Ethan Peterson
October 8, 2015
English 11 H
Saxton
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Harper Lee is an American Author because Lee was born in America, the book was written in America, and the story takes place in Alabama.
To Kill a Mocking Bird was first published on July 11, 1960
Summary of Book:
The story in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee focuses on the life of a little girl named Scout and her life growing up and coming to understand how the world works. Scout lives in the south in the state of Alabama with her father, Atticus Finch, and her older brother, Jeremy (Jem), and quickly realizes that the world she lives in is not as perfect as it may appear to a young girl. Scout and Jem become friends with a boy named Dill and go on adventures together through the summer, including sneaking around the supposedly haunted Radley property. They all fear Boo Radley because of gossip making him seem evil and scary, but slowly come to realize his goodness understanding that he has isolated him self and has become a social outcast.
Atticus, a civil rights lawyer, becomes involved with a case defending an African American man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white woman. Scout, Jem, and Dill go to the court to watch the trial and see the clear evidence to exonerate Tom. Despite the undeniable evidence in favor of Tom Robinson the justice system fails and sentences him to prison. The woman’s father, Bob Ewell, accusing Tom Robinson, feels like Atticus
In Harper Lee`s astounding novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is the glue that holds the County of Maycomb together. Atticus Finch is a lawyer, widower, father and the pure definition of a fair, patient, and courageous human being, who is willing to step out into the dark, unfair world of racism, discrimination, and prejudice, to lend a hand to any victim in need. No matter what race, gender, culture, or religion you have been blessed with, you can count on the Atticus Finch of Maycomb County to be there. Atticus was revealed by his own words, what the people in this story say about him, and his actions. He is shown as the spark of justice, the sign of patience, and the ray of courage in this blind world that is flooded by the
Atticus is appointed to defend a black man named Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. She is a member of the Ewell family, who is looked down upon by Maycomb society and referred to as "white trash." Atticus knows that Tom has almost no chance because he is black and will be tried by an all white jury. Nevertheless, he wants to help him reveal the truth.
“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)
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
“Everybody sees what you appear to be ... few people know who you really are.” This saying illustrates that if you appear one way, no one can see who you really are inside. When someone appears one way, you do not really get to know them but when they truly become themselves you can really see who they are and not just who they appear to be. However, they may only reveal their true selves to some people and keep acting like a different person to everyone else, or keep everything to themselves and do not show anyone their true self. Dolphus Raymond, Boo Radley and Atticus Finch in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, all show themselves in a different way. Dolphus reveals himself to Scout and Dill during the trial at the court.
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.
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.
J.F. Clarke once said "The bravest of individuals is the one who obeys his or her conscience." This quote means that standing up for what is right is the most profound form of bravery. Obeying one’s conscience is most difficult and requires the most bravery when others are against you, disagree, and mock or even threaten violence because of the exercise of one’s conscience. This quote is proven true in the story To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It is revealed to be true through the actions of Mrs. Dubose, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. Harper Lee takes the small rural town of Maycomb, in Southern Alabama, and transforms it during the course of the novel from a hardcore racist town into a community beginning to demonstrate its capacity for equality, fairness, and justice.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a book written by Harper Lee. It’s about a little tomboyish girl named Scout, her brother Jem, and her widowed- lawyer father, Atticus. The story is set
‘“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”’(Lee 33). Said by Atticus Finch, this is perhaps the most important line from the book because it makes Scout Finch become who she becomes. Throughout the plot of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch’s views and understanding of the society that surrounds her changes very drastically. Her understanding of the good and evil in society evolves the most, due to the teachings of Atticus Finch. In the beginning of the book, Scout Finch was what every child once was; innocent and simple. As the book progressed, she became aware that life was a complex and confusing world, and she struggled to
The Novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was written in 1960. It was written by an American Author, Harper Lee. The Novel To Kill a Mockingbird was written with much meaning and expressions. Harper Less uses the novel to tell a story, and to represent some of her own emotions and feelings towards different issues. The novel also uses different situations to represents innocence, innocence can be in many different forms and show through many different things. In the novel we are given a definition of a mockingbird -
The novel to Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is the story of an unfortunate society, where people are greatly affected by poverty due to the Great Depression. The story is based on a narration by Scout Finch, who describes her family and her town, Maycomb. Scout and her brother, Jem, are also introduced to other children, and they share stories and fantasies regarding a mystery man, Boo Radley, who lives in their neighborhood. Scout has a blunt nature, due to which she is an ill-mannered person who does not have any control over her anger and also shows no patience. When Calpurnia gets to know about Scout’s attitude problem, she makes sure that Scout learns the right manners about controlling her anger and showing an enormous
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.