The Influence Of Characters In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Harper Lee is a famous author who wrote the award winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. She grew up in the heart of Alabama and tied in many aspects of her southern childhood into the novel. There are historical and biological influences in the book To Kill a Mockingbird that reflect Lee’s life and the society around her during the 1930s.

Matt Berman from Common Sense Media commented, “This richly textured novel, woven from the strands of small-town life, lets readers walk in the shoes of one fully realized character after another.” To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, one of the major messages is identity. Harper Lee lets the people look into the perspectives and identity of some of the characters that make it seem very life-like. In the novel, many characters possess both admirable and dislikable qualities which are shown through their actions. With the nurturing of her father, Scout contains the charming qualities of being courage and mature for her age. The father that instilled these characteristics in Scout, is Atticus Finch. While dealing with the stressful case of Tom Robinson, Atticus maintains to keep the likable aspects of sympathy and strong will. The antagonist in this novel fighting against Tom Robinson is Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell has instilled, in him, the terrible qualities of cruelty and racism. These life-like characters that Harper Lee illustrates gives people a clear vision of who the characters portray.

“ 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

​In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch, and her brother Jem, learn the importance of seeing things through other people's eyes. At the beginning of the story, the people living in Maycomb County, can be considered "mockingbirds" because they are innocent. Their father, Atticus, leads as a strong example while defending Tom Robinson, a black man convicted for rape. The residents of Maycomb (besides the Finches) fail to see situations through other people's eyes. For example, when the trial takes place, most people do not have empathy toward Tom Robinson, resulting in some of those "mockingbirds" becoming killed. Trying to see situations through other people's eyes can keep someone from hurting somebody who is innocent.

Harper Lee published her famous book, To Kill a Mockingbird, more than fifty years ago, but it is still one of the most read books of this age. Before her death, Harper Lee earned $9,249 a day, giving her a net worth of thirty-five million dollars. This money is well earned, however, as Lee used her words to impact and shape the way people thought to improve the world we live in. Former first lady Laura Bush called the book "a novel that has enshrined for generations an ideal of American decency” (al.com). Clearly, one can already see that the book is well known and influential enough to impress people all over the world. To Kill a Mockingbird is about a young girl by the name of Scout who grows up in a racist town. The story tells the reader

Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 and grew up in Monroeville, Alabama. As author of the worldwide bestselling novel To Kill a Mockingbird, her childhood life had a strong influence on the book. Many aspects of the story suggest that some characters and events are actually based on her real-life experiences. The time, place and environment in which the book is set are distinctly similar to that of those in To Kill a Mockingbird.

In Harper Lee’s, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper uses many literary elements to grab the attention of the readers. Many of these literary elements help contribute to the point of coming of age as well; these apply to the book but can go with the movie. Some of the literary elements are also used to show the way African-Americans were treated near the 1900’s era and to show how accustomed people were to racism.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses characterization through differences between Atticus and Aunt Alexandra to exhibit how a person’s thoughts and actions determine their character.

Mockingbirds (Innocence/ morals and values)– The book depicts mockingbirds as innocent creatures that shouldn’t be harmed since they did nothing to harm others. While practicing with their rifles, Atticus tells Jem and Scout that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. The mockingbirds share a connection with Tom Robinson since they are both innocent and don’t deserve to be harmed. However, due to the racist attitudes of southern American citizens in the 1930s, he was killed. Similar to killing a mockingbird, only evil came from it. It prevented nothing bad and presented nothing good, it only served to shake Maycomb citizens’ faith in justice. (Jem and Atticus especially)

In class we are reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I just finished reading chapters 16-23. The book is in Scouts perspective, and I think that it really helps when reading too see how Scout views a certain topic. It is a coming of age story and the two characters that are growing up are Scout and Jem. In this journal I will give information about a character named Tom Robinson, and my opinions on him. I will also be conveying my opinions oh why Mayella Ewell would have lie about the case.

There are plenty of important characters in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The story chronicles life through the eyes of young children, but also shows first hand accounts of racist adults in the small town of Holcomb. This book is so unique because symbolism is avidly used. The main characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are symbolized as mockingbirds. There are many different situations where a character can be categorized as a mockingbird. A mockingbird can be a meek man accused of a crime, or a young child misinformed by a racist community. While these characters are diverse, they have one thing in common: innocence. To Kill a Mockingbird portrays examples of innocence that have been influenced by a negative mentality.

Tom robinson said “I felt sorry for mayella”. When tom was on trial they asked him if she ever gave him money and he said no “I felt sorry for her. Tkam teaches us that everything is not fair and that you can’t lose hope.

People can be good after all. I realize that as i'm in the scorching hot courtroom. The smell of wood is overpowering. Everyone is staring at me so hard with disgust I can feel it. As I came in here I asked God a question, “Why are people so cruel?”. When it was my turn to take the stand I stood there sweat beading down my face. I tried my hardest to show the truth. By the end it was clear, I am not guilty. Atticus gave a speech and that is where i realized all is not lost. He understood, he understood the troubles my people have been through, i wondered if he could smell the guilty consciousness in everyone. As he finished the jury decided . I felt a small gleam of hope since it took two hours to come up with a verdict. I heard the words

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main protagonist, Scout, is given a chance to explain the happenings from both the perspective of a young child and a mature adult; this is in order to limn the story according to the vision of the author. To commence, young Scout gives a general and clear view of the events happening in Maycomb, as she has not yet accepted society’s social standards. When Scout goes to the Blacks’ church and realises that there are no hymn-books, she immediately proceeds to ask Calpurnia who responds with a “you’ll see”. Not to be deterred she continues to ask “[h]ow’re we gonna sing if there ain’t any hymn-books?” (Lee, 161), which tells how she is willing to expose any differences and emphasize them to the reader.

Throughout the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, there is a strong sense of gender discrimination. First, Scout is mocked against for being a Tomboy. A woman in the story is believed to need to act, speak, and dress a sure way to be considered a lady. Scout shies away from the perceived way a lady needs to act and therefore is not considered to be a lady. Characters in the story like Aunt Alexandra and Ms. Stephanie give Scout a hard time for not acting a way a lady is supposed to act in Maycomb, and they make it their mission to fix it. They say things like “It would be best for you to have some feminine influence” (Lee 140) and “Don’t talk like that in front of them.”(172) and “If you never start wearing dresses, you will never become a lady” (191.) Scout is discriminated against the entire book for being a Tomboy and not