...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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...In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many characters who have power, but the one who stands out is Mayella Ewell. Many will say Mayella is not a powerful character even though she is white, she is very poor and lives on the bad side of town. Mayella does not have much control over her life and does not get to make her own decisions. Mayella Ewell’s dad is a drunk and abuses her. In the little town of Maycomb, Alabama class, gender, and race all determine how much power someone has. Class refers to a person’s level of income and education and often boils down to how much money one is able to earn. Mayella and her family are very poor. They live in an old cabin, where African americans use to live. The only thing nice in Mayella’s yard was her red geraniums. Scout refers to Mayella as the “loneliest person in the world” (Lee, chap. 19). White people would...
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...thing and another. The treatment of a person or particular group of people differently, in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the characters that were discriminated was Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout, Jem, The Ewells, Mr. Dolphus Raymond, and The Black Community in the south. Harper Lee shows discrimination of religion and age of the character named Boo Radley by when Miss Maudie said, “ You know old Mr. Radley was a foot-washing Baptist...” (Lee Page...
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...Mayella Ewell is a controversial character in To Kill A Mockingbird when it comes to identifying if she has power or not. Power can be defined as “the ability to control one’s own life or the lives of others.” The definition of power can make this scenario able to be argued from both sides. Mayella Ewell has areas of power and areas of disempowerment but eventually, she fails to have the power she needs. In the 1930’s a powerful person could be defined as a white male, who is adequately wealthy. At this time, women were considered gentle, not respected, and not equal to men. Women were expected to, “know how to be charming” and, “well mannered,and polite” (Document IV). However, because she did not display the correct fundamentals, any possibility of Mayella having gender power was eliminated. Since she did not meet society's interpretation of what a woman with power should be presented as, Mayella was later taken advantage of by her father during the trial. In the trial Mayella’s father shows his level of domination when he suggest to Mayella to watch what she is about to say as shown in the book, “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”...
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...Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged 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...
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...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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...Luther King Jr.). People need to stand up for others because without an adversary, change will not occur. It is the power of one to realize the fault and start a new breed that believe what they think is right and are raised with respect to everyone. In To Kill a Mockingbird a distinguished novel by Harper Lee; the color of skin and beliefs that a person obtain determines how they are treated and valued as a member of the community in Maycomb, Alabama during The Great Depression. In this case, the color of a person's skin determines their level in society and how they are looked upon by the more powerful class. Calpurnia, the Finch's cook, is caring for the children and...
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...Lee, Harper—To Kill a Mockingbird 1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee DEDICATION for Mr. Lee and Alice in consideration of Love & Affection Lawyers, I suppose, were children once. Charles Lamb PART ONE 1 When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury. His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh. He couldn’t have cared less, so long as he could pass and punt. When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out. I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson. If General Jackson hadn’t run the Creeks up the creek, Simon Finch would never have paddled up the Alabama, and where would we be if he hadn’t? We were far too old to settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus. Our father said we were both right. Being Southerners, it was a source of shame to some members of the family that we had no recorded ancestors on either side of the Battle of Hastings...
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