Significance Of To Kill A Mockingbird

Tom Robinson’s character exemplifies the mockingbird because he is a black man who is denied justice based on racial prejudice. After Mayella Ewell accuses Tom of rape, there is no way for him to be judged fairly because the narrow-minded, white townspeople are unable to get past their prejudices towards blacks. At his trial, Tom’s lawyer, Atticus, argues,

To Kill A Mockingbird was published in the summer of 1960 and it could be considered one of the greatest novels created. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, wrote these novels because of many personal experiences influencing her. One being the Scottsboro Boys case where an African American was falsely accused of raping a white woman where he was sentenced to death. This influenced the racism and prejudice in this novel. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee created a character named Boo Radley to develop a theme in this novel. Boo, a man that was living in the shadows, thought to be a scary and harmful person but actually being very friendly, shy and innocent. In To Kill A Mockingbird,

On the other hand, Tom Robinson could also be the symbolic “mockingbird”. For instance, while examining Toms behavior, Scout realizes that, “Tom Robinson 's manners were as good as Atticus 's.” and say’s, “Until my father explained it to me later, I did not understand the subtlety of Tom 's predicament: he would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to live long, so he took the first opportunity to run” (Lee 197) This belief indicates that Tom is a very polite gentleman who is innocent. Being a man of color, he ran that night as self defence, not because he did something wrong. He did not want to hurt Mayella, as the gentleman he is, but in such circumstances he was forced to do so. Therefore, during the trial, he does not claim that mayella is a liar, instead he says, “I say she’s mistaken in her mind”. (Lee 167) He is a gentleman and an innocent man who doesn 't mean any harm. Also, while explaining about Tom’s death, ‘They shot him,’ said Atticus. ‘He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them...”(Lee

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy, that’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a book of exploration of the moral nature of human beings—that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. A young girl named Scout deals with the issues of racism while gaining knowledge, experience, strength, and courage, while her father, a lawyer, is persecuted for defending a falsely accused black man being charged with raping a white girl. Many characters are judged upon their race, behavior, and social class.

The light and dark represent the good and bad. The light that Atticus is holding when he is present at the jail is sort of a beacon of hope for Tom Robinson. The group that goes to the jail with the intent to hurt Tom and possibly Atticus if need be are surrounded by the nighttime darkness which can symbolize that they only had bad intentions. The jail originally does not have a light present on the outside, but Atticus brings one. For example, “A long extension cord ran between the bars of a second floor window and down the side of the building. In the light from its bare bulb. Atticus was sitting propped against the front door.” Toe explain the darkness, “In ones and twos, men got out of the cars. Shadows became substance as lights revealed

Whether it is in literature or even shown in pictures, people use things to represent something with a deeper meaning and that’s called symbolism. In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by author Harper Lee, various different themes or symbols are active throughout the book either directly, or more often, obscurely being tied to the ultimate theme of the book, which is not being able to understand someone until you experience life from their point of view. The most apparent reoccurring theme though is equality because of the fact it’s symbolized through people, birds, and even inanimate objects that Scout and Jem encounter over the course of the book in the tree that turns out to play a bigger part of the story as the story progresses. Sometimes, these symbols are obvious to the reader and other times, they’re not, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not an infinite number of ways to analyze or interpret those same symbols and the meanings behind them. By doing this, the reader is able to get a better and deeper sense of what Lee was truly trying to say and their connections to the story and the way they help make the reader experience being physically at the time of the 1930’s. Equality was and still is a problem as reflected in the book, but it’s the way Lee brings those symbols to our attention that makes us realize how close to the exact same spot we were over 80 years ago that is able to make the reader that much more intrigued.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, different symbols are used that are reflective throughout the book either directly, or more often, obscurely being tied to the ultimate theme of the book, which is being able to understand someone from their point of view. Whether it is in literature or even shown in pictures, when people use things to represent something with a deeper meaning, it is called symbolism. The most apparent reoccurring theme though is equality because of the fact it is symbolized through people, birds, and even inanimate objects Scout and Jem encounter over the course of the book. By doing this, the reader is able to obtain a better and deeper sense of what Lee is truly trying to say, and their connections to the story and the way they help make the reader experience the time period of the 1930’s. Equality was and still is a problem as reflected in the book, but it is the way Lee brings those symbols to our attention that makes us realize how close to the exact same spot we were over 80 years ago that is able to make the reader that much more intrigued. A few examples of equality symbols in the book include: Tom Robinson, mockingbirds, Atticus Finch, and the snowman built from both mud and snow.

“As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something, and don’t you forget it whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, he is trash” Everyday, people of every race, ethnicity, religion, culture, gender, etc. judge and cheat people everyday. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem are trying to find who is good and who is evil. They are struggling with that since many in the town are racist. Scout and Jem are trying to have an opinion of people based on who they are, and not their race. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, we see their struggles through the symbolism that is shown many times as racism, innocence,

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy, . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (119). Mockingbirds are a prevalent symbol of selfless and senselessly persecuted characters. In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch and Scout both exemplify symbolic mockingbirds.

So far, I think that "To Kill A Mockingbird" is a very well written text, although, most of the time I have found it very confusing. There are some parts I eventually figured out the meanings to, but this book is pretty much written in an old fashion way (i.e. most people don't talk or write this way today). I did understand that the narrator's mother was dead and the narrator had a brother named Jem, etc., but I never really caught onto why there was so many new characters coming into the story all at once. So many characters at once is starting to really confuse who is who and why they're important to the story. I have a feeling I might not be hearing of some of these characters again until maybe the middle or the end of the story. This

To kill a mockingbird investigates the racial tension in Maycomb by analysing features of attitudes towards Negroes that date back many generations. The meaning of the title “To Kill a Mockingbird” itself evokes the idea of racism that Lee wants to portray to the composer. Throughout the book, Tom Robinson is symbolised as the most important mockingbird—an innocent who has been injured or destroyed. He is the mockingbird who helps his accuser in her chores and is killed due to the deep seated attitudes towards African Americans present in the southern states of America. Mr. Underwood compares his death to the “the senseless slaughter of songbirds”.

The title To Kill a Mockingbird is very significant to the novel as it portrays many forms of mockingbirds throughout it. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are the true Mockingbirds of the story. They both are innocent from the accusations claimed upon them.

To Kill A Mockingbird which was written by Harper Lee. It takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression, when racism was very prominent in many communities, especially in the South. The story is narrated by the main character Scout Finch, who is a tomboy and possesses great intelligence, which in turn exposes her to very mature situations. The main idea of To Kill A Mockingbird is that you shouldn’t spread lies about people that did anything wrong, for Boo Radley, who is thought to be a monster, and Tom Robinson, accused of being a rapist, are people who suffer because of lies.

Even though a novel may have been written years ago, it could still be considered relevant to present day. In the case of To Kill a Mockingbird, some teachers still believe it is relevant and teach it to their students. A former teacher at Ames High School in Iowa has stated that he continued to teach To Kill a Mockingbird for his 38 years of teaching because he felt that the book was still relevant through the way it portrayed the love, respect, and courage. He also believed it encouraged students to engage students deep into the story as well as use their imagination (Rhinehart). Another teacher at the same high school also chooses to teach the novel because she believes students can relate the themes of the book such as stereotypes back

“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(119). A mockingbird doesn’t “do one thing but make music for us to enjoy”(119). In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the portrayal of a mockingbird matches the personality of Jeremy Atticus Finch. Serving as the brother and friend of his sister Scout, Jem’s once innocent and naive personality is exposed to the true nature of a southern county when his father takes on a case defending an African American man accused of rape. Within rural Alabama during the Great Depression Era, Jem’s character adapts to the outside world as a result of the unsheathed tradition