Theme Of Adults In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the 1930s Southern Gothic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the child and adult perspectives of the narrator to tell the story from the perspective of an innocent child, then adding on to it using the adult perspective, which allows the readers to have a better understanding of events in the story. It allows the narrator to tell the story as they experienced it as a child, which gives the perspective of how they feel about the events. The child’s point of view also makes the novel fit for an older audience, because they most likely understand mature topics that the child narrator does not. Using the two perspectives of the main character, Lee allows the readers to relate to and comprehend the novel better.

In the beginning of the novel, Scout is just a regular 5 year-old girl who has no knowledge with the crisis and reality of the world. Later in the novel Scout changes, she sees/experiences racial prejudice but Atticus teaches her that you can change evil to good if you just

Scout 's perception of prejudice is evolved through countless experiences in Harper Lee 's, To Kill a Mockingbird. Written in the nineteen thirties, To Kill a Mockingbird promotes the understanding of self-discovery through Scout, an intelligent and outspoken child living with respectable family in Maycomb County, Alabama. Throughout various encounters in the novel, Harper Lee causes Scout 's perspective to change and develop from innocence to awareness and eventually towards understanding.

She would get a better understanding of this as the novel progresses. Scout also learns more about maturity when she experiences hypocrisy from her teacher, “Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced. Pre-ju-dice,” She is contradicting herself, saying that it is acceptable to persecute blacks but not Jews. It dawned on Scout that people are hypocrites and have double standards when it suits them. The biggest step the children took towards growing up was during the Tom Robinson trials. There, the children received full exposure to the evils, malevolence, prejudice and sorrow of the cruel world as a white man accuses an innocent black man for raping when all Tom ever wanted to achieve was to help others. The children understood what was going on completely and was therefore changed because of it. At the unexpected climax of the novel, the children have an unpleasant encounter with Bob Ewell who wanted to take revenge on Atticus for humiliating him by killing his children. This was an absolutely outrageous act of insanity but also taught the children how dangerous reality could be, finalizing their journey into adulthood.

Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, the understanding of good vs. evil changes depending on age, race, perspective, environment, and experience. A young girl, Scout Finch, comes across good and evil as she confronts lies, attacks, and racism in the small town of Maycomb. Harper Lee uses Scout’s life to show the readers that one’s perspective of life will change as they grow older and mature. As Scout matures and comes close to her death of innocence, she is able to balance her thoughts on good and evil and starts to see the true, ugly colors of Maycomb and its people.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a multi-faceted novel which explores the principles and morals of people in the South during the 1930s. Mockingbirds are symbolic of the people that society abuse. Lee narrates the events of the novel using Scout’s voice and uses this technique to add emotional context and develop themes. Themes of racial and classist prejudice are developed by Lee to challenge the reader. These techniques are all powerful ways to alter the views of the reader.

Childhood years are a very impressionable time. This is no different for the fictional characters Scout and Jem Finch. Growing up in southern Alabama, they learned many lessons from the people around them and the circumstances they faced. Some of these important lessons learned are courage, empathy, and prejudice.

In the novel, to kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee presents three very distinct types of innocence that are portrayed by different characters throughout the novel. A good part in this story’s brilliance is that Harper Lee has managed to use the innocence of a young girl to her advantage. She does this by telling the whole story from a child’s point-of-view. By having an innocent little girl make racial remarks and regard people of color in a way consistent with the community, Lee provides the reader with an objective view of the situation. As a child, Scout can make observations that an adult would often avoid. In addition, readers are also likely to be forgiving of a child’s perception, whereas they would find an adult who makes these

Scout Finch changes and grows significantly over the course of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. In the beginning of the novel, Scout is a young girl who hadn't thought much of the prejudice in the world and was quick to judge others. Throughout the novel she becomes more aware of the prejudice in her own community, more sympathetic and understanding of others, and learns to stick to her morals. These changes were largely influenced by her father's example, the trial he was a part of, and her experiences in school.

First of all, Lee’s critical tone of prejudice is demonstrated by Scout’s innocent curiosity and perception of her surrounding society. Specifically, Lee’s critical tone is illustrated by Scout’s curiosity and the numerous questions she asks her family members throughout the duration of the novel. For example, when Scout raises questions to her Aunt Alexandra concerning her prejudice towards the Cunningham family, her innocence is exhibited by her desire to understand the world, but also to question it. A specific example of Scout’s curiosity is when Aunt Alexandra informs Scout not to invite Walter over for dinner, which leads Scout to ask “Why not, Aunty? They’re good folks” (223). Aunt Alexandra responds with: “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem” (224). Aunt Alexandra’s response exemplifies her prejudice towards the structure of the social classes in Maycomb County. However, Scout’s innocent nature enables her to remain uncorrupted by prejudice and to question the unquestionable. Lee’s use of a child as a narrator allows her to ask the tough questions regarding Maycomb County’s way of life and question why it is prejudiced towards a certain individual or group of individuals. Moreover, Harper Lee’s choice of narration

In Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus shows the children that Maycomb is prejudice, teaches them courage, and the children show maturity. Scout and Jem are children of Atticus who's assigned to defend Tom Robinson is his case and throughout this case Scout’s summer neighbor and friend, Dill, Jem, Atticus, and Scout exuberate of these themes in their actions .Prejudice is when one pre-judges another based on their race, gender, age, or sexuality which one don’t understand and one hates the unknown of another. Courage is doing something without the fear of being judged or fearing the unknown. Maturity is learning lessons and applying them to oneself where one start to display adult characteristics. These

" To which he replies, " 'don't say [ni--ers] Scout. It isn't polite" (Lee 122). Although Scout realizes that Atticus has indirectly answered her question, she is still undecided as to whether or not she should subscribe to Maycomb's intolerance, since she is still quite impressionable, and contests Atticus's decisions. Furthermore, her impressionability, apart from its derivation from her gender, undoubtedly forces Scout and her generation to become the key towards social change, and right the wrong that injustice imposes upon various individuals. Scout's age and gender encumber her ability to form her own opinions throughout the novel. Yet, Atticus conveys the importance of morality and equality by demonstrating a level of acceptance towards his client and his client's ethnicity. It is not that Scout underestimates her father, but rather, that she is very young, perhaps too young, to understand his motive and the prejudice that is attached to his case. Likewise, the Finch's neighbor, Arthur "Boo" Radley, serves to teach Scout the harm in discrimination during three separate summers. Although Boo is made the subject of games that involve him as a murdering maniac, he becomes, "a compelling enigma […] that also represents Scout's most personal lesson in judging others based [solely] upon surface appearance" (Felty 299). For her entire life, Scout has always

When you write about a family with two young children obviously you can expect ‘coming of age’ themes to be prevalent in the text. Scout Finch is not your average 10 year old girl, she is not afraid to voice her opinions with her actual voice and her fists. Atticus tells her that this trait is not very proper and she should consider other peoples views before concluding her own.

What defines a family? To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, shows that the family unit doesn't fit under one definition. A part of the novel shows the progression of a different meaning to family, as seen by the relationships between Atticus Finch and his children and between Arthur Radley and his brother Nathan. These characters and many people from modern society show that a family is made up of the people who love and care for you and can be described in many ways.