...long history of discrimination in the United States. Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, speaks of a small town called Maycomb, where young Scout Finch lives. Scout’s father, Atticus, bears a striking resemblance to Harper Lee’s father. This is just one of the many parallels between Monroeville, where Lee grew...
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...Student Name: Lecturer’s Name: Date: Southern Contemporary Fiction and the Issue of Race Thesis: Southern contemporary fiction contained a lot of truths about the race relations between Black and White Americans in the twentieth century. Introduction Since the beginning of the twentieth century, there has been a significant shift in the focus of southern literature, both fiction and nonfiction. In the nineteenth century, most Southern fiction works were mainly on the Civil War and the Reconstruction. However, as that generation died away, the new crop of authors who had never experienced the civil war or the Reconstruction became more objective in their writings about the South. Contemporary Southern writers such as Harper Lee, Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner wrote fiction, but the stories written had a lot of truth about the way communities in the American South lived like in the twentieth century. As a result, one cannot fail but notice that there is one recurring issue in almost every novel in contemporary Southern fiction; the issue of race. (Sundquist 1994) Authors usually write stories which are a reflection of the attitudes and the norms of their time and contemporary Southern fiction reflects this. The southern part of the United States has always had a large percentage of people of African descent living there. At the beginning of the twentieth century, two states actually had an African-American majority; South Carolina and Mississippi...
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...“To kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee is based on the central idea that is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Atticus tells Scout this when he gives them guns. After, Atticus tells her it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. She goes to ask Miss Maudie why it’s a sin. Miss Maudie explains it’s a sin because they don’t do anything but sing their hearts out focus. This refers to the thesis statement because it deals with Miss Maudie, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson. Miss Maudie is true friend and she has good moral as Atticus. Miss Maudie implies “Indoors, when Miss Maudie wanted to say something she settled her fingers on her knees and settled her bridgework. Then she did and waited. ‘I simply wanted to tell you that there are some men in...
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...protagonists in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, must endure this evolution with the help of their father. Atticus, an honest and righteous...
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...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...
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...Imagine being back in the Great Depression and being accused of something that did not happen and being found guilty. This is what happened to Tom Robinson in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In the novel, Harper Lee used real life stories as a guide to help her write her novel correctly and accurately. The novel is tied to a few stories such as, Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the issues of racism in that time period. One of the first connections to America’s history of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws. To begin, Jim Crow was a racist system that promoted inequality between the races. A bountiful number of people believed the laws were necessary to keep black people in their place. In addition, they used the Jim Crow...
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...How symbolism can help you better understand To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee uses symbolism to reveal an overall theme of human dignity. Maycomb County is a typical sleepy southern town that is blinded by the disease of racism. An innocent black man becomes a victim of the disease when he is accused of rapeing a white woman. Firstly the symbols Jem’s pants and the rolly-polly show the important theme of maturation. Furthermore the symbols Tim Johnson and the snowman highlight a theme of destroying racism. Lastly one-shot Finch and the perfect white waxy camellia symbolize true courage. Harper Lee uses Jem’s pants and the rolly-polly as symbols to convey a theme of maturation. Jem and Scout where in the Radley’s backyard trying to get a look at Boo Radley when Jem see’s a shadow the children immediately flee form the house. As the children were running through the collards as they hear the roar of a shotgun. As Jem and Scout are fleeing the scene Jem’s pants gets caught in the fence and he has to leave it in their backyard if he wants to survive. Later that night he says how he needs to go back and retrieve his pants not for him but for Atticus, “‘Atticus ain’t never whipped me ever since I can remember, and I wanta keep it that way.’” (Lee 75). He goes back to get his pants to keep his relation shit with Atticus. There is a evident theme maturation in Jem at this point, from when he thought turtles could not feel, too now when he is showing...
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...To Kill A Mockingbird is widely known and acknowledge for addressing themes of tolerance and justice, which directly contradict the racial climate in the South. Lee was one of a small amount of white writers, especially as a woman that would approach the subject of racism and segregation at a time where it was of great contention. The film was praised by the United Church Women association, who encouraged its members to see it, for it ‘handles very beautifully the whole area of race relations.’ Phillip Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times included reflections on the way racial relations are addressed in the film, stating that he believed that the prejudices that were featured in the film ‘made [us] more conscious of them, and perhaps more ashamed’. He also suspected that ‘even Southerners will take it, flinchingly or not, because they will understand it; after all, a Southerner wrote...
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...Power is the control over someone or something. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is about a little girl who witness the unfairness of the court system in the 1930’s while along the way almost getting killed. Because of Mayella's class and gender, Mayella is weak or powerless, but because of her race, she is strong and powerful Down south in Alabama during the 1930’s living in around or near blacks it was considered to be wrong. In chapter 17 it says “Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin (Doc A)” this is important because it shows that they live in the poor side of town near the black people. In chapter 19 it says “Yes, suh. I felt sorry for her (doc E)” this means that the Blacks feel sorry for them because they are poor. In chapter 18 it says “won’t answer a word you say as long as you keep mocking me; she said. Ma’am said Atticus (doc C)” this means because of her class and where she lives she’s not used to hearing ma’am said to her.All of the quotes in document A, E, and C show that...
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...Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird "I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes-baby, it's never an insult to be called what someone thinks is a bad name. It shows how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you" (Lee). It is hard to get along with everybody, especially in the southern 1930's where racial tensions ran high. Atticus Finch is a fifty year old lawyer and father of two kids who was born and raised in Maycomb County, Alabama. He believes in his heart that it is his duty to love everybody no matter what. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Atticus Finch to show that even when society is pressuring otherwise, it is important to always do what feels right. Maycomb, Alabama is a small town. There was...
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...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; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summers day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum." Page 5 Analysis The descriptive detail paints a vivid picture of the town of Maycomb, which provides some insight on Scout's feelings about Maycomb. In addition, the narrator provides the setting for the story and sets the mood for a quiet and somewhat dull town, which sets the stage for the conflict of Tom's trial. Chapter 2 Quotation "'Your father does not know how to teach. You can have a seat now.' I mumbled that I was sorry and retired meditating upon my crime." Page 17 Analysis Scout's first grade teacher makes her feel bad about being able to read, when she should feel proud that she can read and write at such a young age. Scout even apologizes and referred to her ability as a crime. This exchange demonstrates how many people in Maycomb are very small minded in their views. Chapter 3 Quotation "'First of all,' he said, 'If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with...
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...The literary classic To Kill a Mockingbird is the well known story of Jean Louise Finch as she grows up in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Through a journey of self discovery and racism, the book follows the trial of Tom Robinson, an African American male, accused of rape by a woman named Mayella Ewell. Mayella Ewell is a young, poverty-stricken woman who is mainly controlled by her father. In a town divided by race, class and gender, Mayella does not have a large amount of power over her own life. It could be implied that because Mayella is white, she has terminal power, but that may not be the case. Though she is white, she is shunned by the white community along with the African American community. “White people wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she lived among pigs; Negroes (the Ewells’ nearest neighbors) wouldn’t have anything to do with her because she was white.” (Lee 1960 Chapter nineteen.) Mayella was rejected by whites due to the fact that she lived in poverty and had no money. She was also rejected by African Americans simply because she was white. Being white did not give her much of an advantage....
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...Racial differences have been notices for centuries leading to the mistreatment of a person. The first looks of racism can be seen in slaves usually taken for labor to build empires or as prisoners of war. It has taken an extensive amount of time for those who thought of themselves as superior to realize that everyone is equal. Even now in 2016 there are still events in which people express their disdain of a person for their race. The transition to the tolerance we have today has been an onerous path for many especially for those who suffered an unfair trial. To Kill A Mockingbird, the Scottsboro Trial, the Emmett Till Murder Trial, the Coca-Cola lawsuit, and EEOC vs. Rizza Cadillac are clear examples of how it seems like the United States...
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...Police Brutality Throughout the several decades, there have been lots of issues between police and citizens. Many conflicts are between races, mainly African Americans. Police are abusing citizens, killing them, and shoot them several times to the point where the victim is on the ground in a pool of blood. An officer pulling a gun on a citizen causes the rate to go up, destruction in the community (riots), and the history of brutality, is common. The family of the victim has lost their loved ones. The main question is what causes the police to react this way? Is it fear? Could it be hatred? With the police killing innocent victims, the brutality rate continues to rise, with unwanted gun use. “This has led to 5,986 reports of misconduct,...
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...Censorship in Books Ever since they’ve been published, books like “Brave New World”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and many other classics have been loved and greatly appreciated for being such incredible works of literature. Along with a loveable plot, they also have a deeper meaning that is portrayed through their word choice. Some people wish to have these and many other books “censored” or “sanitized.” Specific censorship should not take place because not only would it be taking away from the beauty of the books, but it would also be depriving its beauty from society and future readers. There are some people who argue that some books should no longer be in the school curriculum. A teacher named John Foley stated “The time has arrived to update the literature we use in high school classrooms.” For years, the same classic books have been taught to students, and some teachers believe that it is time for something fresh, and more relevant to today’s society. John Foley also says “Barrack Obama is president-elect of the United States, and novels that use the ‘N-word’ need to go.” John Foley, along with other parents and teachers believe that with our presidents race, books that use the word “nigger” or other racial slurs are inappropriate and disrespectful, and should be censored. Although there are people who believe that some books should be censored, they are also failing to see why it is so important to leave the books to how they were originally written. By censoring certain...
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