To Kill A Mockingbird

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?

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.

"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.

To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Maycomb County, Alabama in the 1930s. There is a myriad of families in this small county. Blacks, farmers, businessmen, and strong single women all call Maycomb County home. The book is told from the point of view of a little girl named Jean Louise Finch, or as many of the townspeople call her, Scout. Her father, whom they call Atticus, raises her with her brother Jem. A majority of the book deals with the trial of Tom Robinson, during which Scout begins to understand that not everybody is as fair as Atticus, raised Jem and her to be.

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

Even though they had mindsets that they were going to lose the trial, Atticus still went to the trial anyway. Atticus already knows that Maycomb is racist and that they judge people based on skin color not evidence, “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads – they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” Atticus goes on to say that he knows other peoples perspective even if they are black and what they are going through at that moment, “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.” Atticus shows passion for being a lawyer and standing up for what he believes is right. He teaches his children a very important life lesson and what’s key to becoming a successful lawyer that he already is, “You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change”. This also shows how Atticus maintains a calm environment during the trial. Atticus proves that Tom did not even touch or hurt Mayella by saying that the arm he punched Mayella with was not even functioning, “He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him.” Near the end of the trial Atticus is disgusted by the outcome of the trial and shows it rather emotionally and not physically, in the end they knew that they were going to lose the trial because of racism. All of Maycomb now knows that Bob Ewell is a child

In this book, Scout's maturity follows the concept of Bloom's Taxonomy, a multi-tiered model of conceptual thinking according to six levels of complexity (Forehand). Scout starts out using only the two bottom layers of this method, knowledge and observation, and comprehension, both which she has had since a very young age. Scout moves up a level in this system when she applies pre-known knowledge and analyzes situations. For instance, when Walter Cunningham would not take Miss Caroline's money, Scout realizes that Walter wouldn't take the money because he didn't want it, but instead, he wouldn't take it because he could never pay it back. Scout reaches the last two levels, synthesis and

Atticus ,Tom’s attorney, got out of his seat, looked at Mayella and said “What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why dont you tell the truth, child, didnt Bob Ewell beat you up?” (Lee 251). Atticus contradicts Mayella’s story by saying Tom could not have held her and beaten her at the same time because Tom’s right hand is paralyzed. Atticus points out that Tom does only good things for others and that he would not do something like that to Mayella. Atticus asks for the jury for once to review the case, look at all the evidence and judge without being biased towards Tom. After the jury finishes the judge finds Tom guilty. After seeing the unfair trial Jem starts to look confused at why Tom was not found

Highly regarded as one of the best books ever written, To Kill a Mockingbird has proven to be a book of high importance. Involving themes of racism, gender, and equal prejudice, its height noted why this book is read by thousands of students in America. Written by the recently deceased Harper Lee, it was published in 1960 and went to be a Pulitzer Prize winning book in 1961. The novel takes place during the Great Depression in Maycomb County, It's narrated by Jean Louise “Scout” Finch as she goes through the events of the trial of Tom Robinson. The symbolism of the book’s title is related to the loss of innocence. Scout’s brother Jem and Tom Robinson loose their innocence throughout the novel.

Mockingbirds are birds that does one thing; Making music for us to enjoy and nothing else to harm us. In the remarkable novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the mockingbird is used as symbolism for real people. Including the human mockingbirds, the novel represents other pieces of the prejudice such as racism and hypocrisy. In the little town of Maycomb in its 1930¡¯s, the prejudice was an accepted concept for every individual and Atticus even called it a ¡®disease¡¯ of the town. This time-honored perception, prejudice, was very distinctly shown in the novel from its characters and the society. Prejudice does not seem like a such a big deal in the novel as it actually is now

Reading broadens our minds and touches our hearts. It creates greater understanding and compassion in the reader through its characters and themes. Write an essay that addresses the ideas expressed in this statement with reference to your class novel.

Atticus continues to remain calm and collected as the town continues to harass him for defending Tom Robinson. Once Tom returns to town for his trial Atticus decides to stand guard at his house knowing that trouble will arise. Low and behold, a crowd of angry racist men show up with rifles to kill Tom. Scout, Jem, and Dill arrive just as the trouble does. Atticus tries to send the children away but they refuse to leave. Scout recognizes Mr. Cunningham and goes up to him. Mr. Cunningham then calls off the mob. The next morning after the incident, marks the first day of the trial. The kids attend the trial. As the trial unfolds Mayella provides a very inconsistent recount of what happened the day she was allegedly raped. Atticus wittingly proves she is lying based on the fact that Tom cannot use his left hand due to a cotton gin incident, but coincidently her father is left handed. Tom recounts that he did help Mayella with her chifferobe, but that he helped her many times because he felt bad for her and always refused payment. Until one day she grabbed him and tried to get him to kiss her which Bob saw and threatened to kill her for it. The prosecutor questions him about how he could possibly feel bad for a white woman and gets him to admit that he is indeed strong enough to cause great harm. As the lawyers give closing remarks, Atticus shares that there is a gross lack of evidence to prove that Tom committed this crime. He does