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How Does Harper Lee Build Tension In To Kill A Mockingbird

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How does the writer build tension in this scene? In this essay I will be discussing how Harper Lee builds tension in 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' The book is set in the 1930's, a rather unpleasant and discriminative time period and this book is a clear example of this. After the children follow Atticus in to the town, Jem starts to have second thoughts and wants to return to the safety of their home to protect his sister and his friend whom he takes great responsibility for. Lastly, when the children arrive and Atticus sees them in the light, I quote "a flash of plain fear was going out of his eyes, but returned when Dill and Jem wriggled in to the light." From this we can infer that Atticus is uncomfortable with the children being here at such a delicate time with phrases like "plain fear." Tension has been created here by the dread of Atticus losing his children or from the children's perspective, losing Atticus. This gives the reader a sense of hostility from Attiucs and this is a re-occuring theme as the novel unfurls especially towards the second part of the book (one of two sections.) Lee engages the audience in the action through the use of first person and the way that …show more content…

Because Scout doesn’t undertand adult themes, we don’t often see the whole side of the story leaving us to make several inferneces and reading between the lines. The power of scout's innocence in this scence diffuses the situation and saves her father and Tom Robinson - the alleged rapist. Tension is shown here when Scout continues to pester Mr Cunningham after recognizing his face in the mist of the mob scene. The embarrasment shown by Mr Cunningham was enough to stop him and the mob from doing any harm at he jail (described as a miniature gothic

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