...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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...To Kill A Mockingbird If there was a book that easily tackles topics and a must-read for young readers then To Kill A Mockingbird would fit it. Harper Lee created To Kill A Mockingbird in the 1960s, The book is set in the 1930s in the Great Depression through the eyes of a child. The book has a lot of themes throughout the story using literary elements but how the author uses these literary elements like juxtaposition, motifs, and imagery to prove themes like humbleness, innocent of people and how unjust the society is will be explained. Harper Lee is great using literary elements to make themes like using juxtaposition to build a theme of humbleness. In chapter 12, after Calpurnia brings them to her church she says how “folks don’t like to have somebody around known more than they do, It aggravates’em” (Lee 167). Even after the fact she one of four people in her church who are literate Calpurnia knows being modest is better than bragging about it. Someone who isn’t would be Aunt Alexandra. In chapter 13, it talks about Aunt Alexandra and how “she never let a chance escape...
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...In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how the theme of ignorance and be connected to many different topics relating to the original theme. Ignorance can be tied with many other topics throughout the entirety of the book. Such as guilt or knowledge. Those are two many that could be discussed. Closely linked to the theme of prejudice, are issues of guilt and innocence, for the same ignorance that creates racist beliefs underlies assumptions of guilt. The most obvious instance is the case of Tom Robinson: the jury’s willingness to believe what Atticus calls “the evil assumption… that all negroes are basically immoral beings” leads them to convict an innocent man. Boo Radley, unknown by a community who has not seen or heard from him in 15 years, is similarly presumed to be a monster by the court of public opinion. Scout underscores this point this point when she tells her Uncle Jack he has been unfair in assigning all the blame to her after her fight with cousin Francis. If he had stopped to lean both sides of the situation, he might have judged her differently, in which he eventually does. The novel’s conclusion also reinforces the theme of guilt and innocence, as Atticus reads Scout a book about a boy falsely...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age novel that is set in the early 1930s in a small and sleepy Southern town called Maycomb. It was written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. The novel deals with childhood innocence and the conflict between good and evil in many different situations. Throughout the novel, the reader follows the childhood of a young girl called Jean Louise "Scout" Finch who lived with her family that included her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, and their black cook, Calpurnia. Scout is the narrator and the protagonist of the novel and the reader is able to perceive, through her narration, a child's perspective of the world and the prejudice that exists within it. One of the themes that is prominent in the novel is black racism. The writer made that notable through the lifestyle of Maycomb, its citizens' notions and the case of Tom Robinson. These cases helped to shape Scout's opinion of the real world and her understanding of the dark and cruel sides of it. The theme also plays an important role in understanding and analyzing the novel as a whole. As the novel is a depiction of the writer's childhood, it elaborates to the reader the various aspects of real life in the United States of America during the 1930s and helps them get a view of the racial discrimination that shaped the American society at that time. That...
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...Thebook To Kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee shows a constant theme of giving even when others can not. Giving happens when Scout beats up Walter, Jem and Scout give Walter a invite to come home with them to eat some of cal’s food.”Come home with us ...We’d be glad to have you”(pg.30 ) Scout and Jem know Walters family from atticus helping his father out. Scout knows Walters family does not have a lot of money also Scout knows walter does not have lots of friends.The small act of giving that scout did, helped out in the rest of the book because Scouts friendship with walter and the help Atticus gives Walters father saved a man from getting killed and made people realized they were humans.One small thing can change what happens.The...
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..."Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always" (Goodreads). People are often prejudice without fully understanding the entire situation. In times of immense struggle, people feel alone and take out their pain on others, in attempt to bury their own hurt. Throughout the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, readers see an array of many characters going through some very difficult times, thus resulting in conflict among them. During this time, of the Depression, people faced economic and social struggles. Segregation was a growing problem in the South during the 1930s. People are quick to judge, based on their appearance, without looking deeper, into their skin. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the Finch family does their best...
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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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..."To kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence". In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout narrates the story in first person point of view. The novel shows how growing up in times of depression, racism, and poverty can change an individual or even a society. The story takes places in Maycomb County. The time is set in the early 1930s where poverty and racism plays a major roll in the United States. The tone of the story is very serious and shows the reader a piece of reality. The mood is very sympathetic but the reader may also feel humor from Dill, Scout, and Jim, three of the main characters. The setting plays a major roll in the plot because the racism during that time contributes to the conflicting opinions of...
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...One of the most significant themes in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is courage. Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one. Atticus, along with many other characters in this book show courage through their fearless actions. Courage is defined in this novel as standing up for what is right regardless of overwhelming opposition. Atticus shows his courage by helping Tom Robinson, a black man, who allegedly raped a woman. Atticus took a chance and tried to defend him knowing that he had no chance of winning. Instead of doing what any other lawyer would do, he does what he knows is right, defending an innocent man. Even though he knows that the trial could put his and his family’s life at risk, he proceeds to help Tom. “They are perfectly willing to let him do what they are...
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...Rough Draft In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird there are various key themes that Harper Lee includes, ranging from the importance of family all the way to innocence. One of the most recurring themes in the book is moral development.In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys the theme that self control reveals a person’s higher moral development when Scout refuses to fight the boy that is bullying her, when Atticus compliments the woman that was screaming insults at his children, and when Atticus walks away after Robert Ewell spit in his face. One scene in To Kill A Mockingbird where Harper Lee displays the integrity needed to execute self control is when Scout is being antagonized by a boy at her school about how her father is defending Tom Robinson, and when asked to fight, she decides, instead, to walk away. She was tempted to attain revenge, but then she, “drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped [her] fists and walked away” (Lee 102). She was mentally strong, and instead of listening to the angry voices inside of her, she followed the advice of her elders. It was a major milestone for her, as it was, “...first time [she] had ever walked away from a fight” (Lee 102)....
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...In essence, empathy is defined as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” During the course of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the recurring lesson of empathy is learned through the experiences of characters, good and bad alike. Most specifically, Jean Louise (“Scout”) Finch embarks on a journey throughout the story in which she gains the ability to do just this. Living in the 1930’s town of Maycomb, she witnesses the harsh racism towards those of color, and experiences other strict societal norms that the time period entails, such as gender roles, which she doesn’t seem to abide by. As a risk-taking child, growing up under the influence of her older brother Jem, the two children attempt a fairly...
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...Birds of Innocence Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is an exceptional story of cowardice and courage, of prejudice and acceptance. Most obviously, it is a story of maturity and innocence. In the novel, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are all metaphorically portrayed as mockingbirds because of their observable innocence with others in their community and their evident kindness. While each character has noticeably different storylines and symbolic references to the mockingbird, all three have their inculpability in common. Atticus Finch is depicted as a mockingbird, not only because of his incorruption, but also because of his fatherly instincts and his unmistakable courage. In chapter twenty-nine and thirty we see Atticus’s righteousness in full light. As they sauntered home from the school pageant, Jem and Scout were attacked. Atticus, knowing that Bob Ewell has threatened him and what he loves, does not outright blame Bob for his children’s wounds and injuries. Mockingbirds are extremely territorial and protective of their young. In chapter ten we see Atticus’s shooting skills as he protects his children from a rabid dog. Another trait shown by mockingbirds is their courage when defending their...
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...The image is desolate: a lonesome man isolates himself in his home for years as his neighbors question his motives. In To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee portrays the mysterious character through narrator Scout’s perspective. Scout would listen to the gossip in her neighborhood, especially regarding one peculiar neighbor. Lee characterizes Arthur “Boo” Radley as a benevolent, mysterious outcast. In doing so, Lee suggests that one may isolate his or her self to avoid ruthless judgment from others. Depicted as a compassionate character in the novel, Lee subtly portrays Boo through the use of reliable and trustworthy characters. When Scout asks her neighbor Miss Maudie Atkinson if Boo is still alive, Miss Maudie says she “know he’s alive”...
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...Lucius Greene Dr. Seymour ENG 113D 11th April 2016 Portrayals of Race In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee uses a variety of techniques to show how race pays a factor in many different ways of life during 1930s time period in a small town Maycomb, Alabama. As Harper Lee writes with vivid details of what the events are like during the 1930’s. During her book To Kill a Mockingbird, she showed exactly what it was like to live in Maycomb County Alabama when it comes to race. Atticus is the father of Jim and Scout who also is a lawyer whose office was in the Maycomb County Courthouse. Atticus had a very special role in that court house; Atticus had not had just an empty office but an office full of work. His first two clients...
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...Atticus is one of the main characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. He plays many roles in this story, for example a parenting roll. Atticus has two children whom he is a devoted and insightful parent to. We learn about Atticus from his daughter’s point of view, Scout. We learn how important of a father he is to Jem and Scout, we learn how they run to him when they are in need and how they protect his good name. Atticus also plays the role of a defense attorney. We see how he is set apart from others in the courtroom setting; he holds up all of his morals in the court and doesn't let accusations taint them. “ He’s the same in the courtroom as he is on the public streets,”(Lee, 266). Scout was explaining to Dill why Atticus acted differently from...
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