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.
People often fear what they don 't understand. Evolutionary psychology can be traced back millions of years, when fear was avoided because of its repercussion of death. An aversion to the unknown was usually safer. Therefore, evolution culled for human traits that feared and avoided the unknown. Fear of the unknown shows how people become narrow-minded and ignorant to their surroundings, and how people behave when they believe something will happen even though they are solely intolerant. This ideology directly correlates to Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a MockingBird. Throughout the story, the townspeople attempt to overcome their various fears by turning against each other. In Maycomb, fear enforces racism and causes the townspeople to
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama in the late 30s early 40s , after the great depression when poverty and unemployment were widespread throughout the United States. Why is the preconception of racism, discrimination, and antagonism so highly related to some of the characters in this book? People often have a preconceived idea or are biased about one’s decision to live, dress, or talk. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee examines the preconception of Scouts teacher saying Atticus is teaching her wrong, Aunt Alexandra having views that are discriminating, and Tom Robinson not having a fair trial because of his race. Scouts teacher gets upset with her after Miss Caroline figures out she’s literate and Scout makes it worse by antagonising Miss Caroline by trying to explain things to her. “Teach me?” I said in surprise. “He hasn 't taught me anything, Miss Caroline. Atticus ain 't got time to teach me anything”… “If he didn 't teach you, who did?” Miss Caroline asked good-naturedly. “Somebody did. You weren 't born reading The Mobile Register”… Miss Caroline apparently though I was lying. “Lets not let our imaginations run away with us, dear,” she said. “Now tell your father not to teach you any more. Its best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him i 'll take over from here and try to undo the damage.” “ma’am?” “Your father does not know how to teach. you can have a seat now.” (Lee 22) Scout 's teacher Miss Caroline
Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Many believe that courage is the ability to do something that is challenging and requires lots of effort, but that is not all. According to Psychology Today, six attributes of courage include feeling fear yet choosing to act, following one’s own heart, persevering in the face of adversity, standing up for what is right, expanding one’s horizons, and facing suffering with dignity and faith. People in the real world can show unexpected and overlooked forms of courage, just like Atticus Finch does in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. The setting takes place in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, where a young girl named Scout Finch learns to see the lively views of society. Maycomb society is characterized by racism hypocrisy, prejudice, and fear. Scout lives with his brother Jem and his father Atticus, who is a well-known lawyer in town. Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the loneliest girl in the whole town. After the jury debates over the verdict, Tom Robinson is guilty for what he has done and gets sentenced to prison. Mr. Bob Ewell, father of Mayella, wins the court case, and starts to go after the Finch kids with his pocket knife. Boo Radley, a neighbor who has not gone out for many years, notices this and peacefully saves the Finch kids from Mr. Ewell. Lee clearly demonstrates through
In the novel of To Kill a Mockingbird, we learn about the Finch family and also a few other characters that all play pivotal roles in how the story plays out. Scout, the main protagonist in the story, learns about a character named “Boo” Radley from her friend Dill. Scout, Dill, and her brother Jem set out to lure Boo Radley out of hiding and into the open. All of the rumors consisted of grotesque descriptions describing the facial features of Boo. They were trying to get the monster out of the dark. Through the time they are investigating Boo, they find that Boo has been leaving them presents in a hole in a tree on Boo Radley’s property. The children get a little out of hand when they begin to act out the story of Boo Radley. Atticus
Throughout the 20th and 21st century race relations have been a substantial issue. Some issues have went through trial, and others have not. Even today in society, race related matters are still continuing. One is being targeted for the color of their skin, the traditional clothes they wear, and the principals they believe in. Many trials have been brought to court but there are an abundance of other situations that have not been brought to the eyes of others.
During the Civil War period, a pro¬slavery mob chained Francis McIntosh to a locust tree, burnt him fatality in 1837. There are a lot of abolitionists, like Elijah Parish Lovejoy, who lost their lives when criticizing lynching. Elijah Parish Lovejoy showed both physical and moral courage fighting against inequality. The real courage of abolitionists during that time was gaining equal opportunities for African-¬Americans, and be treated the same as white people, no matter the consequences. Even after a century, there is no slavery anymore, there is still racism happening. In Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, she shows the real meaning of courage fighting for equal rights in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression. Lee shows that the society is unfair and teaches people how important it is to have courage. The novel is narrated by an innocent girl named Scout, whose father, Atticus, is a famous lawyer, and tries to provide equal rights to the people. She lives with her father Atticus and her older brother Jem. The two siblings grow up learning about prejudice, unfair treatments in the society and they started to understand the moral of life. In the event of Tom Robinson, poor black men, is being accused of raping a white girl which is not true. He is being treated unequally, they stand up, show respect to the African¬-Americans and fight against racism. Atticus and his children display the real courage when the majority of people in the town is
Everybody knows the book To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the main storylines in the book was with Atticus, the father of the narrator. Atticus was a lawyer and was assigned to defend a black man in the 1930s. The book To Kill a Mockingbird has many events such as jem scout and dill go up to the radley place and jem has to read to Ms dubose for cutting all her calimesa buds. The story takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama. The book was published in 1960. The main characters included the narrator, Scout, her brother, Jem, their father, Atticus, the house maid Calpurnia (she is black women) and other characters like Ms Dubose and Aunt Alexzandrea. Even though Atticus knew that he had no chance of winning Tom Robinson 's case, he should defend him because he would be a good example for his children and that it is the right thing to do so it makes sense to defend Tom Robinson.
It is the 1930s in a small town in Alabama, Maycomb County to be specific. The Great Depression is in full swing, people are dirt poor, slavery is abolished but segregation is not.
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 To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee not only does the reader experience a monumental story about a time period in which racial discrimination is a very important and visible issue, but the coming of age moment that every child experiences at some point in his lifetime. Although there are many coming of age examples throughout Lee’s novel, the most apparent and noticeable change is seen Scout whom mature’s greatly during just three summers.
Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most seminal books ever written, ending the life of a famous, but incredibly private genius. This incredible novel is the story of a young girl named Scout, who through maturity changing lessons and traumatic experiences grew from a young girl to a matured teen. Not only did she learn that racism only creates problems within a society or community, but also that getting to know people before assuming bad about them should be used in all occasions. Multiple events within the real world now can connect back to the adventurous yet serious, and informative novel through racism and unfair treatment in the justice system. Few, if any solutions are applied to solve these problems with racism, but some may argue that some of the solutions, used or not, would not help the situation. Others create solutions based off of what they feel is right. Although some solutions work better than others, many solutions can also be created based off of Harper Lee’s beliefs.
The author of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, wrote the novel during a racially tense period in Alabama. The South was still segregated, but influential people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. were soon to come on the scene. Lee decided to set the novel in the Depression era of the 1930s. In doing this, Lee exposed readers to the history of the civil rights struggle in the South. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee explored discrimination against race, gender, and class.
Growing up is an unforgettable stage of life that all people will experience. This transition is usually known well as the change from a child to an adult. Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ illustrates this movement proficiently. The plotline of the small, quiet town of Maycomb suddenly growing intense and controversial shows readers how surrounding events shape the people who participate in them, especially the young. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ follows multiple children who watch their town grow steadily coldhearted and gives imagery to these children shaping with the community. These children transform with the events that surround them; The children learn how to make their own opinions, feel sympathy and empathy for others, and to listen to a story before making a judgement. This novel has influenced readers for decades, convincing them that growing up is more than just a timeline, instead it is a chain of stories, lessons, and opportunities. ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ teaches readers that growing up is one of the most essential points of life, and that a childhood memory will shape the adult they inevitably become.
In the novel titled “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee set in Alabama, in a southern county in the era of the Great Depression, between 1933 and 1936 illustrates that to understand and empathize with others, all you need is imagination. Perhaps that is the reason why Harper Lee let it be an innocent girl of almost 6 years to tells the story, because children can use their imagination. However, Jem and Scout met too many people along the story and from each person the children learned something such as don’t prejudge others, be strong in the most difficult times, to never give up and most important to defend innocent people.