Who Is The Cunninghams In To Kill A Mockingbird

“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.

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.

We live in a society where African Americans used to be treated with no respect. What if you had to experience the same things that they dealt with? They faced racial discrimination and injustice in court. Mostly in the Jim Crow South, certain groups of white people during this time made it impossible for African Americans to receive justice. Even if they were innocent, blacks could be brutally punished and were subjugated by violence. In court whites would generally win even if they did not have any strong evidence to support their arguments. Especially in the south, during the 1930s, African Americans had little value and basically no legal status in society. They were meant to be treated like animals and, generally, many people believed that whites were always superior to blacks.

“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.

“‘...Mockingbirds… don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us [anyone and everyone in Maycomb]. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird…’” (Lee 119). In the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of 1961 To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of a young girl by the name of Jean Louise (Scout) Finch and her older brother Jeremy Atticus (Jem) Finch, and what their lives were like growing up in Maycomb, Alabama during 1933-35. Scout and her brother Jem are both children of the morally passionate lawyer, Atticus Finch, and both are exposed to the same experiences that shape their sense of right and wrong. Yet Scout and Jem come to dramatically different conclusions about good and evil and the essential nature of humankind.

“‘...Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). After having read most of the book, I now see that this is a significant and meaningful symbol in the novel. It represents innocence, like that of Tom Robinson 's. In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, which is based upon a true story, Tom Robinson, a man accused of rape, Scout Finch, a tomboy and lawyer’s daughter that observes occurrences in Maycomb, resists racist comments, and does not always understand things, who is also the narrator of the publication, both in a childish fashion and in an adult like fashion, and Atticus, a lawyer who is intelligent, respected and respecting, and defends Tom Robinson in his time

Not only have the adult characters in the book To Kill A Mockingbird set a solid ground of good morals and beliefs for the children in the book but also young readers decades later. Children are often influenced by adults in their life whether it has been a positive or negative moral aspect. Children often receive advice and encouragement from their guardians or adult figures. In author; Harper Lee 's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, readers observe three parents who have influenced their children heavily, in this essay readers will look further into Atticus Finch, Mr. Radley and Bob Ewell.

Racism has been a hot subject for many years. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, it is the central theme of the novel. When Atticus Finch is asked by Judge Taylor, to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, Atticus accepts and defends Tom to the full extent of the law. Atticus even makes the plaintiff, Mayella Ewell, question how the incident involving herself and Tom Robinson, actually happened. Nevertheless, when Atticus made the case proving that Tom Robinson did not commit the crime he was accused of, a jury of white men all ruled that he was guilty. Furthermore, what does this say about the jury, the defendant, the plaintiff, and the lawyers involved in the trial? Did the jury decide guilty because of the information provided by the lawyers or was it because of the color of Tom Robinson’s skin?

“There’s nothing more sickening to me than a low-grade white man who’ll take advantage of a Negro’s ignorance” (Lee 296). In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses many different conflicts to prove the point that overcoming obstacles is tough to do alone. The narrator of this book is Scout Finch, who takes us through her childhood in a city called Maycomb in Alabama in the 1930s. Maycomb is like every other city in the south, most people being racist. Scout and her brother, Jem, are the children of Atticus Finch, who tries to teach them many lessons about growing up and about life. Atticus is the lawyer for a black man named Tom Robinson in a trial where he is being trialed for raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. It is a detriment that Tom is black because there is a lot of racism. Mayella’s family is a dirty and disrespectful family in that town. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses conflict to show that overcoming obstacles cannot be done by a single person.

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.

There was a copious amount of discrimination in the 1930’s deep south, whether it be racism or sexism. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, conflicts arise when an African-American man is unjustly accused of raping a white woman in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama. Citizens of the town are forced to choose whether they believe to follow what the rest of the town thinks, whether that is their true opinion or not, and be honest with themselves and stand up for who they really think is innocent. However, as shown throughout the book, many people have trouble publicly announcing their opinions on the matter, choosing to convey their opinions in more subtle ways. Because of different occasions that question people’s morals and virtues

Everyone is biased. That is the truth that no one can deny. However, it is how we react to the biases fed to us by society that truly exemplifies how much sympathy, compassion and intelligence we possess. Scout, the protagonist of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, lived in Maycomb County, Alabama as a child. Maycomb’s predominantly Caucasian populace always trusted the words of the trashiest white man above the words of the kindest black man. Scout bluntly states to her older brother, Jem, that, “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks” (Lee 304). She believes that whether they are black or white, rich or poor, people are all people and they are created equal. Scout displayed multiple times throughout the book that she did not agree with the townspeople on the subjects of race and class; she befriended individuals that were of lower status, she was raised and influenced by people who also disagreed with the townspeople, and she trusted African Americans.

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.