...Moral Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird People have different point of views and ideas on what moral courage is. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout's point of view on moral courage changes throughout the story. At the beginning of the story Scout was naive and did not know much about how the world really worked. By the end of the book, Scout started to realize how things really are. She started to realize racism and prejudice. This causes Scout to change her point of view on what moral courage is. Moral courage can be determined on how someone handles a conflict or problem. Throughout the book, she starts to learn different things which affects her point of view and changes her idea on what moral courage is. In the beginning of the...
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...Influential Themes in the book To Kill a Mockingbird The history of the world has lots of social problems that still exist in the world today. We deal with an extensive amount of racism all around the world; therefore, it is still a struggle for the world to learn how to live in peace and harmony. Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, captures many themes, but the most influential life lessons deal with racism, perspective, and morality. Racism is one of the most influential themes in the book. Lee explains very well about the problems of racism in the south; in other words, the theme of racism in the book teaches an important message that all people need to learn. Atticus says, “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the...
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...It is true that Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is more than just a simple story. Novels that challenge the reader’s way of thinking become distinct from others. Lee explores key ideas such as prejudice and courage and challenges readers to think about major moral issues experienced in society .The story at first seems like any other childish novel but Lee highlights key ideas making the novel evolve into something much greater. Lee shows the co-existence of Good and Evil and the moral nature of human beings in society. Readers re-evaluate their understanding of the world making the book much more significant. Ideas such as prejudice and courage are emphasized in To Kill a Mockingbird. Prejudice is the preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual 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...
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...In To Kill a Mockingbird, it reads “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(Lee,119). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is called to defend Tom Robinson in a case he knows he can’t win. Although everyone believes the suspect definitely committed the crime Atticus knows that is not true. In the story, Atticus defends Mr. Robinson and believes that he is innocent. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee depicts Atticus Finch as an insightful character, a respectful character, and a moral character to reveal a model of a simple man. In my opinion, Harper Lee depicts Atticus Finch as an insightful character to reveal a model of a simple man. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says “Courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (Lee,149). Through Atticus’s perspective, it is learned that he figured out what Mr. Dubose was doing....
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...Growing up is a major struggle for many as it is a time where one loses their innocence and starts to question their beliefs, values, and morals. Growing up is when one starts to face the harsh realities of society and starts to build an understanding of right versus wrong. In the three years covered by To Kill A Mockingbird Scout, Dill, and Jem grow from being naive, immature, and impulsive to being mature and understanding. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the destruction of innocence is used to depict the characters’ growth and development as well as their new understanding of the injustice in society surrounding race. The destruction of innocence is a major theme which illustrates growth and development within the characters of...
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...“To Kill A Mockingbird” “ There is no greater heresy than to do the right thing for the wrong reason or moreover the wrong thing for the right reason” this quote by Victor Hugo runs parallel to Harper Lee’s gripping tale of right and wrong, good and evil. “To Kill A Mockingbird” is a intricate and symbolic masterpiece of the intertwining elements of positive and negative, and how when they occupy the same space no becomes hardly recognizable from the other In this story, a well to do family is faced with very compromising scenarios that causes them and the reader alike to question certain core principles that are supposedly innate, and guides them through a journey of racism, pride, deceit, judgment, and finally reconciling all of these. All characters in the novel perpetually orbit around sentiments of morals and social acceptance and to deal with these themes in a realistic manner. The very title of the story “To Kill A Mockingbird” speaks the nuance of wrong invading or violating what is right. Atticus Finch, the patriarch of the family, has the most explicit encounter with moral injustice and the ordeal of fighting against it. As a lawyer in a small, southern town, Finch is endowed, voluntarily no doubt, with the dubious responsibility of representing an African American man in a criminal case of rape. The small town of Maycomb, Alabama is very racist and Atticus’s decision does not go over well with most of the citizens there. In order to appease the majority Finch...
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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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...The repetition in question connected with the bird occurs when Miss Maudie is explaining, to Scout, her father’s words. She repeats Atticus exact words ‘it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’, and she repeats ‘mockingbirds don’t do one thing but…’. Miss Maudie explains to her that mockingbirds do not do anything harmful, but only ‘sing their hearts out for us’, so they are a symbol of innocence. The repetition of those words emphasise the innocence and purity of mockingbirds. This alludes to the novel’s title To Kill a Mockingbird, which foreshadows that harming an innocent is an injustice, as with Tom Robinson’s case. Here Scout is not completely aware of that yet, but she is introduced to the idea that to kill a mockingbird is to destroy its innocence and purity and so it is considered a sin. Thanks to this reference, one understands how Atticus teach good moral values to his kids, and tries to protect good innocent...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee speaks tales of courage in society, and what it takes to uphold it.The story embarks with Scout Finch, a young daughter of a lawyer who becomes enveloped in a world of racism, prejudice, and injustice.Through the eyes of Scout, she looks up to her father, a figure of respect among many in Maycomb county, in times where his morals are pushed to the limits. .In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee stems Courage from the struggles of a community, where moral values allow many characters to stand up for themselves and others. Many characters such as Jem, a young boy who learns of world around him through his experiences and Ms. Dubose, a hot-tempered old lady with the hidden secret of fighting her addiction gives meaning to the symbol of about their flowers, Camelias. A character that encompasses these traits is Atticus, a lawyer who was tasked to defend a African man during a time of racism. Atticus became a prominent character who shows his colors during his Town's needs, such as the attack of the Rabid dog. Scout, the main protagonist who learns from these characters, their decisions and values which demonstrate what it means to be courageous. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee distinguishes many characters for their acts of courage, putting them in situations that push their morals and beliefs.After returning from Ms.Dubose's house, Scout questions her father about Ms.Dubose intentions concerning Atticus defending Tom Robinson...
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...In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one consistent theme is based around how Atticus Finch positively impacted the town of Maycomb. The location was Alabama during the 1930’s. During this time period, citizens of Maycomb showed extreme chauvinism towards one another. For people to not give into this way of life truly must have been very audacious. One person that proved to be able to show such audacious acts was a man named Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch willingly defended an African American which in the time period was perceived as very taboo. Out of all the characters in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper lee a man named Atticus Finch proved to have the most courage and by the end of the book the most moral growth. The fact that he went against the normal way of life in his town, and willingly defend an African american by...
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...universal scholars and philosophers, 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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...Our world is shaped by our actions and views and what we choose to do with our lives and it is ever changing. Literature helps to express different versions of our world and the author’s views on certain inevitable events, which in some cases are still ingrained into society today. Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960, which had a different context to our present time, and due to this context of the novel, it gives us an insight of the events that shaped our world. This fictional novel conveys both social and cultural context as the main ideas and morals that are portrayed throughout the book are similar to these ideas and morals of a small American country town in the 1930s. To Kill a Mockingbird explores the themes of racial discrimination...
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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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...To Kill a Mockingbird - Complexity To Kill a Mockingbird exhibits many characters and their roles in the city of Maycomb. Among the many characters, are Jem Finch, brother of Jean Louise Finch daughter of Atticus, and Arthur Radley a relative of Nathan Radley. All of the characters in the book demonstrate one-dimensional and three-dimensional tendencies but Jem and Arthur are those that provide the greatest insight to the latter. Jem Finch is a three-dimensional character with symbols of success, virtue and an adverse personality in To Kill a Mockingbird. For example, in the beginning of the book, Jem was aggravated by the then taunting Dill Harris (a young visitor to Maycomb) so that Jem would touch the house of Radley. By touching the Radley house, he proved that he was not afraid and could take on any challenge. When such predicaments come Jem's way he will usually be able to make the best of them successfully. In addition, Jem will lash out in complete contempt for a wrong against his moral conscience, such as Mrs. Dubose slinging blasphemy at Jem's father. A good character must have a sense of morality to defend what is believed to be right, and Jem has this emblematic realism. But, a life-like character must have their weaknesses; and he displayed that on account of Mrs. Dubose's harsh words. Furthermore, in chapter eleven of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem has to repent his wrongdoing by reading to Mrs. Dubose. Jem's moral obligation takes precedence...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird and Macbeth In 1623 William Shakespeare wrote his play Macbeth, 337 years later Harper Lee wrote her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Although the texts were written in entirely different eras and settings, both texts are similar in the theme of guilt. Guilt is a self-critical emotion that humans feel that compromises their sense of moral integrity. Guilt allows whoever is feeling this emotion to know that they have wronged another person or themselves and gone against their sense of responsibility or moral standards. In both Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the lead villains follow parallel paths with regard to their guilt, undertaking ill advised courses of actions which result not only in the undoing of the women in their lives, but also ultimately their own demise. Early on in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth the lead character Macbeth is at war with himself over what the correct course of action is, burdened by the Weird Sisters’ stating “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (I.iii.51), which leaves Shakespeare with the choice of taking Macbeth down the path of letting life play it’s course or taking matters into his own hands. Macbeth ultimately chooses to take matters into his own hands and kills King Duncan. This allows the play to follow the action plan of Macbeth instantly becoming king of Scotland, causing him to spend the rest of the play covering up his tracks. Similarly, in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird...
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