I really liked To Kill a Mockingbird and I enjoyed reading it. My favorite parts of the story were the themes and ideas about racism, prejudice, and understanding presented in it and following Scout’s views and beliefs as she grew older and matured. Her increased understanding and acceptance of people who are different than her remind me of myself as I grew older. One of the main ideas of this novel is racism. The story takes place in a fictitious town located in Alabama that is very similar to many small towns in the South during the Great Depression. Almost all of the townspeople are racist and believe that blacks are inferior to all whites, even those who are considered white trash. For example, the Ewell family literally lives in …show more content…
In the South at this time, black people, women, poor people, and children were looked down upon and considered not as important or intelligent as wealthy white men. Atticus Finch is the only character who believes that everyone is equal and treats people that are looked down upon with respect. He defends Tom Robinson, a black man, he doesn’t talk down to his children and allows them to call him Atticus, he treats his daughter the same as his son, and he calls everyone sir or ma’am, even Mayella Ewell who is extremely poor and lacks manners. His behavior and attitudes are very different than everyone around him and show how rare this is. Jem and Scout are also prejudiced against Boo Radley. At first, they believe all of the rumors about Boo Radley and think of him as a monster. As they grow older, they start to think of him as a person who deserves kindness and …show more content…
Atticus tells her, “If you can learn a simple trick Scout, you can get along better with all kinds of folks. 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.” The phrase “walk around in someone’s skin” or “climb into someone’s shoes” are used several times throughout the book. Throughout the story, she climbs into the shoes of many people, such as Miss Caroline, Jem, and Boo Radley. Scout struggles to understand why Miss Caroline punished her and Atticus advises her to think of the incident from Miss Caroline’s point of view. When Jem begins to act differently and not want Scout around him, she tries to walk in his shoes and feel what he is feeling. At the end of the story, when Scout stands on Boo Radley’s porch, she sees the street the way he has always seen it and understands what he must have felt when watching everyone on it. While reading the story, I empathized with Boo Radley. When his father punished him and never allowed him to leave the house, I pitied him and thought that he would have turned out to be a good person as an adult if he hadn’t made poor choices as a teenager and gotten involved with the wrong crowd. I also empathized with Mayella Ewell, who must have been extremely lonely all of the time. Townspeople refuse to talk to her because she is considered white trash, so
How does racism affect a story? As a kid in the 1930s, Harper Lee grew up when there was hardly any equality for African Americans. Harper Lee’s only novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is heavily based off of prejudice and racism from her childhood. In her book, she writes about racial discrimination through the eyes of a six year-old girl, named Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, during the Great Depression. Her and her family are deeply tied into racism and prejudice involved throughout this story. Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is ever apparent as the story is located in a small southern town in Alabama; it is reflected upon three of the main characters: Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, Jem Finch and their father, Atticus Finch.
Characterize Miss Maudie Atkinson (characterization = personality traits, actions, thoughts/feelings, other people’s points of view). How typical is she of Maycomb’s women? What do the children think of her?
Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been banned and/or challenged over thirty times since its publication in 1960. Effectively preventing many students from enjoying the novel and benefitting from its message. To ignore racism is no different than denying it ever existed. To Kill a Mockingbird is appropriate for mature adolescence/students and should not be banned from schools. Despite its sexual related content, or profanity, a valuable lesson remains that should be taught to students.
“Human beings are poor examiners, subject to superstition, bias, prejudice, and a profound tendency to see what they want to see rather than what is really there” ~ Scott Peck. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird abounds with the injustice produced by social, gender, and racial prejudice. The setting of the book takes place in the 1930s, where racism is a big deal in society. In the novel Harper Lee uses a mockingbird as an analogy to the characters. The Mockingbird is a symbol for Three Characters in the book, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. The people of Maycomb only know Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by what others say about them. These Characters are then characterized by other people 's viewpoints. In the novel there are many themes that are adjacent to our lives, the one that is found in To Kill A Mockingbird is Human Conflict comes from the inability for one to understand another. “ You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39)
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird events and conflicts take place causing changes in characters. Some of the characters that are changed include Mrs. Dubose, Jem, Scout, and even Mr. Arthur Radley. Each of these events has a background to help change the characters. Mrs. Dubose is helped to change her charter in the novel by Jem reading to her, Aunt Alexandra comes to live with Atticus, Jem, and Scout changing Scout’s character, and Arthur Radley’s character is changed by the event of Jem and Scout being attacked by Bob Ewell.
The tiny, sleepy, worn-out, dingy, slow-moving town of Maycomb, Alabama is where the novel takes place. The novel takes place in the early 1930s, during the Great Depression.
Based on the first six chapter of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, we can see that it moves at a rapid pace. It starts off as the beginning of summer and by the end of the sixth chapter an entire year has passed by. Throughout this year, we see Scout 's, Dill 's, and Jem 's adventures during the summers and Scout going to school for the first time. We also receive some additional background information on the mysterious Arthur "Boo" Radley.
In To Kill a Mockingbird by harper Lee, The story of a southern life in Maycomb during the mid-1930s you begin an exploration of human morality. Each character has morals on how to treat some one of the other race. Atticus and Bob Ewell are two characters with contrasting morals. Tom Robertson an African American male is court between both of them and is dependent the towns social morals in a court case.
"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 30). Atticus Finch says these words to his daughter, Scout, after he elucidates to her why it is important to not be quick to judge a book by its cover . In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mocking Bird, the main conflicts are centered around prejudice. In the tiny town of Maycomb, everybody is set on tradition and there is no room for oddity. Atticus Finch breaks down the walls that everybody else builds up about first and lasting impressions, slowly but surely. Atticus Finch is a discreet example of practicing equality because he espouses the outcasts of Maycomb.
Atticus Finch belongs to a very, very small minority. He is one of the very few human beings who does not hate Hitler. Of course, he does not like the universally hated historical figure, but merely dislikes him. This is a major theme of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. One can never, without exception, hate a man. Harper Lee promotes the idea that hatred is never acceptable by creating situations with literary devices like characters, settings, and plots that demand empathy.
8. Why won’t Walter Cunningham, Jr. take Miss Caroline’s quarter? Because he doesn’t want everyone to know that he can’t afford lunch
“What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel about people in the 30’s who show a number of different themes. Firstly, maturity is shown a lot near the end of the novel and during Tom Robinson’s trial. Secondly, racism is a huge part of this novel because a lot of people were judgemental and didn’t approve other races. Lastly, loyalty appears throughout the novel, especially during the trial. Many people in have really grown to be much better people as a result in these challenging times.
To Kill a Mockingbird is arguably the journey that Scout Finch makes growing up, which is essentially her journey of learning new values, morals and compassion through experience and practice.
The text type of To Kill a Mockingbird is a fiction novel which deals with the racism the author observed as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee, who wrote her novel in a retrospective point of view. There were numerous aspects of historical, personal, cultural and social context in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee was born on the 28th of April, 1926, in Monroeville Alabama. Monroeville was a close-knit community that has many similarities with Maycomb, which is the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee’s father was a prominent lawyer, whom she drew inspiration for the protagonists father, Atticus Finch. Among Lee’s childhood friends was Truman Capote, from whom she drew inspiration to the character Dill. These personal details help portray Harper Lee’s own childhood home, where racism and segregation was highly evident. Another example of context which helped shape To Kill a Mockingbird were the events that occurred during Harper Lee’s childhood. In 1931, when Harper Lee was five years old, nine African-American men were accused of raping two white women near Scottsboro, Alabama. After a series of lengthy, highly publicised, and often bitter trials, five of the nine men were sentenced to long term imprisonment. Many prominent lawyers and various members of the general public saw the sentences as spurious and believed that it was motivated by racial prejudice.