...of a novel is an important asset for the author to present their story in a way they see fit. By allowing the author to express their emotions, the title remains a significant feature. When examining the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader can see that the mockingbird is a metaphorical symbolization of the theme of innocence, or the loss of. Published in 1960 by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird has become a literary classic. This essay will explore the significance of the title “To Kill a Mockingbird” and will endeavor to explain to the reader why Harper Lee’s novel is called To Kill a Mockingbird while also touching on some of the themes that are connected to the title, such as the loss of innocence and injustice. Revolving...
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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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...To Kill a Mockingbird Thematic Essay In many cases, people expect illusions and not even consider the possible reality. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, the people of Maycomb county tend believe in a lot of exaggerated truths and not the true reality of things. A character Harper Lee includes as a major focus within the novel is Boo (Arthur) Radley. Boo Is described as a monster and most of the kids in Maycomb are petrified of him, as Jem points out to Dill, “Jem said if Dill wanted to get himself killed, all he had to do was go up and knock on the front door.” (Lee 16). Boo was said to 6½ feet tall, had yellow teeth that he used to eat squirrels and rodents, and a long jagged scar across his face. These rumors cause the Finch children to be constantly preoccupied in finding ways to catch a glance at him. As the story continues, the kids start to add up all of the events that...
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...To Kill A Mockingbird Argumentative Essay Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is the story of a man who took a stand when no one else would. The book takes place in the 1930s and is about an integrative lawyer named Atticus Finch and his two children Scout and Jem who face difficulties when Atticus has to take a case for a colored man. Many people are upset when Atticus actually defends him because most lawyers would not try to defend a black person due to race. By taking this case, Atticus potentially puts his family in danger because of a careless man named Bob Ewell who is out to get Atticus and his family because he thinks the colored man, Tom Robinson, raped his daughter Mayella. Even though Atticus knows he won’t win this case, he still tries, and that shows how he has integrity. This is how it makes...
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...Annette Zavala 3/18/16 Per: 7/8th To Kill a Mockingbird, End of Book Assessment - Argumentative Essay Atticus takes a Stand “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee 39). This Quote by Harper Lee, is an illustration on reaching tolerance. Atticus believes that part of the reason why there is prejudice is because people don't understand each other. However, many people in Maycomb are misunderstood, avoided, or discriminated by the town people, including Boo Radley, the Ewells, and all black people. Atticus like a father teaches these words to Scout and Jem. In the middle of the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus decides to take on a case involving a black man named Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping a very poor white girl named Mayella Ewell one of the children of the unresponsible Ewell family who most of Maycomb society that people call "trash." The Finch family faces harsh criticism in...
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...Galvez, Steven January 16, 2013 English TKaM Essay: Courage Harper Lee’s To kill a Mockingbird is an American classis based on the author’s childhood. In this book 3 children portray 1 character, Boo Radely, as a “malevolent phantom”, a monster and also an inferior. These 3 children, Scout, Dill and Jem, essentially treat Boo as if he weren’t human, just like Maycomb treats Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of rape. The kids and the town of Maycomb act on the same social level, treating Boo and Tom essentially the same way. A malevolent phantom, a monster, and his own name describes the prejudice these children felt against Boo, but the kids were naive and young and there image of Boo was only based on a game and silly stories. Their “game” was based on the false pretense that Boo was a frightening creature and the whole idea was to lure Boo to come out of his home. Unknowingly they did accomplish this goal. Once Boo left treats for Jem and Scout in a knothole of an oak tree. Again Boo came out during the cold night when Miss Maudie’s house burned down and secretly covered scout with a blanket. Even if Boo enjoyed the kids’ presence the children thought otherwise. Maycomb had the same feelings about Tom Robinson. When Tom testified he humbly said that he felt sorry for Mayella, but Mr. Gilmer, angered and frustrated, replied “you felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?” (Lee, pg. 200). He was implying that no black man or woman can feel sympathy for a superior...
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...Atticus shows many qualities through characterization which makes readers believe he’s a perfect father. Most children always want a perfect dad or father figure which can be very uncommon. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a perfect person, but in Jem and Scouts eyes Atticus was perfect. Harper Lee, in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, shows Atticus is a perfect father through characterization by being kind, gentle, and caring. Atticus is a kind hearted father to his kids Jem and Scout. Throughout the story his kind heartedness never changes even with all the stress that he has going on in his life. Some of this stress comes from him being a lawyer for Maycomb county Alabama. He is working on a case that causes a lot of stress and emotion. He is also always worrying about Jem and Scout. This stress escalates when Dill comes into town and becomes instant friends with Jem and Scout. He is still kind hearted though and offers Dill food because he is like a kid to Atticus. Atticus knows that Jem and Scout care about Dill so he helps him out by giving him food and looking out for him and sometimes giving fatherly advice. When Dill shows up and Scout offers him some food Atticus says to her “Scout we can do better than a pan of cold corn bread, can’t we? You fill this fellow up and when i get back we’ll see what we can see. (pg. 160)” Atticus knew that Dill had gone through a lot, and had a long hard journey. He knew that Dill needed the food and was being kind...
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...Seeing things from other peoples perspective The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee teaches the reader about what it would be like to grow up in Maycomb Alabama in the 1930s. Atticus Finch is a defense lawyer who is doing his best to raise his two children, Jem and Scout, after his wife dies. The children live in a household where there is a black woman in the kitchen and no discrimination is allowed. This is because Maycomb succeeded from the union during the civil war times and is now full of racist whites. Most of the townspeople are upset with Atticus for defending a black man in court who is accused of raping a white woman, besides the black community, his children, and others who support his decision. Throughout the story Atticus uses the trial to his advantage by teaching his children life lessons and giving them advice. Scout, Atticus’ youngest child and only daughter, is often unsure of why people act a certain way, change, or why something happens. The most important piece of advice Atticus gives to Scout is to put herself in other peoples shoes, which she does with Ms. Caroline, the angry mob, and Boo Radley. Scout tries to make sense of things when her father explains to puts herself in Ms. Caroline’s shoes. After Scout’s first day of school her teacher, Ms. Caroline, embarrasses her in front of the whole classroom when all she is trying to do was help a classmate. It starts when Walter Cunningham does not have a lunch because he “forgets it” so Ms. Caroline...
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...Essay Theme: To kill a mockingbird Student: Slugina Irina “To kill a mockingbird” is a magnificent and powerful novel written by Harper Lee, a well-known American writer. It gives a deep insight into human society. The author highlights the theme of moral nature of the human beings – whether they are good and merciful or cruel and evil. It also deals with the problems of racial prejudices, inequality and racial discrimination. In a small Southern town in the 1930’s, it took exceptional courage for a white person to take a stand against racism. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character - a smart experienced lawyer Atticus Finch becomes a fighter for justice and truth. He possesses such traits as being principled, determined, honest and courageous. Atticus goes beyond the racist limitations of his society. By doing so he risks becoming an outcast for the courageous stand he takes. By agreeing to defend a black man falsely accused of having raped a white woman, Atticus demonstrates he is the most courageous person in Maycomb. He not only risks being alienated from the town, he also tries his best to defend his client, Tom Robinson, though he knows his struggle for justice is ultimately doomed, regardless the strength of his character and his good intentions, Atticus is too small to win this fight for justice. As the saying goes: “One man - no man”. The story is told from memories of Atticus’s Finch daughter Scout. She and he older brother Jem become...
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...To Kill A Mockingbird Argumentative Essay In life, people lie to save themselves. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, an african american man is falsely accused of rape, later in jail he is murdered. Mayella Ewell is responsible for Tom Robinson’s death whether on accident, or on purpose in many ways. Mayella is lying in court, if she told the truth then Tom Robinson wouldn’t be dead. In the novel it states, “No, I didn’t recollect if he hit me, I mean yes I do, he hit me,” (Lee, 248). Mayella is lying about Tom hitting her, she clearly forgot to lie in the sentence above. Also, it states, “Or didn’t you scream until you saw your father in the window? You didn’t think to scream until then, did you?”...
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...Let us not pretend that Bob Ewell and the majority of the Maycomb community are the last racists in the United States of America. They have company. As president of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), my sensibilities are not delicate. I grew up in South Carolina as the civil war reached its climax, a place and time where racism was unambiguous and often violent. I would be the last person to deny that we have made remarkable progress against racial prejudice. However, with Tom Robinson’s recent trial, it is obvious that we still have a long way to go. The trial of Tom Robinson exemplified the entrenched prejudice that many, not only in Maycomb but also in the United States, hold against the Negroes in the community. The trial had far too many irregularities, coupled with the blind rejection of solid evidence, which led to a terrible injustice against Tom Robinson. Days before the trial, a lynch mob led by Walter Cunningham made an attempt on Mr Robinson’s life. While the notion of lynching is abhorrent to our Christian community , it is clear that certain members of our society have yet to grasp this concept, as seen by the 200 cases of illegal lynching that have occurred in the past decade. We recall the Thirteenth Amendment having abolished slavery in 1865, however it is obvious that many in the White community still view us Black men as unworthy of justice in a court of law. Despite the efforts of the brilliant lawyer Mr. Atticus...
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...A couple days before the incident she reported to the police that she was getting abused by him and failed to act upon the incident immediately and therefore letting an innocent victim get killed hat was a good example of an innocent victim of domestic violence and had to unluckily be killed by it. More and more people are being used as innocent victims and the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee which was set in the 1930has characters that show clear examples of innocent victims. Tom Robinson who was allegedly accused of raping a white woman due to the fact that he is black. He proved that he didn’t rape her and that he was found guilty and got killed. This shows that back in the early 1900’s that innocent victims due to their race were common. Another example of an innocent victim is Karina Lock, a 49-year-old who arranged a meeting with her ex husband was shot twice at a McDonald's restaurant in Helensvale, Gold Coast. She was shot for no reason, just that her former partner got angry as the argument increased. The book “To Kill a Mockingbird” that character named...
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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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...the personification in To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom is helpful, friendly, courteous and kind to young and old and that also parallels the way most mockingbirds are friendly, courteous and kind. Tom Robinson helps out everyone from working for Link Deas to helping out Mayella Ewell.. Harper Lee writes “I just want the whole lot of you to know one thing right now. That boy’s worked for me eight years and I ain’t had a speck aco’trouble outa him. Not a speck.” This quote is yelled out by Link Deas during the court trial because he cares for Tom and Link knows that Tom is innocent. The importance of this quote is that it shows that he is a good person and the only people who don’t believe it are the most of the white community in Maycomb...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird Empathy Literary Analysis “Human morality is unthinkable without empathy” (Frans de Wall). In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, the main theme is empathy, and it is exemplified through the different character’s actions and thoughts. Harper Lee believes that many of the characters express this trait which include Atticus, Jem, and Scout. This is clearly shown by the events that take place in the book. Atticus is the character that introduces the theme of empathy to Scout and Jem. He has a very famous line of dialogue that exemplifies empathy, ”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” (39). Another event that shows empathy is when Atticus takes the case for Tom Robinson, because he knows that it is not right to condemn an innocent man on the sole intent of racism (99). The statement Atticus makes and the defense of Tom robinson shows the empathy he has toward other people and how he teaches that to his children. Jem is another character that has begun to show empathy throughout the book whilst growing up. During the trial Jem is seen crying and muttering that the verdict of the jury is not right toward Tom...
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