Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

“Human beings are poor examiners, subject to superstition, bias, prejudice, and a profound tendency to see what they want to see rather than what is really there” ~ Scott Peck. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird abounds with the injustice produced by social, gender, and racial prejudice. The setting of the book takes place in the 1930s, where racism is a big deal in society. In the novel Harper Lee uses a mockingbird as an analogy to the characters. The Mockingbird is a symbol for Three Characters in the book, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. The people of Maycomb only know Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by what others say about them. These Characters are then characterized by other people 's viewpoints. In the novel there are many themes that are adjacent to our lives, the one that is found in To Kill A Mockingbird is Human Conflict comes from the inability for one to understand another. “ You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39)

Undeniably, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an interesting yet enlightening read about the discrimination and unfairness African Americans faced in the 1930s through the eyes of a child. There are numerous passages throughout the novel that are life lessons for not just the characters in the story, but the readers. Without a doubt, one life lesson that is displayed in the story is the empathy shown by Atticus. The life lesson of personal integrity is also a major one in the story, as well as persistence. Lastly, the theme of courage is significant and the life lesson of the mockingbird in the story has a deeper meaning than what might appear to readers. Overall, the life lessons of empathy, personal integrity, persistence,

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been banned and/or challenged over thirty times since its publication in 1960. Effectively preventing many students from enjoying the novel and benefitting from its message. To ignore racism is no different than denying it ever existed. To Kill a Mockingbird is appropriate for mature adolescence/students and should not be banned from schools. Despite its sexual related content, or profanity, a valuable lesson remains that should be taught to students.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has many ongoing themes such as Walking in Someone Else 's Shoes, Social Classes, Scout 's Maturity, and Boo Radley. These themes contribute to the story in many ways.

Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” is set in a small, southern town, Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The story is told through the eyes of a girl named Scout about her father, Atticus, an attorney who strives to prove the innocence of a black man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape and Boo Radley, an enigmatic neighbor who saves Scout and her brother Jem from being killed. Atticus does his job in proving there was no way that Tom Robinson was guilty during his trial, but despite Tom Robinson’s obvious innocence, he is convicted of rape as it is his word against a white woman’s. Believing a “black man’s word” seemed absurd as segregation was a very integrated part of life in the south. The social hierarchy must be maintained at all costs and if something in the system should testify the innocence of a black man against a white woman’s word and win then what might happen next? Along with the prejudice amongst blacks and whites, the story also showed how people could be misunderstood for who they truly are such as Boo Radley. Without ever seeing Boo, Jem and the townsfolk made wild assumptions on what Boo does or looks like. Even so, while “To Kill a Mockingbird” shows the ugliness that can come from judging others, its ultimate message is that great good can result when one defers judgement until considering things from another person’s view. Walter Cunningham, Mrs. Dubose, and Boo Radley are all examples of how looking at things

If you were a parent would you want the best for your kids? Would you want to teach them to search out for the true meaning of dignity and respect? This was the goal of one father, Atticus Finch. Being a nearly fifty-year-old man with extremely young children he wanted to share his wisdom and firsthand experiences with his children to shape them into a respectable young man and woman. Throughout his life, Atticus is taught many experiences himself about not judging someone, and to stand up for the helpless and defenseless. Some important morals that he carried through to teach his children in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is to never judge someone by their social class or race, and to fight for the justice of all the people of Maycomb.

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the story of two children coming of age and learning about their hometown and the whole world. The two children in the story are Jem and Scout Finch. Jem and Scout live with their father, Atticus, in Maycomb County. Throughout the story, many problems arise which teach both children about bravery. The three bravest characters in the novel include their neighbor Mrs. Dubose, a convicted black man named Tom Robinson, and their father Atticus.

For instance, Atticus talks to his brother Jack about Jem and Scout not catching “ Maycomb’s usual disease”(Pg 117). He wants them to treat people equally regardless of race . While Atticus was defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, Scout’s classmates called Atticus names. He told her to “...hold your head high and keep those fists down”(Pg.84). Atticus wanted Scout to not resort to physical confrontation and just walk away with her head held high. He wanted her to practice tolerance. Although in the end he did not free Tom, Atticus taught his kids about tolerance and courage by defending him despite Maycomb’s objections. Jem and Scout looked up to Atticus for defending

Children need an influential role model in their life in order to be successful and to live a fortunate life. Atticus Finch, one of the important characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is portrayed as a lawyer and a single parent striving to raise his children to see the good in people within Maycomb’s racist community. Atticus says that people never really understand someone until they put themselves in that person's shoes and see things their way. If people do the same to see things in Atticus’ view or almost any parent perspective, they would see a strong desire to raise his/her child the right way. Jem and Scout Finch, who are both Atticus’ children learn many moral lessons from Atticus because he encounters some adverse situations himself. In other words, Atticus determines to teach Jem and Scout the righteous aspects of life.

In the long run, in the book, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is consistently doing his best to instill his children regarding life, what's right or wrong, and courage. Atticus influences not just his children, but everyone around him. He has worked very hard to set an example to his children. Atticus Finch has a colossal impact not just his children, but on everyone around

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates an amazing story, but there is one thing that is controversial in the book: Did Atticus do the right thing by taking on Tom’s case? In the book, Tom Robinson, who was a black man, was wrongly accused by Bob Ewell for raping Ewell’s daughter, and Atticus, a lawyer, decides to take on the case in a Maycomb, which was a very racist town. Bob Ewell, who is mad when Atticus makes a fool of him, goes after, and hurts, Atticus’s kids. So, the question is, did Atticus do the right thing by taking on the case, and by doing so, put his kids in danger? Most likely, the answer is yes, even though he put his kids in harm 's way, he still did the right thing, since his kids only came out of the experience with mild injuries, but a lot of knowledge and experience about how to live in the racist town of Maycomb.

For example when Atticus is speaking to Scout, “‘They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions,’ said Atticus, ‘but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.’” (54-55). THis shows how Atticus teaches his kids what is right for everybody no matter what their skin color

“If you learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. 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 it.” This is just one of many examples of Atticus Finch parenting his children. When it comes to parenting, Atticus Finch, a fictional character in the 1960 novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, certainly knows what he’s talking about. His unique, then controversial, approach at raising Scout and Jem is a big part in To Kill A Mockingbird. He teaches them to be themselves and not care about what other people think of them, he teaches them to not judge people unless they really know what they’re going through, or their side of the story.

Atticus educates his children on how to act in society when he teaches them that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, to walk around in someone’s skin before judging them, and to be polite to all people regardless of their race or others’ opinions. For instance, when Jem and Scout get their guns for Christmas, Atticus tells them that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Jem and Scout do not understand the importance of this instruction, until they learn that Atticus is comparing a mockingbird to any individual who is innocent and untouched by the evils of society. This important lesson shows Atticus’s goal of raising his kids to accept the responsibilities of society, including protecting unjustly targeted people. Additionally, after Scout has

The text type of To Kill a Mockingbird is a fiction novel which deals with the racism the author observed as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee, who wrote her novel in a retrospective point of view. There were numerous aspects of historical, personal, cultural and social context in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee was born on the 28th of April, 1926, in Monroeville Alabama. Monroeville was a close-knit community that has many similarities with Maycomb, which is the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee’s father was a prominent lawyer, whom she drew inspiration for the protagonists father, Atticus Finch. Among Lee’s childhood friends was Truman Capote, from whom she drew inspiration to the character Dill. These personal details help portray Harper Lee’s own childhood home, where racism and segregation was highly evident. Another example of context which helped shape To Kill a Mockingbird were the events that occurred during Harper Lee’s childhood. In 1931, when Harper Lee was five years old, nine African-American men were accused of raping two white women near Scottsboro, Alabama. After a series of lengthy, highly publicised, and often bitter trials, five of the nine men were sentenced to long term imprisonment. Many prominent lawyers and various members of the general public saw the sentences as spurious and believed that it was motivated by racial prejudice.