...“How Does Harper Lee Present Her Ideas About Childhood in the Novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’?” In the novel ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ written by Harper Lee, childhood is expressed throughout the story. The narrator of ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ is Scout, an adult when the book was written, but a child when the story was lived, with this narration Harper Lee, uses Scout to portray the events which, normally would have had a biased review by adults at the time, but because it is written by a child it has non-judgemental views. Therefore, because of the child narrator, and the other main characters being children, this shows that childhood in ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ is important and crucial. In the chapters 1 to 12, childhood is presented by friendship, gullibility, pride, questioning and fear. The fear element, is a major part through ‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’, because at different stages of the novel at least one of the main characters is scared. The Finch children first experience real friendship in ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’, when they meet Charles Baker Harris – Dill. Before Dill has passed the ‘Jem test’, Dill boasts to Scout and Jem that he can read. Which was not usually common in Maycomb at the time, but Jem and Scout could both read, which meant that they thought Dill was showing off and they wouldn’t want to be friends with him. Also what makes Dill become an issue about friendship, is how he introduces himself. He recites his entire name, and makes fun of...
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...Unjust Prejudice It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do is good for others. This is a very important metaphor used because it explains the prejudice that happens to some characters even though, all they are doing is trying to help others. Prejudice is shown to them through many people in the novel. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, she uses Boo Radley, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson to reveal the prejudice that even happens against innocent men through the mockingbird metaphor. Many people spread rumors of Boo and all the awful things he did. Scout explains, “Jem and I decided that Boo had got her at last, but when Atticus returned from the Radley house he said she died of natural causes, to our disappointment”...
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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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...“When you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” This quote, from To Kill a Mockingbird was said to represent heroism. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Arthur Radley, also known as Boo, shows an act of heroism. Although Arthur’s parents had isolated him from the outside world, he still liked to help and socialize with other people when he had the chance. The isolation and how they treated him would have been enough to cause Boo to give up on life and give up on caring about other human beings, but he didn't. He continued to care for people and cared deeply for them. Arthur Radley shows all the characteristics of a hero. A hero is someone who is fearless, dedicated and humble, and as a result, makes an impact on others. In the book, Boo shows no fear in what he does. Although he has no fear, Arthur Radley is seen by Jem and Scout as a big and scary looking man. Boo starts filling up the little gifts in the tree even though his brother told him specifically not to do it. He continued to leave gifts for the children to keep, even though he...
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...Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus always treats everyone the same no matter who they are or what they do. Atticus always has a good attitude and very rarely raises his voice or shows extremities in his emotions. Atticus also is very straightforward, honest and doesn’t beat around the bush. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows Atticus as fair, consistent, and honest to illustrate equality. Throughout the novel Atticus is portrayed as a very fair man. “I asked Atticus if Mr. Cunningham would ever pay us. ‘Not in money,’ Atticus said, ‘but before the year’s out I’ll have been paid. You watch” (Lee 23). This quote from the book shows...
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...In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, racism is an issue and black people are discriminated just because of their skin color. Prejudice is used to show how society is in To Kill A Mockingbird. Prejudice is used from a child’s point of view so people can see what it’s like for innocent children to get brainwashed by the judgmental people around them. In the 1800’s, most people in Alabama didn’t have much money. “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard game me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt, Jem came by and told me to stop.” Scout picks on Walter because the Cunninghams don’t have much and since Walter is a Cunningham, Scout thinks that Walter and his family are lower than Scout and that she can do whatever she wants to Walter, like treating him badly. Prejudice is easily shown from Scout’s point of view because Scout doesn’t know much, Scout is barely in first grade and Scout doesn’t understand why Walter’s family doesn’t have much. Most people have that one cranky and old lady in their neighborhood. In the story,” Mrs. Dubose lived two doors up the the street from us; neighborhood opinion was unanimous that Mrs. Dubose was the meanest old woman who ever lived.” Most of the...
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...As a kid, we all want to grow up, so that we can get all the perks that adults do. In order to do so, one must not only mature physically, as in growing taller, but must also mature mentally, in order to be ready for the real world around them. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the protagonist Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout Finch, is described as maturing greatly throughout the novel, physically and mentally. With the help of three essential people, she learns to release the bonds of childhood, and to think of the world around her in a different way, to fight with her head and not her fists, and to meet the demands of society and become a true lady as she grows up and matures, instead of her current tom-boy self. There are many...
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...In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many lessons that each character learns throughout the novel. Scout, the main character, learns the most from many different experiences she is able to witness. Although Scout’s formal schooling is disappointing, she learns many valuable lessons from real life. Scout learns many valuable lessons based on things that she and other characters in the novel get to experience. For example, in the novel, Scout and Jem get air-rifles, yet Atticus will not teach them how to shoot them. This leads to Miss Maudie explaining that their father said “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy...they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a...
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...So many kids ask their parents how to grow up. Maybe the parents say become honest or when you get hurt to not cry and whine about everything. But one man named Atticus defied what almost everyone tells their kids about growing up. Atticus is a dad in a book called To Kill a Mockingbird. This book is by Harper Lee and is a book about racism and how one man tries to end it in a little town called Maycomb, which is in Alabama where racism is a big part of people’s lives. Atticus’ kids in this book are Jem and Scout. The biggest part about this book is how Scout almost teaches herself how to grow up. To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that the experience of growing up is about how to realize what life is like for someone else. In this book, Scout...
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...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 all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-' 'Sir?' '-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it...
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...versus Ethics ......................................................................................................................... 5 Responsibility and Culpability ............................................................................................................. 6 Atonement .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Law and Legality .................................................................................................................................... 10 Race and Ethnicity................................................................................................................................. 11 To Kill a Mockingbird...
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...form xr another. We learn racism from society and we see how it affects people as we grow. In the novel, Scout who is a six-year-old child born and raised in 1930’s Maycomb County, Alabama. She grows up in a racist society were “colored people” are discriminated and learns about racism from society. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee the theme of racism is explored and it becomes clear that racism is something we learn from society. Scout starts to learn more about racism from society when she is talking to Francis. When Scout and her family go to Finch’s landing for Christmas and talks to Francis she learns a segment of what racism is. She realizes the prejudice of being associated with a “Colored person” when Francis says “I guess it ain't your fault that Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover” (94). Scout feels enraged at Francis when he calls Atticus this because even though she does not know what that word means, she still felt the prejudice of his words and she felt that what Francis called Atticus is not a good thing. From Francis’s words, Scout begins to develop an understanding of what racism is....
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...Having integrity is very good; integrity means having strong morals. This value causes a person to be honest and trustworthy. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus teaches his children to have good values, proving that he is a great parent. Atticus’ children learn to be accepting of everyone and the values of integrity, independence, and open-mindedness. By doing this, it helps his children be more prepared for the real world. Atticus is able to help his children become better than what their society thinks is “acceptable”, ultimately teaching his kids to be non-judgemental. Atticus taught his children how to be more open to the diversity in society through his interactions with the people in the neighborhood. Scout continuously questions Atticus on why he would take the case because of the hatred coming from the town, but he believes that “...if (he) didn’t (he) couldn’t hold up (his) head in town, (he) couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, (he) couldn’t even tell (Scout) or Jem not to do something again” (Lee 100). Atticus taught his children to not judge by taking the Tom Robinson case of a black male who is accused of raping a white...
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...Most people are not able to achieve justice, simply because they lack the audacity to. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, justice is a concept that is seldom sought after. The novel takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, a prejudiced society where African Americans are oppressed by its white civilians. The novel is narrated by Scout Finch, a young girl who is deprived of her innocence as she comes into contact with the racial injustice in her town. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer who opposes the bigoted views of Maycomb. Atticus values the equality of every human being, including African-Americans, a group that is heavily despised by the majority of Maycomb. Throughout the novel, Finch repeatedly demonstrates justice by sticking to his moral beliefs. For...
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...In addition to not being able to show their true selves, these individuals also find themselves in problematic situations. Mayella Ewell, from the book To Kill a Mockingbird, is indecisive with her answer to Atticus Finch’s question about Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell: “Do you love your father, Miss Mayella?” was his next. “Love him, whatcha mean?” “I mean, is he good to you, is he easy to get along with?” “He does tollable, ‘cept when--” “Except when?” Mayella looked at her father, who was sitting with his chair tipped against the railing. He sat up straight and waited for her to answer. “Except when nothin’,” said Mayella. “I said he does tollable.” (Lee 245) Mayella Ewell is scared of what her father might do to her if she tells Atticus the truth. The...
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