Analysis Of Harper Lee '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.

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’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.

redujice is not something we are born with; it is something that we grow to learn from who and what surrounds us, things that help to form our identity. Prejudice is an integral theme in Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird. Prejudice is evident throughout the novel, not just in the appalling racism but also through, prejudice against different sexual orientations, gender constructs and feminism. Society had certain constructs that had to be met. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee breaks the bounds to overcome barriers, and challenge social constructs.

​In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch, and her brother Jem, learn the importance of seeing things through other people's eyes. At the beginning of the story, the people living in Maycomb County, can be considered "mockingbirds" because they are innocent. Their father, Atticus, leads as a strong example while defending Tom Robinson, a black man convicted for rape. The residents of Maycomb (besides the Finches) fail to see situations through other people's eyes. For example, when the trial takes place, most people do not have empathy toward Tom Robinson, resulting in some of those "mockingbirds" becoming killed. Trying to see situations through other people's eyes can keep someone from hurting somebody who is innocent.

Harper Lee’s renowned book To Kill a Mockingbird is highly praised for the lessons it teaches, it’s persuasive humor and how it tells a story of growth. It tells the story of Scout Finch as she learns and and grows in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Scout has a brother, Jem, who leads scout on adventures and through trials as they are taught about racism, empathy and courage. Scout's perspective allows a look into how growing up in her circumstances has affected her personally. (need another sentence here to lead to thesis) Harper Lee uses the characterization of Jem to show an alternate insight to growing up through the way he strays from being moral, how he tries to be more independent, and by when he reaches his breaking point.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout overcomes morality when she learns the story behind the neighborhood recluse, Boo Radley. Boo never goes outside, he doesn’t talk to anyone, he is a strange person in the town of Maycomb and most people, especially Scout

“I am not Abnegation. I am not Dauntless. I am Divergent” (Roth 442). This quotation display a certain substance we all need understand about ourselves in life; we are more than one thing, one personally, and one judgement, we are all divergent. Divergent is a powerful word in which means that we are all different than what the world may want you to be or how you are portrayed to the rest of the world. Divergent means, you are not just one human you are one different human being who has many aspects that make you the person you are. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, judgement is evident when characters Arthur Radley, Atticus Finch, and Dolphus Raymond are misjudged for the way they community sees them, which is being

A lot of books that get banned are due to having real world events, and certain words that are censoring students from history, and reality. “Harper Lee’s book has been challenged by black parents who object to the use of the word “nigger”.” (Rohrer). Although the word is disrespectful to use, it’s a part of history that can’t be erased. “To Kill a Mockingbird” uses the word 58 times in the book, but without it, the book wouldn’t have an accurate representation of that time era. The fact that some religions, origins, and ethnicities get offended by this is understandable, but by trying to ban the books from schools it is restricting information from the whole student body not only their child. The history that is being shown by the use of “nigger” only teaches the time era we have lived and points out how far we have come from. History is what has happened in the past, and what has shaped us today. The past defines us and is a reminder of where we came from, but also shows us what we learned from our mistakes. It initially builds our moral values and is memories of time eras and accomplishments. Parents can’t just erase the events that they don’t like, otherwise, they aren’t allowing their children to know the truth of what has happened in our past. This takes away knowledge from students and ultimately makes them naive. Covering the issues of this world with rainbows and butterflies. When books are censored because of their use of harsh vocabulary or content that can be

Throughout the years women have always been seen as a lesser value on comparison to men. Women are always shaped and molded a certain way to society’s liking. They have been told to act and behave a certain way because that is what is expected of them. Of course there is also the view of certain women that like to fit those expectations. Yet for men, they are influenced and respected when they act as they please and stand out from other men. It is extremely unfair to discriminate women and push them into being a certain way when women have so much potential to offer. Women back then and even now are being limited to a life that is already chosen for them. They are given an ideal as to how a women should behave and

Many women must hide their identities for equality and acceptance in society. In many cases women try to hide their true identities in order to escape ridicule from those who do not believe in equality for all. A quote from a book that explains this well is in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The quote is "Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day" (Lee 69)The previous statement is a great testimony to where thing used to be to where they are now while things aren't quite perfect times keep getting easier for women in society. Even back in WWII women were treated as animals inferior to men. A great example from a wonderful piece of literacy

Boo Radley is the center of all the children’s talk in Maycomb. It is storied that Boo Radley is this terrible, creepy, violent man who feeds on squirrels and poisons his pecans from his front tree. Kids are terrified of him and his house based only on the crazy stories they have heard. In actuality, Boo Radley is a kind, gentle man who, due to his condition and neighborhood gossip, is confined to his house. He saves Jem and Scout’s life when they were attacked by Bob Ewell, walking home late at night. Even though he saved the kids, the sheriff gives no credit to Boo, saying that putting him in the spotlight would be a sin. Scout said it the best, “It’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird” (Lee 276). Despite his heroics and kind nature, most people still speak poorly of him, which makes him the last mockingbird.

In To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus’s idea of what it means to be a man and his beliefs are a large factor in Scout’s personal development. In a thesis paper by Laura Hakala at Georgia Southern University, she explains how “[Atticus] completely subverts expectations by acting stereotypically feminine, [or] only bend conventions by demonstrating features that differ from the dominant male traits in his community” (14). This refers to Atticus preferring reading over hunting, while he is not demonstrating a stereotypically feminine trait, he is demonstrating features that clash with how the town views he should act. However, despite the backlash that Atticus receives, the ideology of acting in the way that the situation requires, regardless of the

“It's not who I am underneath but what I do that defines me” Christian Bale. It doesn't matter what whether you’re black, white, male, or female it is your actions that define you. To most people of Maycomb it doesn't matter of your race, if you were black you were considered immoral, liars untrustworthy. Atticus had to defend his client (Tom Robinson) from these same judgments that were plaguing the black community. Atticus tried his hardest, but in the end it didn't matter. The jury didn't judge Tom on the facts that were given, nor did they judge Tom on his character, but they judged him on the sole fact that he was a black man.

In class we are reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I just finished reading chapters 16-23. The book is in Scouts perspective, and I think that it really helps when reading too see how Scout views a certain topic. It is a coming of age story and the two characters that are growing up are Scout and Jem. In this journal I will give information about a character named Tom Robinson, and my opinions on him. I will also be conveying my opinions oh why Mayella Ewell would have lie about the case.