Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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.

“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)

In the courtroom, where the jury is deciding who is truly guilty of beating Mayella Ewell, Scout begins to change her viewpoint and views the case from an adult’s perspective. In the early stages of the trial, Atticus Finch is having a conversation with his brother, Jack, involving the negativity to come. He says, "It couldn 't be worse, Jack. The only thing we 've got is a black man 's word against the Ewells’” (100). The entire town assumes Tom Robinson beat Mayella simply based on the color of his skin. Maycomb is filled with racism; it runs through the town’s veins. However, Scout chooses to look beyond the given facts and discover the truth. Alongside her brother, she decides to dig deeper into the case after meeting Dolphus Raymond. The man inspires her to never give up and keep fighting for what she believes in. Later on, Scout and her friends hear the news concerning the trial. Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, proves to be the culprit, but Robinson is found guilty. Scout’s opinion on racism evolves during the trial, and she learns that the world is not as perfect as children assume it to be.

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.

Finally, Harper Lee uses characterization to show that Tom Robinson is the same as everyone else, even though he is black. Using characterization, Harper Lee originally builds Tom Robinson to be an evil rapist. For example, in the middle of the novel, Calpurnia tells Scout that “Old Bob Ewell accused [Tom Robinson] of rapin’ his girl an’ had him arrested…” (124). This sentence is misleading, for it implies to the reader that Tom actually did rape a girl, which is viewed with feelings of disgust and anger. During the trial, however, it is revealed that Tom did not rape anyone, but people still believed he did although there was substantial evidence proving his innocence. This is important to the book and real life

In order to be your best possible self, you have to put yourself in someone else 's shoes. Atticus emphasizes that you have to untie your own shoes before putting yourself in someone else 's throughout his parenting in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus strongly encourages Scout to explore the mentality of compassion, sympathy, and tolerance, by crawling into other 's shoes and trying to grasp what they go through in their everyday lives. When Scout puts herself in else 's shoes, she comes to the conclusion that the world is full of people who are willing to live their lives in hiding, just to be happy, and to hide from people’s harsh judgement.

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.

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 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

‘“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

“‘...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

A parent is not someone who only provides protection and the necessities of life for their children. A parent is someone who deeply cares for their youngster and is a role model for them. A parent is a teacher; someone who can provide information and guidance and shows the real working of society for their child and guide them through it. A parent is someone who treats their children as an independent individual with full respectfully. The story, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is about Jean Louise Finch (Scout) who is a young girl growing up during the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabam. Harper Lee wrote about Scout’s life and how her father, Atticus, helped her and guided her through life. Harper Lee shows the real attributes of an excellent

“There is no such thing as a people who are all wicked or even all good,” states the main character in Catherynne M. Valente’s novel, The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, when - after meeting both friends and foes - she realizes that there is both good and evil within one’s heart. A similar idea is presented by Harper Lee in her classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee’s novel is set in the 1930s, in the small southern town of Maycomb where prejudice and rumors surrounding outcasts are commonplace and a fact of life. The plot follows two siblings, Scout and Jem, and their interactions with other Maycomb folk while growing up. The events center around Tom’s trial - where he, a man of color, is wrongly accused and convicted of raping a white woman. Throughout the story, the children meet many different people who they initially deem to be good or bad, but later realize they made hasty judgement Several of these characters - which, despite first appearances, are later revealed to be good - include a white woman who lives in poverty and does not understand common courtesy or friendship, a lady of society and class who has unjust prejudices against anyone below her, an outcast of society hidden away in a house rumored to be haunted by a malevolent phantom, and a mean, old lady trying to break free of an addiction to morphine. This idea, that good can even be found in people originally seen as bad or downright wicked, was an extremely optimistic view for Lee’s

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.

Though Harper Lee only published two novels, her accomplishments are abundant. Throughout her career Lee claimed: the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fiction, and Quill Award for Audio Book. Lee was also inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. This honor society is a huge accomplishment and is considered the highest recognition for artistic talent and accomplishment in the United States. Along with these accomplishments, her novel To Kill a Mockingbird was voted the best novel of the twentieth century by Library Journal. With her first book, Lee shattered the cliche of what a first time author accomplishes. However, because of the major success Lee faced with her first novel, she had high standards to meet with her second novel. Go Set a Watchman was the heavily anticipated second novel of Harper Lee, and to many, the heavily disappointing novel. Many critics have noted on the changes in Lee’s works and have questioned her reasoning for releasing a second novel. Even with the slight falter due to her second book, Lee still generates a large fanbase, and continues to captivate the world with her novels.