Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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.

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.

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

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.

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird says, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (Lee 149). Atticus is the best example of what courage is this book for three major reasons. First, he is a single parent, secondly he defended Tom Robinson, and finally because he was willing to spare Mr. Arthur suffering by allowing his son, Jem, to take the responsibility of Mr. Bob Ewell’s Death.

The word courage is defined as “The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc, without fear.” In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch strongly demonstrates courage though his words and actions. He defends Tom Robinson even though doing this he puts his family at risk for discrimination due to the prejudice and racial inequity in Maycomb. In addition, Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley displays courage as he reveals himself to those who were around him such as the children after being shut away from the rumors that surround him from the people of Maycomb. Arthur displays courage as he attempts to communicate with Jem and Scout. Finally, Miss Maudie, portrays courage as she watches her house

The main characters of both, Reginald Rose’s play 12 Angry Men and Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, stand up for what is right even in the face of opposition. 12 Angry Men focuses on a jury 's deliberations concerning a homicide trial of which the accused, a sixteen-year-old boy, will be sentenced to death if found guilty. To Kill A mockingbird, on the other hand, is narrated by a six-year-old girl named Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch who lives in the southern American town of Maycomb. The plot primarily revolves around her father, the attorney Atticus Finch, striving to prove the innocence of a black man unjustly accused of rape, to a town steeped in prejudice. Throughout both narratives, the main characters, Juror Eight in Rose’s play and Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s novel, display similar characteristics and stand up for what they believe is right. They share many character traits and emphasise justice. Although they are both are confronted by disapproval, they manage to resist external influences with grace, though their methods may diverge at times. Ultimately both defend the accused of their respective trials, even though it is an unpopular and degraded position in the eyes of their fellows.

In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” throughout the novel by writing innocent characters that have been harmed by evil. Tom Robinson’s persecution is a symbol for the death of a mockingbird. The hunters shooting the bird would in this case be the Maycomb County folk. Lee sets the time in the story in the early 1950s, when the Great Depression was going on and there was poverty everywhere. The mindset of people back then was that black people were inferior to whites. There was still prejudice against innocent colored people, when they did no wrong. Tom Robinson was an innocent man who did nothing but help Mayella Ewell. When Atticus described the mockingbird as an animal that “don’t do one thing, but sing their hearts out for us,” it’s similar to Tom Robinson. He never accepted money from Mayella for doing her chores, but out of the kindness of his heart. Just like how a mockingbird does not sing for anyone but themselves. However, since Tom is black, the townspeople supported Mayella’s testimony over his. They thought with certainty that a black man raped a pure white woman, because it was in their nature. A mob attempted to intimidate Atticus out of the way in order to step inside Tom’s jail cell and kill him. The citizens’ symbolical “gun” was racism and criticism towards the case. After Tom was jailed, he tried to jump over the jail fence. However, the security guards shot him seventeen times before he

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel that shows what racism was like before all people were considered equal. The main characters are Scout Finch, an indomitable six year old tomboy who was smarter than what many people thought, and Atticus Finch, the father of Scout and Jem, who is an extraordinary lawyer. The primary conflict in the story is that Tom Robinson, an innocent black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Atticus was assigned to defend Robinson, but it would be almost impossible to win, because a white man’s word is always taken over a black man’s. Atticus is trying to show the jury what the truth is, and that the court is made to find out the truth, not judge someone by what color skin they have. By the end of the story, the characters have all learned that the world is not always fair to some because of the way they look or talk. To Kill A Mockingbird is a book showing that the justice done by a jury isn’t always the right way.

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main character Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer in the southern Alabama town of Maycomb. They also have a black maid Calpurnia which allows the children to see that black people aren’t so different and thus they do not have the racial bias unlike most of the people in their town. The setting is also very important to note that around the Great Depression southern America was still heavily racist. During one of their many summers, Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill, who has come to live in their neighborhood for the summer and the three bond and play games together. Dill becomes interested in the ominous house that contains a mysterious

To Kill A Mockingbird follows Scout and Jem impacted by their father’s radical views in the 1930s. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an iconic story with a great deal of dialogue. The dialogue and dialect in this story helps to reveal who the characters are. Dialect and dialogue in life help to create an image of a person as it does in fiction. Harper Lee uses dialogue and dialect to help bring her characters to life. Miss Maudie is depicted as selfless and educated. The same method also brings Calpurnia to life with the traits as accepting and protective. It also explores Atticus as wise and understanding man.

“...remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (90). Although, it’s not a crime to shoot one in the back seventeen times or send it to prison first for unjust reasons. It’s events like these that make people lose their innocents; in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Nelle Harper Lee, losing one’s innocents is just a pocket-sized trouble he or she has to worry about in Maycomb, Alabama. For Jean Louise, “Scout”, and Jeremy, “Jem”, Finch, growing up in the times of great economic depression and towering racial tension, losing innocents is a sure thing. Which is what sparks this page-turning, coming-off-age, classic; like all great literature of this caliber. Lee delves into a fundamental storyline nourished with interlocking themes of perspective, innocence, law-bending, and even bravery; all come across in a symbolic and profound way, deep in between the lines of Lee’s literary treasure.

d Scout and patted her with a ruler in front of all the students in the class. After that, Jem sympathized with Walter and grinned at him. "Come on home to dinner with us, Walter," said Jem. "We 'd be glad to have you" (Lee 30). Eventually, Scout learned how to respect others and not judge them before she looks at things from the other person 's point of view as Atticus told her, "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 39). In the meantime, since Atticus was a lawyer, he accepted to defend Tom Robinson, who was a black man accused of raping, Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Regardless of what the people in the town thought about Atticus defending a Negro, Atticus and his children endured a great deal of playground and ugliness for the justice. In the end of the trial, the white jury arbitrated that Tom Robinson was guilty regardless of the overwhelming evidence on his innocence. Eventually, Robinson was killed by a gunshot when he tried to escape from the prison.

In the 1950’s Harper Lee wrote a novel that would eventually change how people looked at literature. Her masterpiece, To Kill A Mockingbird, started much controversy. Some people looked at it as one of the best novels ever written, while others despised it calling it inappropriate and racist. The arguments dragged on for years and still continue to this day. This novel, which tells a story about a white man defending an African American and his children, goes beyond race. If you look deep enough into the background of the novel you can see a connection with childhood. Not only does it focus on how the children grow up, but it focuses on the connection the children have with the adults.

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.