Jasper Jones To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

The intriguing novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is written by the prestigious author Harper Lee. Lee has utilised the lifestyle and attitudes towards ‘African-Americans" in the 1930's to create a novel which presents the reader with Lee's attitudes and values. The dominant reading of the novel is focused on the issues of racial prejudice, but there are also a number of other alternative and oppositional readings. Examples of this are the Marxist and feminist readings which can be applied to the text.

Introduction Prejudice refers to the judgements towards a person because of their race, social class, age, disability or sexual orientation. (Cherry, “What is Prejudice?”) Prejudice was, and still is, to a large extent experienced by people all over the world. It is a theme that is presented in so many works of literature in a plethora of different ways. One of the most prominent ways in which prejudice is explored is through the use of characters that perhaps are a different nationality or have a different orientation to the majority of the other characters in the works. Two texts, in which the theme is presented in an admirable way , are ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, and ‘Jasper Jones’ by Craig Silvey. Through the use of the

The ambition of oneself to pursue justice and righteousness may result in prosecution. In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, and movie "A Time to Kill" by Joel Schumacher, each demonstrate one’s open-mindedness and forward thinking leads to penalization through protagonists Atticus Finch and Jake Brigance. Both egalitarians take the position as an attorney for an African American and are prosecuted in the process.

Mockingbirds will only sing their hearts, not cause any damage or give their lives to pleasing others. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird great examples are shown of different types of mockingbirds. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur (Boo) Radley are great examples of representing a mockingbird.

To 13-year-old Charlie Bucktin, the small town of Corrigan is filled with intolerance, prejudice and insularity. It is 1965, and the bigotry of rural Western Australia is a setting for a story that aligns itself with an American literary tradition. Charlie is lured by the promise of adventure when the town troublemaker, Jasper Jones, comes to his window one night and asks for help. Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey, is a well written, engrossing, coming of age story that informs young readers that they are not alone in the jungle of adolescence. Moral duality becomes a mode of operation once foreign to Charlie Bucktin, as he awakens to a new understanding as to why these antithetical views co-exist. It explores the dangers of making assumptions

“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered”...

Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird details the life of young Scout Finch and brother Jem Finch, who is growing up in a time of racial uniqueness. Jem and Scout Finch are what most would call a typical family growing up in the small Alabama town of Maycomb. They encounter many different obstacles during their childhood missions with many characters making the novel an interesting read. Throughout the book, Lee is showing Jem and Scout grow up and become mature young adults. This novel, written by Harper Lee, demonstrates the themes of growing up, Innocence and most importantly, racism.

“Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee pg. 90). The bird, mentioned nearly twice, seems to show little importance to the story. Nonetheless, it resembles the perception of some characters. The one time Scout had ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do anything was when referring to the mockingbird. He advised his children when hunting to never shoot a mockingbird. Miss Maudie followed with further detail by explaining that “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee pg.90).

“Its a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 103). This familiar statement expresses the meaning of the word mockingbird that is in the title of the novel. Arousingly touching the hearts of others, Harper Lee displays the innocence of a mockingbird and people who compare to a mockingbird. Maycomb county, a fictional setting in the book where innocent people were accused of wrongdoings and sometimes punished for crimes they did not commit or things they could not help. In To Kill a Mocking, Harper Lee used symbolism to compare Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Jem Finch to a mockingbird.

Mayella Ewell is an abused young woman in Maycomb, Alabama who accused an African American man Tom Robinson of rape during the Great Depression in the early 1930’s. Mayella took advantage of the Jim Crow laws so she could end the mental and physical abuse her father caused. Since Mayella is white and female, she has power. Although she lives behind a dumpster this still provides a significant amount of power for her. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” Harper Lee shows Mayella’s power for class during the trial.

“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you,” stated Bethany Hamilton, an American professional surfer, who survived a shark attack, when she was only 13 years of age. This quote relates to the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, on account that plenty of people in the book had fear, but did not let it stop them from doing what they needed to do. A few of these courageous people were Mrs. Dubose, Atticus, and Boo Radley.

As children, we often copy our parent's values and beliefs. In the novel ”To Kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee the author demonstrates that parents pass down their ideals and values to their children through their actions . This leads to their children inheriting their character traits. In the novel, Atticus and Bob Ewell demonstrate their kind and abusive parenting style through their actions that influence the values and beliefs of their children.

Charles Lamb once said, “Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.” The author of To Kill

Harper Lee shows us how broken or “fallen” the adult world really is in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The adults in the novel are responsible for their children and how they grow up, so they have to change to make a better future for them. Unfortunately, most of the adults in Lee’s novel continue on with their discriminatory and unruly behaviour and proceed to teach their children the same unjust and immoral ways of life they were taught. Lee feels that if adults continue to be closed-minded to new, better ways of life, to keep demonstrating racism and unfairness, and to keep teaching their children to have certain views for certain people such as women or “negroes”, then nothing is going to change and the new generation will be just as broken as the adults.

How would you feel if you had done all you could to help someone that you felt sorry for, but they twisted the story and now you are sitting in court waiting to go to jail because no one will believe your side of the story? With this situation, an honest man’s innocence has been lost. As Scout grows up, she realizes there is more to the story than she is told. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is forced to believe other people’s perspectives due to living in the 1930’s. Through the loss of innocence of a respectable African American Tom Robinson, her brother Jem Finch, and the town hermit Boo Radley, Scout is able to understand the reality of what society is all about.