Everyone, no matter who they are, was an innocent child at one point. A child who was protected from the rest of reality by their parents or guardians. However, once you go out into the real world, everything you believed starts to fade away, and you start to gain a new perspective on life. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, expresses the story of a 9-year-old girl named Scout, who lives in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression. She retells her experiences that led up to when her older brother, Jem broke his arm. Scout’s father, Atticus, a wise defense attorney, had to take a biased case against Bob Ewell's daughter, Mayella, who had accused Tom Robinson, a black man, of raping her. Atticus, to many people’s surprise, …show more content…
The case has been going on and Scout and Jem, along with their friend Dill, have been spectating the case when they were instructed not to. As the prosecutor spits out mean and sensitive questions to Tom Robinson, Dill gets emotional and starts to cry, so then they go out of the building, only to find Dolphus Raymond, whom everyone in town thinks is a drunk, on a tree stump. He explains that he only drinks Coca-Cola, not alcohol: “Some folks don’t like the way I live… I try to give em’ reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey”(Lee 268). He is showing Scout that he is a liar, but it’s for a good cause. It shows Scout that not all things that seem bad end up bad, and he says he only lies to give a reason for his close relationship with black people as a white person. Scout knows that the court is going on as she is talking, so she is eager to get back, and Mr. Raymond knows. As she is about to go back, he explains that she has a long way to go in her life: “Miss Jean Louise, you don’t know your pa’s not a run-of-the-mill man, it’ll take a few years for that to sink in - you haven’t seen enough of the world yet. You haven’t even seen this town, but all you gotta do is step back inside the courthouse”(Lee 269). Dolphus says to Scout …show more content…
It shows how innocence can hold a person back and losing it is a gateway to the rest of your life or your adulthood. Scout starts of 6 years old and like any other child would, nieve about the world and the horrible things that come with it. Atticus levels with Scout and tries to make her understand that not all people are good, with the example being Cecil Jacobs. Then she goes to Calpurnia’s church and learns from the black people’s perspective the situation Tom Robinson and Atticus are going through. Atticus acts very openly about the subject, unlike most parents, which allows you to see the rapid changes in Scout’s personality. Finally, Dolphus Raymond reveals to Scout that in a lifetime, you sometimes have to do bad things to give off a right message, which in his case is lying to gain a better connection with the black population. Losing innocence isn’t something a select few get to experience, because everyone is at one point exposed to the real world, and even though that losing your innocence may be a slow, indiscernible process, it will make you a better, mature, and sophisticated
I believe that our convictions can be pernicious or used for malicious intent. When a clash of opinions is mishandled that there are frequently repercussions and often calamitous outcomes follow.
From this, one can see that Scout is still in a juvenile state of mind. Furthermore, one can see how the beliefs of the townspeople have been transferred to Scout, who had taken them as they are considered the social norm. She unknowingly accepts their racism when she thinks of Dolphus Raymond as a “sinful man” because he associates himself with black people and “…had mixed children and didn’t care who knowed it.” (201) She does not understand why he freely displays his transgression to the town when it is acknowledged as a wrong thing to do in Maycomb. However, Scout slowly starts to develop her own sense of right and wrong and create her own judgments of others. Boo was once the monster of her childhood, but after witnessing his cordial and courageous actions, she realizes that “he hadn’t done any of those things…he was real nice.” (281) In the end, Scout matures and sheds her childhood nickname to become the young lady called “Jean Louise” by family and friends. (211, 224, 229) This change in Scout is a result of her loss of innocence and is a focal point in the novel to give a thought-provoking perspective on the events of the book.
“Experience, which destroys innocence, also leads one back to it” As children age, and experience life, they lose their innocence. They learn the hard truths of society and how people work. Jem and scout are siblings living in the great depression with their father, Atticus in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus is a lawyer, and he is defending a black man by the name of Tom Robinson. Tom is clearly innocent, but with the prejudice of the town, the case is difficult.
Within the last century, there has been a multitude of great stories, books, and novels. The reason these a pronouced as “great,” are their engaging plots, unique characteristics, and learning experiences. Harper Lee’s novel “How to Kill a Mocking bird,” is compiled with many characters, each having seperate beliefs and opinions within their society. Some character’s express valuing aspects, while others represent bitterness and envy. Lee, firmly contrasts the positive, loving character named Atticus, by a young girl named Scout who will take you through Atticus’ journey of his complex life in a small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Integrity, humbleness, and kindness strongly establishes Atticus’ exceedingly likeable characteristics.
Tom Robinson, a black man in To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the main characters in
The To Kill A Mockingbird movie cut down a twelve-hour book into a two-hour ten-minute movie. They did this by removing many scenes that were important to the main plot. To Kill A Mockingbird is about two kids names name Scout and Jem who become aware of the prejudice throughout Maycomb as well as realizing their neighbor, Boo Radley, is not who he seems to be. Atticus, Scout and Jem’s father, teaches his children many important lessons such as, the importance of perspective; being courageous when faced with adversity; why harming innocent human beings is wrong, and how to make the morally correct choices during difficult times. The summary is the same for both the book and the movie, however, the movie leaves out
“Innocence once lost, can never be regained”. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee in 1960 that highlights the serious issue of racial inequality. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout shows how the loss of innocence changes her perspective of Maycomb through the events of Atticus defending Tom Robinson outside of the jailhouse, The trial of Tom Robinson, and when Bob Ewell attempted to murder her and her brother. Scout’s loss of innocence can be seen when Atticus stayed outside of the jailhouse.
Everyone has their own special prized possession or their own quality that sets them apart from others which may or may not be a small or a large part of their lives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout a six-year-old girl is narrating her life as a she grows up in a simple town which goes by the name; Maycomb County.
Innocent, loving, forgiving, sinful, sullen, judgmental, a clear contrast is seen between theses words. The first three words may convey the heart of a child, and the last three words may convey the heart of a sinner. Harper Lee shows a clear contrast between innocents and sinfulness in her book To Kill a Mockingbird. To me, this book stands out among the shelves, and it stands in first place on my book list. Out of the two award winning books I have read in English 1, I enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the most, because it showed the fun and adventurous life of little kids, exposed southern culture of the 1930s, and gave an impactful message.
To Kill a Mockingbird was very different from other books I have read in the past. Harper Lee writes the story in first person from Scout’s perspective; but what is different is Scout is an adult looking back on her childhood. I did not catch on to this until later in the book so I was a little confused the first part. What added to my confusion was the way Harper Lee started out the book, she used foreshadowing in the very beginning. While Jem’s broken arm was in the back of my head, I was interested in the social rankings of Maycomb. At the top were white families, with jobs inside the town, the next were poor whites that tried to make a living off farming, and at the bottom were blacks. What caught my attention was the lower middle class.
Have you ever done something because everyone else was doing that thing? Have you ever bought something because a friend or because everyone else has that thing? In To Kill a Mockingbird: The Screenplay written by Horton Foote, Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson an alleged rapist who was an African American during the Great Depression. Everyone told Atticus what he was doing was wrong, defending a black man during The Great Depression. Tom Robinson was an innocent man in the Great Depression who’s only case against him was that he was black and was seen near the scene at the time when Mrs. Mayella was beaten. He was being unfairly tried and represented in the court just because he was an African American during an extremely racist time in the South. Atticus saw it different than everyone else, he was the only one willing to believe Tom Robinson when everyone else was saying he was wrong because he was a black man. Sometimes doing the right thing happens when everyone else is telling you are wrong. Atticus Finch Believed in Tom Robinson when no one else did. Do what is right when everyone is telling you are wrong.
My name is Samantha and I am a high school Freshman in the Bay Area. Recently in English class, we have finished the classic book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the book, we looked at the symbolism and how it relates to modern issues. I quickly noticed that the book not only show the court system in the 1960s but also the court system standing today. By having a colored man convicted of a crime he did not relates to today's issue of the colored community getting harsher and longer sentences. You are one of the people with the most power in this country so I am asking for you to put an end to the racial profiling that goes on in this country by having the jury and judge not see the defendant during hearings.
When scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter we see images of people who we look up to because of their physical appearance, that we consider beautiful and reject those who don’t meet the “ideal” standards of society because we are ignorant and don’t consider their feelings. Society's standards are constantly changing, as we try to meet them we ignore the value of the people around us. Instead, we should focus and set a goal to get to know people who we think are different from us. In the novel To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Harper Lee conveys the message of if we humans learn to accept one another and set aside our predisposed beliefs of others we are more likely to understand them better, avoid conflict and gain new perspectives and bonds.
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
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