...There are many differing kinds of parents in society. They are there to be a guide and crutch for their children during the course of their lifetime. The way a mother and father decide to raise their children molds the person that they will be grow to be. The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee exhibits the parenting philosophy that Atticus Finch implemented upon Jem and Scout, his son and daughter. Atticus was a hardworking man who did whatever he could for his family. He made sure to always be a role model for his children and shaped them into people that they could be proud of. Atticus Finch was a fantastic father to his children. Firstly, Atticus treated his children as humans and not as robots that he could control...
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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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...Atticus Finch is one of the most steadfastly honest and moral characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird“ by Harper Lee and his character remains, for the most part, unchanged throughout “To Kill a Mockingbird”. As any character analysis of Atticus Finch should note in terms of the plot of “To Kill a Mockingbird” he begins as an upstanding citizen who is respected and admired by his peers and even though he loses some ground during the trial, by the end of To Kill a Mockingbird he is still looked up to, both by his children and the community as whole—with all class levels included. As a lawyer in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch represents everything that someone working in the justice system should. He is fair, does not hold grudges, and looks at every situation from a multitude of angles. As Miss Maude quite correctly puts it in one of the important quotes from “To Kill a Mockingbird”by Harper Lee, “Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets” (87) and this could also be said of how he behaves in the courtroom. He is a skilled lawyer and without making outright accusations in a harsh tone he effectively points out that Bob Ewell is lying. Even more importantly, the subject of this character analysis, Atticus Finch, is able to gracefully point out to the jury that there although there probably are a few black men who are capable of crimes, “this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men” (208). His understanding of...
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...1930’s an abundant of people still view women, blacks, and age in a stereotypical way today. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows many different types of prejudice in the 1930’s, which affect the characters decision making and their views toward others. The prejudice we see most often in this book is racism. Women did not have the same rights as men back in the 1930’s. Ageism plays a big role as well in the book which affect the characters view towards others. To begin, Harper Lee demonstrates a lot of sexism towards women. Back then women did not have any choice, you were born a women, you have to act like one. Women are considered weak in the 1930’s. They were supposed to do things only women must do. Such as staying...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee , is one of the many timeless classic literatures that we have come to preserve throughout the years. When considering what truly makes this story and dialogue a classic, one has to only recall the characters in which played the main roles of this narrative. Atticus Finch, one of the many characters in this story, stood throughout the entire novel with multiple divine attributes. Many times he exhibited the following aspects of a caring, wise, and protective father figure and man. An exhibition of this father’s caring characteristic was clearly manifested when Atticus’s only daughter, Scout, came home ,somewhat dismayed, yet seeking no comfort or help. However, Atticus being the caring father he was, noticed instantly that Scout had an experience that left her somewhere “in the dump”. Instead of carrying on with the many duties that he held as a...
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...bouraghda assia llcer l1 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD : the family and social values To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee might be the greatest novel of the 20th century. The story puts the finger on family and social values that has made it appealing to all generations of readers. The narrator uses the small town of Maycomb and the Finch family as the basis of her story for describing family values. "Maycomb was an old town, but it was an old tired town when i first knew it" p.5 Nearly all the families in TKAM are atypical, even if the Finch seems to be the most normal in the novel. in fact Atticu's family is still unusual: it is a single-parent family and his children call him by his first name. Harper Lee uses the 1st person narrative to put the reader in the shoes of Scout, a tomboy daughter of Atticus Finch. Scout is an intellingent and neither She nor her brother Jem have any close friends, but only Dill who comes to visit each summer. Atticus is one of the only parents that takes time with his children. Him and Scout would read everyday for example. the only motherly touch in the house comes from Calpurnia, the african american housekeeper. Nevertheless, the Finch serves as role models I mean The novel traces the life of Scout, her brother Jem and Atticus over many years. Meanwhile, Harper Lee uses great descriptors and try to show the values of the other dysfunctional families found in Maycomb: The Ewells are "the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations" in...
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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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...this idea does not fail to become a real motif in some of the greatest discussed literature known to humanity. Moreover, among these exceptional classics, stands a prominent example of to kill a mockingbird, an “unforgettable novel of childhood in a sleepy southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it” (Lee 282). This “[c]ompassionate, dramatic and deeply moving” classic of American Literature by Harper Lee not only portrays society as a whole, however, it also accomplishes the task through the use of countless dynamic characters, symbols and allegories (Lee 282). Among...
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...The Man in the Moon (1991) Review/Film; A New Boy In Town Captures Her Heart Everything about "The Man in the Moon," Robert Mulligan's effortlessly old-fashioned family drama set in a small Southern town, has a rosy glow. It's a reminder that Mr. Mulligan, a seasoned film maker whose credits include "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Summer of '42" and "The Other," can direct with real tenderness and without fake emotion. His latest film unfolds gently and gracefully, in a climate where the warmth isn't merely a matter of weather. Until its final reel, when it strains badly to accommodate an almost biblical stroke of retribution, "The Man in the Moon" is a small, fond film that achieves a kind of quiet perfection. The story concerns two sisters, and Mr. Mulligan can find something evocative even in the way the elder braids the younger one's hair. The latter, 14-year-old Dani (Reese Witherspoon), is just on the verge of real beauty, while the slightly older Maureen (Emily Warfield) has already gotten there. The girls' family, which is beautifully evoked, exists at all different stages of development, from their toddler sister to their pregnant mother (Tess Harper) and the father (Sam Waterston) who is wary of his daughters' prospective suitors. In his or her own way, each member of this family longs for a boy. When one arrives, in the form of a handsome teen-age neighbor named Court (Jason London), he affects the girls' family in powerful ways. The coltish Dani becomes smitten with...
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...Throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee discusses the effects of discrimination and the toll it takes on people. Through examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the townsfolk of a small town in Alabama, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of discrimination serve as the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story, as said by Atticus,“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee, 94). In essence, this story demonstrates the loss of innocence of many, especially Scout who is affected by sexism and racism most of all. By far, one of the most evident forms of discrimination present in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. It impacts the actions of every single character in the book and formulates...
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...The award winning book, To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee in 1960 won many awards such as the Pulitzer Prize. The mockingbird plays a large role in the book, it symbolises peace and hope, some of the characters that are mockingbirds are Tom Robinson, a Negro accused of a raping, Atticus Finch a lawyer and the seclusive Boo Radley. The way Lee portrays Tom as a mockingbird is a work of art, she portrays him as soft, gentle person that has harmed no one. Like Tom, Boo is shown to be mockingbird as well as he stays to himself he harms no one but others harm him. However, Atticus is different because he defends people of all types of background and race no matter what. Lee portrays Boo Radley as a mockingbird because he doesn’t do anything to anyone. Nevertheless, the towns disease gets to everyone and become prejudiced towards Boo, saying things that weren’t true. The townsfolk then wondered why he never came out of his house, the reason was because he was scared, he didn’t want the limelight, he...
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..."You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (Lee 30) In this quote, Atticus Finch explains to Scout Finch how everyone has a different opinion on subjects, and that the only way to understand a person’s opinion is to see the world from his or her perspective. The illustrious Harper Lee challenged racial stereotypes and explored the rough side of life through the eyes of young Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Scout, supported by her older brother Jem and father, Atticus, matured from a bigmouthed, boisterous little girl to a compassionate and caring person. Along the way, she pushed the limits of her curiosity with Boo Radley and learned...
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...Jason Teh Mr. Lander 9th Grade La Pd6 9 December 2014 What Does It Mean to Be a Good Parent? What does it mean to be a good parent? Well, the most common definition of a good parent is one who makes their children feel valued and loved, by teaching them the difference between right and wrong. At the end of the day, the most essential thing is to create a nurturing environment where your children feel like they can mature into confident, independent, and caring adults. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird defines what a true parent really is thought hardships and struggles among the book. The story is set in the Depression era of a little town in southern Alabama that is struggling with thick prejudice on a colored rape case. The story...
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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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...this essay I will be exploring the relationship between Jem and Scout in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Throughout the prose we, as readers see Jem and Scout mature and grow. They live in the Southern American town of Maycomb “ladies bathed before noon, after their three o’clock naps, and by nightfall they were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum”. This quotation portrays Maycomb as luxurious but also boring especially for the two main protagonists Scout and her brother Jem. Lee lived in Alabama as a child in a town called Monroeville, her father was also a lawyer with this in mind I helps the reader to view the novel as realistic. Throughout the prose Lee presents that Jem’s moods and emotions change and fluctuate “Jem stayed moody and silent for a week.. So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother him.” This quotation presents Jem as temperamental. In addition Lee highlights Scout as mature and polite as she respects Jem’s privacy and sees it right to leave him as it will cause them to argue. Lee uses this lexis so Scout and the reader can reflect on how bored Scout was and how much she needs Jem in her daily life. The context of the quotation presents Scout as being older than her years as many ten year olds would annoy their brothers to spite him. Whereas she does not showing that she has an abundance of respect and love for her older brother. Lee presents the relationship between Jem and Scout in many different ways including characterisation...
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