Summary Of ' Kill A Mockingbird '

To kill a mockingbird can mean many things. It’s the title of a book that has been bought 40 million times. But, it also has a definition. To kill a mockingbird means to destroy innocence. The theme of my literary analysis is mockingbirds. Mockingbirds in TKAM are innocent things tainted by the skewed society of Maycomb. Some of these mockingbirds are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the children. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book set in a small Alabama town in the 1930’s. The main character and narrator is Jean Louise Finch, but is almost always called by her nickname, Scout. Scout, her brother, and her summer friend Dill get into all kinds of mischief while living in the racist society of a 1930’s Alabama town. Scout’s dad, Atticus, is a prominent lawyer in Maycomb and is appointed to a controversial case, and is defending a black man. Scout and her brother, Jem go through many troubles and learn many lessons from the days leading up to, and during the trial. The trail makes their family some friends and a lot of enemies. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story of courage and despair. Throughout TKAM, mockingbirds are used as an example of something innocent being tainted by the skewed society of TKAM. Some great examples of these are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the children.

Firstly, through the Finch family, Atticus teaches both his children that they should never judge a book by its cover, and that courage is one of the most important qualities one can have. Near the beginning of the book, Scout comes home from school, extremely flustered about the day. She then continues to rant about how awful the children at school are, as well as her teacher. Atticus, her father, replies “... 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”. Later in the book, Atticus sends his son, Jem, to an old woman’s house, whom he hates, to read to her. Unknowingly by Jem, he is being sent to help the woman out of a morphine addiction. After Jem has completed his service, they find that the woman has died and sent a gift to Jem as a thanks for all he has done. In turn, Jem is completely dumbfounded by the gesture to the point that “[His] eyes nearly [pop] out of his head”. Atticus comforts Jem, then continues to explain the courage of the woman and the heroism of Jem, and how courage is “... when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”. Not only does this show how Atticus’ core values as a parent, it also shows how he parents and how he wants his children to grow up to be. On the other side of things however, the Ewell family has incredibly loose family values, and certain members of the family are unwilling to help the family improve their way of life.

* Jem can’t hold back the injustice-fueled tears as he, Scout, and Dill go to meet Atticus outside the courthouse.

The book "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a story of life in an Alabama town in the 30's. The narrator, Jean Louise Finch, or Scout, is writing of a time when she was young, and the book is in part the record of a childhood, believed to be Harper Lee’s, the author of the book..

In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout’s father, Atticus demonstrates his self-control and empathy towards Scout and her problems which makes him a positive role model in his daughter’s life and maturation growth. After school, Scout exclaims to Atticus that she does not want to attend school anymore due to the fact she had a dreadful first day of the first grade. She complains to Atticus about her teacher, Miss.Caroline and how she disapproves of Scout’s competency of reading and writing. Miss.Caroline expresses to Scout that she should not be literate at her age and now has to undo the damage that has been done by her father; this statement is ironic because teachers are supposed to encourage learning and help further advance their

In 'To Kill a Mockingbird' many morals about the themes in the novel are portrayed through different issues and events. The major themes are appearance vs. reality courage, maturity and prejudice. Each of these themes has an event in the novel that help the reader understand its message.

Children sit in school for eight hours a day for at least twelve years in their lives, learning how to read and multiply. However, children learn the most important lessons in life outside of the classroom walls. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem discover powerful lessons about life through their father, Atticus, community and experiences. They view an unjust trial of a black man against a white woman, and find that the world is cruel and that they must treat all people with respect. They judged and bothered their neighbor Boo Radley, but he later saves the two of them. Through this, Scout understands not to make assumptions about people until she gets to know them. Also, through Scout’s experiences in school, she finds that

On Sunday, when Atticus has to leave town, Cal takes Jem and Scout to church. They enter the church, sit down, and listen to the Reverend Skyes speak. He talks about how they will all pray for Tom Robinson and his family while he is at court. Scout asks where the hymn books are, and Cal hushes her. When they sing the hymns Zeebo, Cal’s oldest son, goes up to the front of the church. Since the church doesn’t have any hymn books Zeebo has to memorize them and sing a verse to the crowd, which they repeat back to him. Near the end of church the Reverend says that they do not have enough money to give to Tom Robinson’s family. So he closes the church doors and makes the crowd give up ten more dollars to help.

1) Atticus is an empathetic person who tries to make sure people are treated equally, and in the case of his children, that people should grow up and make a positive difference. Atticus shows his empathy by telling Scout to try to understand what Miss Caroline is going through. Harper Lee is trying to show that with empathy, everyone benefits, and there would be less hate and injustice. Atticus says, “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). Atticus is telling Scout to look at the world through Miss Caroline’s eyes, to see why Miss Caroline reacts the way that she does. Atticus believes that if Scout can see how scared Miss Caroline is, with teaching a new school in a new way, then Scout can understand what makes Miss Caroline act the way that she does. When Scout asks Atticus why he is angering the town by defending Tom Robinson, he says that he must, or else he would no longer be reputable. Atticus says, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (Lee 101) Atticus leads by example, and that if he did not hold himself to the same standard that he wants Scout and Jem to be at, then he is no better than the rest of the town. He knows that he is going to lose, but wants to show his children that it is important to do the right thing no matter the consequences or result, and

Atticus Hill cherished and fostered his role as the bad boy in the family. He always dressed in all black, rode a Harley, and had long, shaggy black hair. But now that all his brothers had found their Mr. Right he thought maybe, at age thirty-nine, it was time to look around for a partner. He thought the drummer at the gay bar was sexy, so headed off there to check him out.

Throughout the work, Lee uses Atticus, the children 's’ father, as a device to communicate the message that children often learn the most important lessons outside of school. This becomes particularly evident in Chapter Three when Atticus makes a special deal with Scout after her teacher, Miss Caroline, tells her that she is not allowed to read with him at home

“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.” (Chapter 3 TKAM). This essential piece of advice from Atticus guides Scout through the her journey of growing up and helps her develop an enriched sense of self, she understands that not everyone around her is the same. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee portrays children all being raised in the same small town while having completely different backgrounds and morals. Harper Lee’s book illustrates how the varying aspects of a child's life affects their behavior and outlook on life. Surroundings, Family, and financial status all play a big role in how the children were prepared to be active, responsible,

It becomes clear why Atticus thinks education is so important. Although Miss Caroline disapproved of Atticus reading to Scout, he promised Scout to read to her before bed each night. This is because Atticus believes that learning is the key to prevent prejudice. Also part of Atticus? role as a father is teacher. Most of Scout and Jem?s knowledge came from Atticus. He taught them important life lessons that cannot learned from books or blackboards. ?You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his

To Kill a Mockingbird shows how a child grows throughout his or her childhood. Throughout the novel, Scout becomes a mature girl by going through several experiences with her brother and father which form an understanding of the world to her. By allowing the reader to see the coming of age of Scout by the use of first person point of view, Harper Lee shows the many lessons that Scout learns from her father Atticus; the lessons are that you do not really know a man until you have been in his shoes, don’t kill mockingbirds, and don’t judge a person because of their race.

At the end of Chapter 24, Scout is sitting with Aunt Alexandra’s missionary circle and Calpurnia is cooking/baking for them. During the session, Scout, Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Aunt Alexandra receive the news about the death of Tom Robinson. The details of his death were that it was during their exercising period. Then they said he started running and climbing the fence and was trying to escape, but he was shot 17 times by a guard.