Kill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee

No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change...it’s a good one, even if it does resist learning’”(Lee 101). Atticus believes in pacifism and teaches his kids to behave the same way. He thinks Scout has the potential to be an intelligent child, but she needs to avoid physical confrontation and instead focus on using her mind to learn and mature. When Bob Ewell spits in his face, Atticus encourages his children to put themselves in the shoes of the Ewell family, saying, “‘If spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell one extra beating, that’s something I’ll gladly take. He had to take it out on somebody and I’d rather it be me than that houseful of children out there’”(Lee 292, 293). This exemplifies Atticus’ lessons on empathy, teaching his children that “‘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). By encouraging his children to resist fighting and instead use their sense to feel for others, Atticus teaches lessons on empathy and pacifism. In addition, Atticus’ teachings also include racism and morals.

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)

As Lemony Snicket wrote in The Blank Book, “People don’t always get what they deserve in this world.” 1930s America was fraught with racism, especially in the southern states. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a Negro man by the name of Tom Robinson was put on trial. Although he was not guilty, the jury convicted him because of the colour of his skin. During the trial, others showed injustice towards Tom and people that were on his side. As Tom’s lawyer, Atticus Finch was not admired by many of the white citizens of Maycomb, the town in which the novel takes place. Although Atticus and Jean Louise Finch (Scout) were white, they were still treated unjustly as a result of helping and supporting Tom Robinson. Scout, Atticus’

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

Atticus Finch’s wisdom and understanding of the human nature truly shows when he teaches us how to empathize. Atticus gives Scout and readers, a whole other way of seeing peoples perspective. Scout, who is upset that Miss Caroline put her “responsible” in explaining why Walter Cunningham cannot accept any money, complains to Atticus about that matter; saying she refuses to go to school. Atticus, who realizes that Scout is failing to understand things from Miss Caroline’s perspective says, “You never really understand someone....... until you crawl into his skin and walk around in it.”pg 33. Scout grapples with this idea of

George Washington once said, “I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality”. While America has yet to reach an era where injustice is nearly or completely eradicated, we have most definitely progressed from the Great Depression in the 1930s and World War II. In World War II there was a black American fighter pilot group, named the Tuskegee Airmen, who suffered the racial prejudices of America despite fighting for America. Similarly, injustice is widespread in Maycomb County, a fictional town set in the Great Depression of the 1930s. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird characters, like Scout and Atticus, face injustices that they must overcome. Similarly, in the Achieve 3000 article “America Says

Imagine a place where the verdict of a rape trial stems from racial prejudice rather than the proper evaluation of proven evidence. This is Maycomb, Alabama, the strange, Southern town where Scout and Jem Finch grow up during the 1930s in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In short, the novel travels a thin line between a light-hearted narrative of the siblings’ childhood with their single father, a defense attorney named Atticus Finch, and the injustices that arise within their close-knit community. The complexities include extreme racism, a peculiar social hierarchy, and general misunderstandings of certain people within the small town. These are all seen as “Maycomb ways”, almost as if they are considered facts. Through her writing, Lee conveys an important message that an essential part of a child’s education often takes place in a home or community rather than a classroom by utilizing the characters, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape whom Atticus is defending.

“‘...Mockingbirds...don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us [anyone and everyone]. 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.

Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are many characters with very strong personality traits. These characters are very memorable and easily recognizable because of their traits. These characters have one thing in common, they all have influenced peoples life’s in one way or another. One of these great characters is Calpurnia. Three of Calpurnia’s most memorable traits are being a disaffection of the social rules, motherly, and courageous.

“I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit em’ but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee, page 103). In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are numerous acts of racism and prejudice. The classic novel focuses around Jean Louise Finch, who is commonly known as Scout. Both her and her brother, Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch, and her father, Atticus, live in Maycomb Alabama. Atticus is one of the most prestigious lawyers in all of Maycomb, which is currently suffering from a recession. Along with the Finches, Calpurnia works as a cook in their household, but is held as a motherly figure in the children’s eyes. In the beginning of

It makes sense for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, even if others thinks it 's stupid just because of Tom’s color. Harper Lee was the Author of the number one book in America, To Kill A Mockingbird. The book starts off with Scout talking about her family, Jem and Atticus. Then Scout talks about someone named Dill, who comes only during summer. When Dill did come over, Jem, Scout, and Dill would try to get Boo Radley to come out of his house. The kids were afraid of Boo; and when Scout told Atticus that they were trying to get Boo out of his house, Atticus told them to stop because they didn 't know how he feels and that “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 30). This made Scout understand how Boo Radley felt and became less scared of him and wanted to become his friend more than anything else. But what Atticus said also ties in with his case with Tom Robinson, who is a black man being accused of rape. But, people in the book think it doesn 't make sense for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson; because of Tom’s color. It makes sense to me for Atticus to defend Tom Robinson because if Tom was white, he wouldn 't have to deal with all this, along with Atticus. Since Tom is black, they are going to give him a hard time.

Atticus supports equality, and that does not bode well with the townspeople because of their years of being raised on racism and bigotry. “There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins” (Lee 295). All through the book, Atticus teaches Scout and Jem right from wrong, and to always be moralistic. He continually shows integrity, respect and honour. Nevertheless, this is not a good thing to the residents of Maycomb, who shame Atticus for supporting Tom. Atticus is hurt with his beliefs, because the town of Maycomb does not support him defending Tom, although he was assigned the case. “I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes—baby, it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you" (Lee 87). Atticus tell Scout that people should not judge you for loving others, and that proves that they are the ones with poor character. He speaks from experience, from the adults who bully him, just like the other children bully Scout. His mindset affects him and his children, even though he’d rather protect them from the criticism and hurtful words of the townspeople. They, in turn push their own

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.