Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Christian Lee

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.

I selected this book because its the best book I have ever read. I read To Kill A Mockingbird last year and my class wrote an essay about this book, since I already know so much about this book I thought it would be a nice and quick read. I thought it would be a great enjoyment to refresh my memory of this epic book. I watched the movie soon after I read the whole book and it was very fun to pick out the not-placed and wrong-worded parts of the movie. To Kill A Mockingbird is about a sister, brother, and their friend Dill finding items in their neighbors tree, soon after this their father was the lawyer of a case on an african american.

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.

In Maycomb, a black man named Tom Robinson is on trial for raping beating up Mayella Ewell. From the beginning Mr. Robinson never really received a fair trial. The law states that someone should get a fair trial from a jury of their peers. However, in Maycomb this doesn’t happen. The Courthouse in Maycomb is filled with local white people. Two men say “You know the court appointed him to defend this nigger...Yeah, but Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it”(163). This quote is important because it shows the overall attitude of Maycomb’s white citizens. One critical moment may have shown why the trial wasn’t a fair trial. Atticus proved that Tom Robinson was not involved in the attack. “His left arm was fully 12 inches shorter than his right and hung dead at his side” (186). This represented the physical

Atticus aims to strike this change into the hearts of others when he is appointed to defend Tom Robinson; however, courthouse critics have said “Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what [they] don’t like about it” (137). This shows that Atticus is willing to give his all to show people Tom Robinson is an innocent man and convicting him just because he is black would be wrong, so it needs to change. Atticus has been leading the charge for change mostly in the beginning chapters of this book, but during the trial is when Atticus can truly influence people to write their wrongs and free an innocent man despite his skin color. Although some people don’t like what he’s doing, eventually they begin to realize that what Atticus is doing is the right thing. After finding out about the news of Tom’s death, Aunt Alexandra proceeds to complain about how all the strain of changing things gets to him. To ease Alexandra’s worries, Miss Maudie says Maycomb “[trusts] him to do right” (201), showing that Atticus has a crucial role in leading the change, and people flock to him when they want change to occur as Judge Taylor did when he didn’t want the jury to convict Tom Robinson, so he appointed Atticus as his lawyer in hopes that he would win the

Atticus shows willpower and courage by agreeing to defend Tom Robinson in court. Back in those days, it was very unusual for a white lawyer to do their best in defending an African American. Atticus was unlike the many racist lawyers in Maycomb which showed how he was courageous. Atticus says, “Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.” (Lee, 274) This shows that Atticus wanted to stand up for the rights of African Americans, even if people disagreed with it. This showed true

Atticus’s family are talking about how they will never be able to walk the streets without being criticized. “..he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin. (Lee, ). Atticus values equality and justice . He shows this by taking this case and showing that he cares for a black male is considered it is a disgrace to help a black person in Maycomb causing his family to have problems.

Fighting for black people was something white people in Maycomb will despise you for so Scout says to Atticus, “‘If you shouldn’t be defendin’ him, then why are you doin’ it ?’ ‘ for number of reason,’ said Atticus. ‘The main one is, if I didn’t I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature….”’ That shows why Atticus is a determined person because if he didn't he wouldn’t feel like he is a good person. This also shows that the obstacles is that nobody would like him but he ignored that and still chose to do something that he knew mostly he would like and other white people wouldn’t. This is one reason why he should stand up and defend tom robinson because he has the heart and soul to unlike others and doing it will make him feel good about himself. Sinec racism was extremely strong in Maycomb the probability of black man fighting against a white man and the black man winning was extremely low which cause Scout to say, “‘Atticus are we going to win it?’ ‘No,honey.’ ‘Then, why-’ ‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win….”’ That is another example of how he is determined because deep, deep down inside he knows no matter how much times he goes to trial he is going to lose because of the Maycomb sickness which is racism. He knows that he would lose but still chose to give it a try just to see if he could finally change some things. He went in knowing the outcome but still chose to give in his time for Tom Robinson because he knew that it would make him proud and the blacks to hor him. Even though Atticus really didn’t care if the blacks honored him or not he knew that what he was doing was good. All that information shows why he should defend Tom because he has the mindset and strength to take a lose or a win has the ability to take on such a challenge, he isn’t weak or racist he is strong and

Atticus becomes involved in controversy when he agrees to defend Tom, a young black man. Atticus chooses to defend him despite the fact that many people ridiculed him because he told his children not to discriminate black people and if he chose not to defend Tom, he would be a hypocrite and could never expect his children to respect him again. Atticus was a good man trying to change the way African Americans were treated in Maycomb. Atticus decided to defend Tom even though he would lose since he was an African-American, but the point was to show his children not to discriminate. In Chapter 9, Atticus states that “Every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally.” He is trying to say that there is no way he can

Atticus, when asked why he will defend Tom Robinson, states: “If I didn’t I couldn’t hold my head up in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again,” (H. Lee 75). This quote illustrates identity because Atticus held himself to higher ethical standards than the rest of Maycomb; thus, he felt compelled to argue to the best of his ability. Atticus had pride in his morals, and knew wrong from right, so he was able to see that Tom Robinson was innocent, despite of his race. Additionally, Atticus knew that Bob Ewell was the rapist, which went against the 1930’s stereotype of a Caucasian person being less violent than an African-American. If anyone else defended Tom Robinson, the layer may have succumbed to Maycomb’s pressures and purposely not defended Tom well. To conclude, Atticus’ identity was based on high behavioral standards, which guided Atticus to do the right action and defend Tom Robinson

Typically, readers tend to think Atticus is a man of high moral when he defends Tom Robinson, who is an African American, in the court case. Lee states “If you shouldn’t be defendin’ him, then why are you doing it? 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 country in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (Lee 100). Atticus seems that he has lots of good reasons why he took the case. So, that is why Atticus tried his best in defending Tom. In “The Courthouse Ring” by Malcolm Gladwell it talks about how “Atticus doesn’t have the strongest case. He only had one potential evidence about how Tom has an injury on his left arm while Mayella’s bruises were on the right side of her face”. This then proves how Atticus didn’t actually try his best

However, although the cause was unpopular, Atticus felt compelled to protect not only Tom Robinson’s life, but to protect his honor. Truly selfless, Atticus represented Robinson despite the disapproval of his neighbors and some members of his family. As a result of Atticus’ involvement in the case, Atticus and his family are persecuted by racist villagers. Atticus’ moral compass compelled him to stand by a man whom he believed was innocent. Fueled by his convictions, Atticus demonstrated moral courage at great personal expense. By standing up for the rights of one black man, Atticus vindicated the rights of all of the blacks in Maycomb.

Personal Response- I really enjoyed this book because it made me laugh. The book went through the worst of everything. Stan Lee the author of this book talked about blunders, screw- ups, oddballs, misfits and rotten ideas. It was just hilarious.

The story, in the eyes of two innocent children Scout and her brother Jem, of the discrimination and hypocrisy throughout the town. Maycomb County, Alabama, faces an African American’s injustice while the children learn valuable lessons from their father, Atticus and their housemaid Calpurnia, during the Great Depression. All the while, we are learning from it. To Kill a Mockingbird teaches us the lessons of morale, justice and equality.