Tension in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee Essay

Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is a highly regarded work of American fiction. The story of the novel teaches us many lessons that should last any reader for a lifetime. The messages that Harper Lee relays to the reader are exemplified throughout the book using various methods. One of the most important and significant methods was the use of symbols such as the mockingbird image. Another important method was showing the view through a growing child's (Scout Finch) mind, eyes, ears, and mouth. There is another very significant method that was used. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee utilizes the effects of irony, sarcasm, and hypocrisy to criticize a variety of elements in Southern life.

Jem’s entire perspective of the world is thrown into chaos so he retreats into a state of disillusionment. However, Scout, maintains her faith in humanity. Atticus elaborates by saying as you grow older; you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life. Lee uses this scene to show the reader that racism is learnt. Scout gradually emerging from her innocence to the realization that people have different outlooks on the world and that these often include prejudice and hate which have been obtained by harsh experiences. Lee intends to show the reader that innocence is precious and once experience marrs, you cannot return to innocence. When Scout meets Dolphus Raymond, she learns not to trust the stereotypes that society casts on people because you never really know a person until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Scout’s narration showcases her struggle with the realization that not everyone values integrity and morals.

To Kill A Mockingbird is a highly successful, awe inspiring novel written by Harper Lee. It guides the reader through the complex structures of the small town mentality in 1930’s America, which is all written through the mainly objective perspective of a young girl named Scout. The major draw factor of this novel is the eloquent yet sometimes brutally upfront way in which it portrays not only racism, but the theme of appearances versus reality too. The choices Harper Lee made in terms of setting, character choice, and language technique cleverly influenced my reactions to the latter theme.

The main issue that is brought up in the novel is race; Harper Lee demonstrates this problem she saw quite heavily with a sympathetic, yet honest approach. In Chapter 19, on page 201, we see Atticus question Tom Robinson about raping Mayella Ewell in the trial. After explaining his side of the story Tom then says ‘Mr Finch, if you was a nigger like me you’d be scared too.’ This quote alone gives the idea of the inequality of race, how inferior blacks/coloured people were to the whites. The author uses her own experiences of what happened and what she was as a child. The fact that this quote from Tom simply says that he is scared can make the reader feel sympathetic and can even lead to the reader empathising too.

Chapter nine of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ begins with Scout fighting a classmate named Cecil Jacobs. It starts when Scout reflects what happens that day at school when she fought Cecil Jacobs at school and her cousin Francis later on. We also learn more information about the family of Atticus and his relatives. Lee’s style of writing is extremely coherent and uses imagery and figurative language in her writing. She uses these writing techniques to demonstrate human action and story development throughout ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. She also uses metaphors as a literary device. Using these writing techniques, she gives the story a unique perspective as the plot develops.

Throughout our reading, To Kill a Mockingbird, substance can be found within the reading. This substance consists of various literary elements that are used to formulate a story, to serve the author’s purpose. In this case, Harper Lee forms a commentary about the injustices faced by colored people, long after the abolishment of slavery. From Lee’s use of allusion, to her personal writing style, each element is used to tell a story. While there are many prominent literary elements at play within the reading, there are also subtle ones, which greatly affect the storytelling. Lee carefully use setting to s

“ I am not Abnegation. I am not Dauntless. I am Divergent” (Roth 442). This quotation display a certain substance we all need understand about ourselves in life; we are more than one thing, one personally, and one judgement, we are all divergent. Divergent is a powerful word in which means that we are all different than what the world may want you to be or how you are portrayed as to the rest of the world. Divergent means, you are not just one human you are one different human being who has many aspects that make you the person you are. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, judgement is evident when characters Arthur Radley, Atticus Finch, and Dolphus Raymond are misjudged for the way they community sees them, which is being

Harper Lee uses tough questions to build a mood throughout the book. For example Scout brings up the Tom Robinson case on page ninety nine of the book. “Do you defend n******?” In response

The book ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee is known as a classic book that is extremely relevant in today’s society as it explores themes that are experienced today which, makes the novel timeless. This book is written through a child’s eye better known as Scout, however still keeping it in an adult’s perspective through the complex structure and storyline. ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ is a deep explanation of the conflict that occurred between different people in the small city of Alabama, Maycomb in the early 1930 's. This time was mainly known as the ‘depression era’ where the black people experienced inequality from the white people. There was a clear connection between this era to the main themes expressed in this book which is certainly still relevant today. In the novel, Harper Lee effectively analyses the themes of racism, which were mainly experienced by the black people as they were discriminated against for their skin colour. The theme of good and evil were also clearly portrayed through the innocence and the evilness of the characters. This novel can relate to many problems experienced in today’s world with the support of the themes conveyed throughout.

Harper Lee’s novel reflects how life was in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s. She describes all the racism and prejudice that happens during this time. She wrote a story from the view of a little girl named Scout. While events happen in the story, character traits about Scout become visible. Scout is presented to be a very inquisitive, exasperated, and mischievous girl.

The racial concerns that Harper Lee addresses in To Kill a Mockingbird began long before her story starts and continued long after. In order to sift through the many layers of prejudice that Lee exposes in her novel, the reader needs to understand the complex history of race relations in the South.

“You'll never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view” Atticus Finch. Reading this book “To Kill A Mockingbird” with my class has made me understand how it is to be in other people's shoes from the 1932-1935. Also how certain people in this book is “Coming Of Age” and show lots of literary elements in the scenes, for example how Scout and Atticus were in the courthouse. Literary elements show a lot in the courthouse like setting, tone and conflict. These elements appear when Atticus was Explaining to the judge that Tom Robinson couldn't have did the crime and when Atticus was walking out of the courthouse and the guy told Scout to stand up because Atticus was passing.

The way that people understand their circumstances and surroundings is often directly correlated to the way they perceive the world around them. An adult understands much more around him than a child does because of the mature, more knowledgeable perception he has. Meanwhile, the child, while not able to fully understand what she sees, often sees more than an adult because of the knowledge hungry, curious perception she has. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the characters range in gender, age, and intelligence. The narrator herself is a young elementary age child. She is extremely smart for her age, but because of her limited exposure to the world, does not fully understand the seriousness and danger of the story unfolding around her. While the book To Kill a Mockingbird covers many controversial topics, perception and the change certain characters undergo that effects this perception are the key to connecting many of them.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about injustice in the 1940s in the South. However, it is more than just a story of racial discrimination, it is a story about discrimination of those in society who are misunderstood. In this novel the author vividly describes the meaning of fear and discrimination. In doing this Harper Lee uses several characters in the novel that are feared and misunderstood, like Atticus and Scout, Boo Radley, the African American society, and Tom Robinson. Through the actions surrounding these characters, Harper Lee suggests that fear and discrimination come in many forms.

Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, takes place in Monroeville Alabama in the 1930s during the time of the Great Depression, when racial discrimination was very prominent in the American South. It is narrated by the main character Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, a six year old girl who is the daughter of local attorney Atticus Finch. She tells the story from an adult perspective about her own childhood experiences. Through Scout’s eyes, Lee is able to present the story objectively by having an innocent girl make observations about the town she lives in. She presents the theme of racial discrimination and injustice to make the reader think, using powerful description, strong characterisation and colloquial language to make the story come alive to the reader.