Analysis Of Atticus Finch 's ' Kill A Mockingbird '

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.

After Scout confronts Atticus about “defending negros”, Atticus replies on how this decision is for his own dignity: “‘For a number of reasons’, said Atticus. ‘The main one is, if I didn’t, I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.’” (123; ch.9). Out of the lots of prejudice in Maycomb County, Atticus is one that looks passed race and gender. He holds equal respect for those who abide by the laws of being human. Not much of population consist of people like Atticus, who is not just fighting for Tom for the sake of the town, but for his own virtue. It takes a lot of integrity to stand up for what is right during that time and that is exactly what Atticus is making an effort to do.

Throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, it seems as if Atticus Finch is a failure as both a parent and a lawyer. However, somebody with a good understanding of the novel will realise that Atticus is in fact a terrific lawyer and a superb father. However, like all people, Atticus has his flaws.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents Atticus Finch as a principled lawyer, committed but single father to Scout and Jem, and a law-abiding citizen. Atticus is a respectable gentleman in society and a role model for his children. Throughout the book we see evidence of his honorable intentions, though he doesn’t seem to reap the rewards. He is morally upstanding, even-keeled, and daring. Because of these things, Atticus is a man who deserves great respect and admiration.

Jem and Scout, throughout “To Kill A Mockingbird,” learn to consider things from other people’s perspectives. Atticus, Jem and Scout’s father, says “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” (Lee 39). They learn this through experiences with their neighbor Boo Radley as they mature beyond their years. At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout make fun of Boo and assume that all of the rumors going around about him are true. However, later on in the story the children grow an admiration for Boo and learn to understand him. As they matured, Jem and Scout naturally learned many life lessons of appreciation, respect, and courage

Harper Lee is best known for writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel takes place during the depression in Alabama with the main character, Scout, viewing her lawyer father, Atticus, defending a wrongly accused black man of rape. The reader gets to understand Scout’s childhood view of this controversial situation. Scout’s character in to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is really the author’s own life playing out in the novel, which is most likely why this novel is thought to be one of the best American Novels of the 20th century.

Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is set in a small Southern United States community called Maycomb during the Great Depression era. The whole book primarily revolves around segregation and racism and how it relates to Maycomb’s history. It eventually leads to the trial of Tom Robinson where he is accused of beating up and raping Mayella Ewell. Even though it was clear that Tom Robinson did not do anything wrong he was convicted by an all white jury simply because he was black. The trial of Tom Robinson and its verdict shows an example of how segregation in the court system prevents fair trials from occurring.

Atticus Finch is one of the major characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is a lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama, and the father of Scout and Jem Finch. Throughout the story Harper Lee portrays Atticus Finch as a courageous, wise man that is filled with integrity.

The novel “To kill a mockingbird” demonstrates the theme of racism through the various situations that occur within the book. Atticus’s decision to defend Tom Robinson begins to have a deep effect on the Finch family. This is demonstrated by the Finch family receiving many racist comments from various people. The next example of racism is demonstrated when Calpurnia, Scout, and Jem go to a church where only “black” people attend, and the Finch family gets discriminated. Later, when Calpurnia, Scout and Jem got home, Scout asked Atticus if she could go to Calpurnia’s house, but Scout’s aunt said “no”. This is because Calpurnia’s neighborhood has too many “black people” which is a “bad influence” on Scout. Through these situations, it is clear

To start, even the Finch family turns on Atticus and his kids when they found out the nature of Atticus’ new client: Tom Robinson. When the kids are off with their cousin, the cousin irritates Scout and disrespects Atticus by taunting “‘I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a n***er-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family—’” (Lee, 85). Atticus is defending a black man an the whole family is mortified, which makes evident the fact that the Finch family does not view people of a different race as equal and worthy of a white person’s time, and furthermore are racist. The casual use of the n-word as well, even by a child, was completely normal in the time period, which is another sign of racism in the south, and specifically in the town of maycomb. These poor race relations contributed to the wrongful conviction and execution of Tom robinson. Racism was very prevalent in Scout’s childhood, as well as Harper Lee’s, but Scout grew up differently than most of the children, she had exposure to the black community by was of Calpurnia. In an article by Kathryn Lee Seidel, it is stated that “This African American housekeeper is the novel’s female parental figure for Scout. It is Calpurnia who teaches Scout to write, it is she who admonishes Scout to treat little Walter with respect at

Once when Atticus was called by the State Legislature and had to leave Jem and Scout with Calpurnia in Maycomb, Calpurnia took the kids to the African American church. At the time the book was wrote under, African American’s had a different church than the white people. The kids were victims of prejudice by Lula. One of the examples is, “You ain’t got no business bringin‘ white chillun here —they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?”. This shows that Jem and scout were not permitted in the church by her because they were white and they were in a African American church. This also shows prejudice because they were not allowing people other races in the church.

“You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird. When I was nine years old my family and I moved from Marshall, Texas to Harleton, Texas. Making this move had a significant impact on my childhood due to the fact that I was taken from the town I had spent the first nine years of my life in only to begin an entirely new life in another town I had never even been to. I was taken from my friends and family, and I was faced with having to adjust to a whole new world. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this move and the experiences I would have would shape my life and make me the person that I am today.

Mockingbirds are known to be a symbol of innocence. Through day and night, they sing, mimicking other creatures sounds. Their peaceful nature brings no harm to human life. Therefore, killing a mockingbird is like destroying purity and constructing a sin.

An individual’s beliefs are often a reflection of the expectations placed on them by society, family, friends and themselves. The type of pressure experienced differs according to social status as well as level of education. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee that follows the life of a young girl named Scout Finch and her experiences as she grows up in the small, Southern town of Maycomb. Through Scout and her family; ideas of injustice, prejudice, courage and character are expanded upon as she explores both her external environment as well as her inner self. As she learns about the world around her and develops opinions on its workings, she often finds herself being challenged by her community and their expectation of what her morals and values should be. More often than not, it is these social standards standing juxtaposed to the morals of the Finch family that help develop a deeper understanding of the ignorance that has shaped Maycomb and its citizens. With this ignorance came underdeveloped models of what each gender, age, race and caste should look like, and these models became the standard of normality for the town. Maycomb’s tendency to follow tradition without question only helped to solidify outdated expectations on collectives. As a direct result, the standards held by the community were considered to be correct, and those who thought otherwise were often pressured into altering their beliefs.

In the novel "To Kill a Mocking Bird'. by Harper Lee, one of the main characters is Atticus Finch, a defense lawyer for Maycomb County, Alabama. He's also the honorable father of main character Scout and Jem. He is the lawyer for accused black rapist Tom Robinson and he tries to change injustices and racism in his small hometown. Atticus inner conflicts are expertly written in this novel. Atticus's physical appearance doesn't play a big part in the novel. Atticus is nearly fifty and wears glasses. Through the book we notice that Atticus has great pride in defending what is right and telling his children Jem and Scout what is wrong. Atticus is a very strong willed character. He always speaks his mind. He is not afraid of what other people think of him. People in the community are very trusting of Atticus because he sticks to what he believes in. All people are equal and deserve equal treatment no matter what race or religion.