is Scout’s playmate and protector throughout the novel. Although he slowly weans himself from Scout’s little games, he remains her closest companion and guardian. He and his views on life are deeply affected by the Tom Robinson trial because of the amount of sheer prejudice and cruelty of the trial. Jem learns...
Words: 2535 - Pages: 11
...To Kill A Mocking Bird BY HARPER LEE Novel Analysis I.BACKGROUND IN FORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nelle Harper Lee (born April 28, 1926) is an American author known for her 1960 Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Despite being Lee's only published book, it led to Lee being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom of the United States for her contribution to literature in 2007.Lee has also been the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, but has always declined to make a speech. Other significant contributions of Lee include assisting her close friend, Truman Capote, in his research for the book In Cold Blood. II.INFORMATION ABOUT THE NOVEL Classification- To Kill a Mockingbird is embodied by Atticus Finch, who is virtually unique in the novel in that he has experienced and understood evil without losing his faith in the human capacity for goodness. Atticus understands that, rather than being simply creatures of good or creatures of evil, most people have both good and bad qualities. The important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities by treating others with sympathy and trying to see life from their perspective. He tries to teach this ultimate moral lesson to Jem and Scout to show them that it is possible to live with conscience without losing hope or becoming cynical. In this way, Atticus is...
Words: 2841 - Pages: 12
...until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”(30) This is a lesson that Atticus Finch, from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, emphasized to his children, teaching them to view the world from another’s perspective before judging them. Atticus displays this quality of human tolerance towards his neighbors although he could have strong reasons to dislike them. He also familiarizes his children with this lesson through their own difficult situations. Atticus Finch proves to be a superlative example of human tolerance through his empathetic attitudes towards narrow-minded people including Mrs. Dubose, Bob Ewell, and the Cunninghams. Through these moments, his daughter, Scout, is ultimately able to understand this lesson taught by her father through a climatic moment with Boo Radley at the end of the novel. Illustrated through difficult situations with Bob Ewell and Mrs. Dubose, Atticus demonstrates his understanding attitude. First, when Atticus hears from Scout that Mrs. Dubose is calling him a “nigger-lover,” he understands that she is an acrimonious woman because she is a morphine addict. Later, when Jem and Scout hear that Mrs. Dubose is dead and learn about her addiction, they realize they had judged her without knowing her circumstances and see how courageous she truly was. Atticus’s tolerant attitude was also displayed when Bob Ewell spit in Atticus’s face after the trial. Atticus understood that Mr. Ewell...
Words: 800 - Pages: 4
...development. As children mature they typically learn about negative traits and how to develop good ones. They learn from others and create a pathway for their own individuality in order to become an adult. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, Scout begins as an innocent child protected from the evils of society, but later matures and develops to become an understanding individual. Innocence from the world’s evils is usually interpreted as a positive trait, however, the opposite occurs in To Kill a Mockingbird because...
Words: 1241 - Pages: 5
...To kill a Mockingbird Journal entry #1 “Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop…” Pg: 5 This quotation on chapter one is Scout’s introductory description of Maycomb. Scout emphasizes the slow pace, Alabama heat, and old fashioned values of the town. She writes of time when she “first knew” Maycomb, indicating that she embarks upon this recollection of her childhood much later in life, as an adult. It makes reference to the widespread poverty of the town, implying that Maycomb is in the midst of the great depression. As stated in the quote “There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with.” As been specified above Maycomb county was a ghost town. In the text on page six it clarifies how mysterious it was, “Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.” To kill a Mockingbird Journal entry #2 “I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” Pg: 20 On chapter two scout talks about how she takes reading for granted. Losing it would be devastating to her. Scout compares it to not breathing anymore, reading, for little kids, is not a priority in Maycomb. Scout, however, has Atticus her father teach the incredible joy of reading to his children. This applies to the second sentence about breathing. Although she does not think to herself ‘I love breathing’ for there she does not realize...
Words: 4045 - Pages: 17
...picked this passage because it described to me what the town was like. In my head, I could easily visualize what it looked like. Chapter 2: “Now you tell your father not to teach you anymore. It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I ‘ll take over from here and try to undo the damage - your father does not know how to teach. You can have a seat know.” Pg.17 Reason: I picked this passage because Miss Caroline tells Scout that she shouldn’t know how to read and write yet. Scout works through her problems and adapts to her new teaching ways. Chapter 3: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.” Pg.30 Reason: I liked this passage because this is when Scout learns that you have to give people chances. You can’t judge someone by what’ s on the outside, but by what is in the inside. Chapter 4: “It was the kind of box wedding rings came in, purple velvet with a minute catch. Jem flicked open the tiny catch. Inside were two scrubbed and polished pennies , one on top of another. Indian Heads.” Pg.34 Reason: I picked this quote because I liked how they described what they found. The Indian Heads were one of the things that they found in the Radley tree. Chapter 5: “There are some kind of men who - who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one , and and you can look down the street and see the results.” Pg. 45 Reason: This...
Words: 2380 - Pages: 10
...The human race is a social one; they are interacting and learning from people all the time. The people that others associate themselves with influence their personalities, views, and morals. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is a book involving learning experiences for many characters. None more than Jean Louise Finch (Scout); Scout is influenced by many characters throughout the events of the book, making her a more mature and rational person. An examination of Scouts interactions with Miss Maudie, Mr Gilmer and Calpurnia show their major contributions to Scout’s development into a mature, intelligent and rationally thinking person. Through Scout’s experiences of during the trial and she is given a first hand experience to the evil in men....
Words: 952 - Pages: 4
...THE GLENCOE LITERATURE LIBRARY Study Guide for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee i Meet Harper Lee at the same university. In 1949, however, she withdrew and moved to New York City with the goal of becoming a writer. While working at other jobs, Lee submitted stories and essays to publishers. All were rejected. An agent, however, took an interest in one of her short stories and suggested she expand it into a novel. By 1957 she had finished a draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. A publisher to whom she sent the novel saw its potential but thought it needed reworking. With her editor, Lee spent two and a half more years revising the manuscript. By 1960 the novel was published. In a 1961 interview with Newsweek magazine, Lee commented: Writing is the hardest thing in the world, . . . but writing is the only thing that has made me completely happy. To Kill a Mockingbird was an immediate and widespread success. Within a year, the novel sold half a million copies and received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Within two years, it was turned into a highly acclaimed film. Readers admire the novel’s sensitive and probing treatment of race relations. But, equally, they enjoy its vivid account of childhood in a small rural town. Summing up the novel’s enduring impact in a 1974 review, R. A. Dave called To Kill a Mockingbird . . . a movingly human drama of the jostling worlds—of children and adults, of innocence and experience, of kindness and cruelty, of love and hatred, of humor...
Words: 4484 - Pages: 18
...Comparative Writing What is a comparative writing? Comparative writing asks that you compare at least two (possibly more) items. These items will differ depending on the assignment. You might be asked to compare • positions on an issue (e.g., responses to healthcare in Canada and the United States) • theories (e.g., capitalism and communism) • figures (e.g., Auto production in the United States and Britain) • texts (e.g., Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth) • events (e.g., the Great Depression and the global financial crisis of 2008–9) Although the assignment may say “compare,” the assumption is that you will consider both the similarities and differences; in other words, you will compare and contrast. Make sure you know the basis for comparison The assignment sheet may say exactly what you need to compare, or it may ask you to come up with a basis for comparison yourself. • Provided by the question: The question may ask that you consider the gradual loss of morals by major characters in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. The basis for comparison will be the loss of morals by central figures in each text. • Developed by you: The question may simply ask that you compare the two novels. If so, you will need to develop a basis for comparison, that is, a theme, concern, or device common to both works from which you can draw similarities and differences. Develop a list of similarities and differences Once you know your basis for comparison...
Words: 1578 - Pages: 7
