A Mockingbird Essay: Man's Search For Meaning

It’s interesting to see the ways different authors depict how a character matures. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird we can easily see how she chose to do it. The novel is set in Alabama in the 1930’s, while black vs. white racism was a big issue and problem for many. Atticus is the father of Scout and Jem, young children who witness the discrimination first hand when their father, a white man, defends a black man in court. Lee does a great job developing the characters; especially the narrator, Jean Louise Finch (Scout). Scout’s thoughts, conversations, and actions, illustrate that she’s emotionally maturing from the innocent child that she was.

To kill a mockingbird can mean many things. It’s the title of a book that has been bought 40 million times. But, it also has a definition. To kill a mockingbird means to destroy innocence. The theme of my literary analysis is mockingbirds. Mockingbirds in TKAM are innocent things tainted by the skewed society of Maycomb. Some of these mockingbirds are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the children. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book set in a small Alabama town in the 1930’s. The main character and narrator is Jean Louise Finch, but is almost always called by her nickname, Scout. Scout, her brother, and her summer friend Dill get into all kinds of mischief while living in the racist society of a 1930’s Alabama town. Scout’s dad, Atticus, is a prominent lawyer in Maycomb and is appointed to a controversial case, and is defending a black man. Scout and her brother, Jem go through many troubles and learn many lessons from the days leading up to, and during the trial. The trail makes their family some friends and a lot of enemies. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story of courage and despair. Throughout TKAM, mockingbirds are used as an example of something innocent being tainted by the skewed society of TKAM. Some great examples of these are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the children.

In the first section of this gothic short story, Jacobs starts off by describing the setting. He describes the night as "cold and wet" but, he shows the reader that the house is warm and cozy even with the cold rainy weather. He depicts this by telling us “the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly"(Jacobs 1). He contrasts the inside of the home heavily with the outside of the home. Outside it is a dark, stormy night, and the inside it is cheery and warm with chess, knitting, and a warm fire. The author shows us in the beginning that the family is happy and has everything they could need.

Eileen Kennedy-Moore once said, “the path of self discovery is a journey of discovery that is clear only in retrospect, and it’s rarely a straight line.” This quote can define Jeremy Atticus Finch’s experience throughout his time in Maycomb county in To Kill a Mockingbird as a child. I’m the story, Jem and his sister Scout are forced to grow up rather quickly as their father defends a colored man, Tom Robinson, of rape in which the town highly disagrees on. The town does not keep this feeling hidden. As the trial occurs it is clear that Tom is innocent and should be released. The opposite of this happens and Tom is concluded as guilty. Which leads to two highly upset children. Jeremy, who is referred to as Jem, begins as the average

“It takes a village to raise a child”, is an African Proverb. In other words, it can take more than just a child’s nuclear family to make her grow into who she will be as an adult. This lens is true because even though parents and siblings have a major effect on a child, and how they turn out later on in life, society and a child’s surrounding are what really shapes, and makes them who they are. What a child sees when he or she is new to the world, and doesn’t know everything, effects their behavior, and outlook on their life ahead. This lens is illustrated in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by

The book "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a story of life in an Alabama town in the 30's. The narrator, Jean Louise Finch, or Scout, is writing of a time when she was young, and the book is in part the record of a childhood, believed to be Harper Lee’s, the author of the book..

What it Means to Kill a Mocking Bird: an in depth analysis of the morals in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

Yet Perry’s childhood bliss was taken from him, somehow creating his current disposition, the true purpose is the falling of unity from inside the people of Holcomb, therefore; pinning every person against another. A dark curtain that falls over the children, parents, farmhands, hunting regulars, and police officials. A curtain that keeps them apart from one another because they are lost in the infinite blackness that surrounds them, an evil they let seep into their minds and imaginations.

People always wondered what a mockingbird represents. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the narrator Jean Louise Finch lives in Maycomb, Alabama, with her brother Jeremy Finch, her dad Atticus Finch, and her mother-figure Calpurnia. She learns many lessons in her life including “You never truly understand a person until you put yourself in their shoes ” and “It is a sin to kill mockingbirds.” This ties in that a mockingbird symbolizes innocence, which proves that one should not judge someone else until they truly get to know them because one must truly know another before deeming them as evil or innocent.

“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”. Discuss this quote from Atticus in relation to 3 characters from the novel.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird a major theme is the loss of innocence. Whether from emotional abuse, racial prejudice or learning, Boo, Tom, and Scout all lose their innocence in one sense or another. The prejudice that each character endures leads to their loss. Through the responses of Boo, Tom, and Scout, Harper Lee shows how each character responded differently to their loss of innocence.

The cruel nature and intentions of people can either hurt or harm individuals or it can bring about resilience and determination. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee revealed that humans often have other motives in life; some are born to be evil in nature, some are naturally innocent and then there are some that are born to protect the innocent. Lee utilized a variety of symbols and themes that correlated with each other and thus had the ability to create questions in the minds of the readers. Are humans calculatedly cruel or is there some moral good in each of us? The impiety of a few can create a movement, imprison the innocent or reveal the sincerity of others.

The 1960’s was the height of racial issues during the 20th century. Even under these circumstances, Harper Lee, a white, female author, wrote her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Not only does To Kill a Mockingbird go against society’s opinions at that time, but it addresses themes that apply to everyday life. One main theme is ‘People tend to take risks for the people they care for’. To Kill a Mockingbird is about a girl named Scout and the problems her family faces. Her dad, Atticus, is lawyer who is currently defending a black man in court. Tom Robinson, the black man, was accused of raping a white girl. The story illustrates how society treats people who are different from them and how those people stick together. One example that supports

At the bird’s appearance and apparent vocal articulation, he is at first impressed, then saddened. He compares this evening visitor as only another friend which will soon depart, just as “other friends have flown before” (58). But the raven again echoes quite aptly his one-word vocabulary, thus leading the man on to think more deeply about the possibilities that exist at this juncture. Somewhere deep inside him, he has realized that it doesn’t matter what question he poses, the bird will respond the same.

However, when the responders’ delves deeper into the poem, it is clear that at a allegorical level the wall is a metaphor representing the barrier that exists in the neighbours’ friendship. The first eleven lines of the poem if rife with imagery that describes the dilapidation of the wall. The first line of the poem emphasises that “something” exists that “doesn’t love a wall”. This personification makes the “something” seem human-like. The use of words such as “spills” and “makes gaps” convey an image of animate actions and create a vivid impression of the degradation of the wall. Nature, presented in the form of cold weather, frost and the activities of creatures, also seeks to destroy the wall. The idea that walls are unnatural and therefore nature abhors walls is portrayed in the phrase “makes gaps even two can pass abreast”, which metaphorically indicates that nature desires for man to walk side by side with no barrier between them. When the two meet to fix the wall, it is a metaphor that could be interpreted as the two repairing their friendship as “To each the boulders have fallen to each” which shows that faults in their relationship lie on behalf of them both. While they are mending the wall, a light-hearted tone is established. This is shown through the inclusion of the metaphor “spring is mischief in me” which shows the neighbours having fun together in repairing the wall,