To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that is a wonderful exploration of racism and brutality in primarily white, southern towns. The main character, Scout Finch, is a little girl who doesn’t quite understand everything she sees and hears, creating an effect where the reader recognizes what’s happening while Scout isn’t always aware of the severity of the situation. Scout’s father, Atticus, is a lawyer representing an African American man named Tom Robinson for supposedly raping a white woman. During the trial, it becomes clear that that the white woman and her family are lying, but Tom is still convicted. This is the climax of the novel and it’s the most focused-upon act of cruelty throughout the book. To Kill a Mockingbird uses cruelty to show readers how harshly African Americans were treated during the early 1930s and does so by using an innocent onlooker to provide a childlike and plain view on racism, revealing throughout the book that people have no limits on how cruel they can be. …show more content…
It is made clear in Tom’s trial that no matter what his defense is, the white people’s word is always going to rule. Atticus even acknowledges this before the trial when he says, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (87). Racism against African Americans is so potent in the small town of Maycomb that even the lowliest white folk’s opinions are considered truthful over a respectable African American man. Scout, since she’s not prejudiced, can clearly see that Mayella and her father are lying in court, but it doesn’t end up mattering, no matter the amount of incriminating evidence Atticus presents in Tom’s
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.
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, tells the story of Jem and Scout Finch and their adventures in Maycomb county in the 1930s, and Atticus their father who takes a brave step to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who everyone is against, over a white woman who accuses him of rape. Lee reveals that fighting for justice in an unjust society requires the courage to stand up against the majority. This theme appears in the novel when they introduce Maycomb county and show that the society they are living in is difficult, when Atticus takes a brave step to defend a black man in a rape case and has to deal with the consequences of it, and when Scout and Jem also have to deal with the hate from Atticus’s choice but keep their head up
The novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a simplistic view of life in the Deep South of America in the 1930s. An innocent but humorous stance in the story is through the eyes of Scout and Jem Finch. Scout is a young adolescent who is growing up with the controversy that surrounds her fathers lawsuit. Her father, Atticus Finch is a lawyer who is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, with the charge of raping a white girl. The lives of the characters are changed by racism and this is the force that develops during the course of the narrative.
“To Kill a Mocking Bird” is not only a great book but also a book that portrays a clear and concise message. This book is about the murder, immense persecution, and hatred towards an innocent man, Tom Robinson. This book Written by Harper lee is about a rape case against an African American man during the years of 1932 to 1935 in Maycomb, Alabama. These years were filled with racism, hatred, and segregation. A rape charge against a black man, Tom Robinson, with the victim being a white woman, Mayella Ewell, was ultimately a death sentence during these times no matter the actual truth to the incident or if it even occurred in the first place. This story portrays the truth of racism and the extreme level of tyranny directed towards African Americans. Lee lays out in detail the entirety of Tom Robinson’s case from the
In conclusion, the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee has many examples of cruelty in the world, as shown by the characters Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Dolphus Raymond. Boo Radley’s case is more general, throughout the entire world. Because of the cruelty he sees, he decides to stay inside his house, not because he’s forced to, which is common belief in the neighborhood. Tom Robinson’s case is towards black
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a multi-faceted novel which explores the principles and morals of people in the South during the 1930s. Mockingbirds are symbolic of the people that society abuse. Lee narrates the events of the novel using Scout’s voice and uses this technique to add emotional context and develop themes. Themes of racial and classist prejudice are developed by Lee to challenge the reader. These techniques are all powerful ways to alter the views of the reader.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a beautiful story depicting a family living in the South of the 1930’s, and their struggle against the prejudice which was common to that time. The book centers on Atticus Finch, the father of the family as well as a lawyer, and his fight against prejudice. We see the story unfold through the innocent eyes of his young daughter, Scout, who is free from prejudice and not yet jaded. By viewing events as Scout sees them, the author shows us how to overcome prejudices, and gain tolerance.
Human cruelty comes in many different forms and is presents in all times in human history. Human cruelty is present in many aspects of human culture and takes on several outlets. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee reveals the cruel side of human in the form of racism. Atticus Finch is assigned to defend an African American named Tom Robinson on an unjust rape
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that takes place in Alabama during the Great Depression. It is narrated by the main character who is a little girl named Jean Louise Finch aka “Scout”. Scout has a father named Atticus who is a lawyer and an older brother. The Finch’s are a white family and when Atticus goes to defend a black man, the whole town is shocked.This novel has tons of racism. Racism is an issue that is still current. Large amounts of racism are expressed in the novel still happens today through racial profiling, police brutality, and segregation.
On the 28th April 2011, I went to see a professional production of To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee at the 'Blackpool Grand Theatre'. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is set in 1935 in Alabama, a story about innocence, knowledge, prejudice and courage. In the beginning the main character, Scout, starts out to be a very immature child not knowing the prejudice times around her, as the story goes on she gains knowledge of these times by fellow kids around her accusing her dad of being a "nigger lover" which then was an insult. Her father was being courageous of a black man being falsely accused of raping a white girl. Her father, Atticus, is a criminal defence attorney only
The novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is based in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. When slavery and the Civil War were still present in the people’s way of living and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s are far from close. The novel focuses on the Finches: Scout, her brother Jem, and their father Atticus, and the trial of Tom Robinson and how it affected them and the town. Witnessing the injustice of Tom Robinson’s trial changed Scout Finch in many ways. Scout learns that there is more than one type of courage, she learns about race and its complexity, and she also changes how she views the people around her by putting herself
Today’s society is damaged with the results of people doing terrible things to each other. Peoples actions can make or break lives.The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is about a little girl, her Brother, their Dad, and the negro they all fight to defend. The main character scout and her older brother Jem, get into all sorts of dilemmas in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As they learn new valuable lessons about life, they also pick up that the small town they grow up in is not as clean and safe as it seems. The father, Atticus Finch is a kind hearted soul who was given the case of Tom Robinson, a negro accused of Raping a white woman. As soon as Atticus was given the case he aimed to defend Tom but a faulty jury made sure it did not happen.To
There were 17,250 people dead. This is the amount of people murdered last year in the U.S. alone. Why does this happen? Pure cruelty. There is tight tensions with the U.S. and North Korea that could start a nuclear war and kill most of us. Why is this possible? Cruelty between one another. This is just two examples of the cruelty in our world today and for the passed hundreds of years. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird cruelty plays a big part in the problems that go on in this small town in Alabama. I think if cruelty was eliminated Tom Robinson wouldn’t be dead, Boo Radley wouldn’t hide, and the whole view on equality between blacks and whites would change.
Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird Lee discusses the effects of ignorance and the toll it takes on people such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout herself, and many more. Through her examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the populist of poverty stricken Southerners, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of ignorance are the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story. A good example of this injustice is the trial of Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white girl and is found guilty. The book is from the point of view Scout, a child, who has an advantage over most kids due to her having a lawyer as a dad, to see the other side of the story. Her father tells her in the story, “you never really know a man until
The novel To Kill A Mockingbird shows how unfairness were played just because of someone's skin , how many people were affected. Throughout the book/movie it showed how black people were so different from white people. They were far from being equal white people were much higher than the blacks could ever be. Some characters were treated bad because of how people made them out to be like Tom Robinson they said he was “just a sorry n****” who committed an unthinkable crime . When he really didn't even commit it, but the color of his skin told it all he was black he obviously did it . Bob Ewells