Theme Of Fear In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, is a realistic story that deeply discusses issues involved with the 1930’s that still resonate today. The struggles of life are evident within the believable characters of Maycomb County which is a microcosm, reflective of universal issues. Along with the authentic characters, setting and style also helps to convey Lee’s controversial notions of racial and gender prejudice, and persecution of the innocent, discussing many other ideas within.

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“Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will” (Stephens). Fear is a big part of one’s life. Fear affects many things including people’s behavior, actions and their state of mind. Even though fear is in everyone not all have the same fears, everyone is made differently, by their culture, their race and their religion, fear is the same it defines what a person will accomplish. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows her readers that fear is a significant part in the novel since it’s the reason for most people’s actions. By looking further into the book the result of fear is present in Tom Robinson’s case, Boo Radley and Bob Ewell.

Tom Robinson is another mockingbird figure. He was a genuinely caring person who is destroyed by his willingness to help Mayella Ewell. Just like a mockingbird, Robinson never hurt anyone. Yet, he was also persecuted by society for his kindness and his race. Tom Robinson was killed because of his kindness and the color of his skin; “ a harmless songbird that was shot down by a senseless hunter.” Lee uses the character of Tom as a mockingbird figure to express the innocence of the mockingbird and exhibit the narrow-mindedness and biased opinions of the towns folk.

A remarkable American soldier and author named William T. Sherman once stated, “Courage, a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure It.” Going against what society says and sticking to your beliefs is an act of courage. In the realistic fiction novel, ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, an average southern family, the Finches, fights against the racism of a small town. Harper Lee’s message is expressed by symbolism through the two characters Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, the bildungsroman of Scout, and the hero archetype of Atticus .Harper Lee portrays that courage should be shown through loyalty not popularity.

The genre of the story is historical fiction and the setting is the 1930’s southern America in a town called Maycomb, in Alabama. The story is narrated by Scout Finch, a young girl whose innocent heart has been exposed to the evils of southern United States in the 1930’s. This setting is vital to the plot of the summary because during that time was the great depression and racism was especially common in the south, where lynching rose from 8 in

In today's society, courage is defined as the ability to succeed without changing who we are as a person or what we believe in hoot courage, justice is weak and society is corrupt. In Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel "To Kill a Mockingbird', courage is presented through the characters Atticus Finch and Mrs Henry Lafayette Dubose as they confront their issues and embrace life regardless of what others think. Harper Lee constructed her narrative during a time of prejudice and injustice against Black Americans; hence courage was vital to overcome the racial discrimination many faced Both Atticus and Mrs Dubose along with the crucial events in the novel teach Jean Louise Finch, as well as the audience, the significance of courage and create an understanding that courage exists in several forms, Courage is often seen as the physical bravery an individual can display in a fearful H ever, it is also when an individual knows there is no chance of winning, but continues to fight for what they believe in. Harper Lee constructs a masculine image of this type of courage through Atticus and his handling of the mad dog incident. When comparing Atticus to the other fathers in Maycomb, Jam and Scout think of him as old and feeble' though the mad dog occurrence reveals a side of him that had not yet been discovered by his children; that he was once the best marksman the town with the name of one shot Finch'. Heck Tate insists that Atticus should kill the diseased animal even though

Courage, as defined by Collins Dictionary, is “the quality shown by someone who decides to do something difficult or dangerous, even though they may be afraid”. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee has created many characters who exhibit such courage, even in the face of adversity, and develops this into a major theme. Atticus Finch, Arthur Radley, and other members of the Finch household and Maycomb community, display amazing courage in the things they say, but more importantly in the way they act. These characters all contribute to the novel’s theme of showing courage through adversity.

Fear. The unpleasant emotion that often takes control over our distinct morality senses. That’s exactly what fear did to the people of Maycomb in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird as fear clouded their better judgment and drove their unpleasant actions towards people who were considered inhuman. The central idea of To Kill A Mockingbird revolves around the phrase, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ as it illustrates the racial prejudices of not only the black people against the white people, but also the judgments passed between people that off either the same or different race.

In the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee illustrates a changing relationship, including the dynamic characters Arthur “Boo” Radley, and Jean “Scout” Louise Finch and Jem Finch. Two young adolescents seek exposure to the monster like, hermit as various residents express their perception on Boo Radley, notably Charles Baker “Dill” Harris. This obnoxious character intrigued the curiosity of Scout and Jem to detect the private life of the Radley’s. Fear of Boo overcomes the minors as they detect sorts of information related to Arthur Radley. In the process, the dynamic characters learn information on Boo including rumors that residents conclude being the truth, illustrating the impression of the main characters that Boo is a monster-like creature. As the children instill that misperception contrived by residents, the children began to fear Boo Radley. Intrigued and curious children challenge their fear as they dare to taunt the innocent man and his household that he has not left in 15 years of his life. Boo Radley, the monster perceived elder, noticed these challenges and was fond of the attention. He expressed his thanks by leaving the youth gifts in the knothole of the tree as he expressed his gratitude. The children apprehend the sudden change the behemoth recluse character in undergo change as the dynamic characters. Scout and Jem’s relationship with Boo Radley undergoes alteration as the characters matriculate the innocent character. They

In this passage Scout learned that once you see someone from their viewpoint, you begin to understand them and their views more deeply. Metaphors were used to expand on Scout’s emotions to describe her recognition of Boo Radley’s personality. This passage was a significant coming of age scene for Scout, as she now learned to first develop a relationship with someone and see their view of the world before judging who they are. Also, the imagery helped precisely capture how Boo Radley saw the passing events of Scout and Jem. This scene allowed the influence of many who read To Kill a Mockingbird to not evaluate others before looking at their perspective, unlike the rumors of Boo Radley. Throughout the chapter, character was the main element the fully conveyed Boo Radley’s true nature to the readers, and how Scout matures to learn that her incorrect views on Boo came from the now false rumors . In conclusion, Harper Lee makes use of literary elements to exemplify this coming of age scene on the perspectives of Boo Radley and the judgement of

With the racial tension so high during this time period, Tom's innocence was lost before he could even defend himself. This was shown through Atticus's reply to Scout's question of, "Will we win?" Atticus answered no because the case was lost before it began. Tom Robinson's response to his loss of innocence was to simply run away from the problem that had befallen him. For his attempted escape Tom suffered the highest consequence, "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" (235). Due to Tom's decision on how to respond, he was killed even though he was placed in his position no thanks to himself. Tom Robinson chose poorly when it came to his response towards his loss of innocence and it cost him his life.

During the trial Scout notices that Tom Robinsons arm is withered and that he couldn’t do the crime in the way Mayella Ewell said he did. Atticus calls only one witness which is Tom Robinson. Tom tells the true story, being careful to not come right out and say that Mayella is lying. Tom makes a mistake when he admits under cross-examination that he, a black man, felt sorry for Mayella

In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird adversity is showed throughout the town especially through two different characters. Those characters may be on opposing sides in the courtroom but they both share a hard life, they are Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” These famous words were spoken by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who inspired future generations to not give into their fears. Harper Lee personifies this ideology in her story, To Kill A Mockingbird, through characters who seemingly plow through the social mold and fearlessly blaze a new path for people to follow. Lee writes about two 1930’s children who observe their town divide based on their fears of change and the unknown. Atticus, Heck Tate, and Jem are controlled by fear, which changes the way they make decisions and ultimately has a negative effect on those around them.