To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis Essay

Author uses Atticus teach these lessons through his wise words. Atticus teaches these lessons to not only the audience, but Jem and Scout too. Some of the main things he teaches his kids about are understanding people, using the mind instead of the body, the cruel reality of stereotypes, and true

The intriguing novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is written by the prestigious author Harper Lee. Lee has utilised the lifestyle and attitudes towards ‘African-Americans" in the 1930's to create a novel which presents the reader with Lee's attitudes and values. The dominant reading of the novel is focused on the issues of racial prejudice, but there are also a number of other alternative and oppositional readings. Examples of this are the Marxist and feminist readings which can be applied to the text.

As Stephen King once said, “The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.” In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird", by Harper Lee, Jean Louise Finch, a young girl who also goes by Scout, experiences many things such as racism, friends, and family. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer who is sacrificing his reputation to defend a black man, Tom Robinson. Scout and her friends take it upon themselves to uncover the mystery of Boo Radley. In this book the mockingbirds represent innocence. Many characters take on the role of the “mockingbird". Exploring Lee’s title, to kill a mockingbird is to kill innocence.

Lee implies that people learn lessons through life experiences that school can ever teach. Throughout this novel, Atticus taught his kids many lessons that was hard for them to hear at times, but it later on helped them in the story. Or it helped them grow up and mature. On page 40 of To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus was explaining to Scout that Miss.Caroline was new and didn’t know anyone, and she especially didn’t know the Cunningham’s story, Atticus states, “Atticus said… but if Walter and I had put ourselves in her shoes we’d have seen it was an honest mistake on her part” (40). This quote by Atticus is meant to explain to Scout that Miss. Caroline just made an honest human mistake. He tried to get Scout to realize that if he put herself in Miss.Caroline’s shoes then she might better understand the confusion. Obviously you can’t really be in her shoes, but he said it figuratively to show her why it was important to give her another chance, or at least try to be nice and listen. Atticus taught this to Scout at home later on that night. At her school after that she tried to just get by in her class. Lee also shows mainly throughout that the school system doesn’t help when it comes to teaching children life lessons. As shown in the earlier quote Atticus, had told Scout to jump in Walter’s shoes, and walk around in it. This other quote shows how Scout actually takes into consideration of Atticus’ words, and chooses to not bother Jem because she tried to imagine what it had

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (pg. 119.) Miss Maudie spoke the previous quote with deep thought going into each and every word. She wasn't just trying to teach Scout a lesson, but she wanted there to be a powerful meaning behind it. Miss Maudie's main purpose was to stress that you shouldn't kill something that is doing no harm. Everyday "mockingbirds" are killed, broke down, and mistreated by society.

To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson for the raping of a white woman, Mayella Ewell, in racist Alabama in the 1990’s.

As the famous American author, Nerburn, says,“It is much easier to become a father than to be one”(http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/fathers-quotes). Nerburn writes about how hard it is to be an eligible father .He proposes the question, “Do people think their father is the person who is able to provide them a lot of guidance or help? In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout live with their father, Atticus, who is a lawyer, and regard him as an excellent example. However, Scout and Jem don’t value Atticus as a father with full diligence because he is elder than most of other students’ father and he is not able to do any sports. Due to the accident with the mad dog, atticus’s educations and the case of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout come to understand, respect, and finally admire their father.

Mockingbirds will only sing their hearts, not cause any damage or give their lives to pleasing others. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird great examples are shown of different types of mockingbirds. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur (Boo) Radley are great examples of representing a mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a coming of age story of two young children, Scout and Jem Finch, who learn how to live in the prejudiced society of the fictional town, Maycomb, Alabama. Many characters are involved in helping Scout and Jem learn important lessons and mature, whether it is by mouth or through actions. They learn how to be more gentleman and ladylike, they learn that people are sometimes cruel and ignorant, but most importantly, they learn to look at people with more than one perspective. Harper Lee uses the characters Atticus, Dolphus Raymond, and Boo Radley, to show the idea that one cannot fully understand another person until he or she walks in that person's shoes.

The citizens of Maycomb county believe that a white man such as Bob Ewell cannot commit a crime that Tom Robinson was apprehended with charges of rape (even though he did not commit it) and that only a black man can commit these crimes because they are beneath a white man. In chapter 15 of To Kill a Mockingbird it shows how Tom Robinson represents a mockingbird when a group of local Maycomb county citizens formed a mob and went to the jail to take Tom away and give to him what they think he deserves (to be hung). Atticus knew that this trial would upset the townsfolk, so he stayed with Tom Robinson within the jail and sat his chair right outside his cell to protect him from being lynched. Fortunately for Tom Robinson and Atticus, Scout, Jem, and Dill had followed Atticus to the jail interfering with what the mob was set to do. Scout spoke out into the angry mob to Mr. Cunningham when she states, "Hey Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment gettin' along?... Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I'm Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one time, remember?"(pg. 174). This is important because the lynch mob that showed up to harm Tom and anyone who got in their way, such as Atticus was set on their plan to obtain Tom, but a child made one group member come to his senses. Scout speaking out to Mr. Cunningham reminded him that he is also a father and that because children were involved, it

To Kill A Mockingbird is set in Maycomb, Alabama, in the early 1930s. Racism is a real problem in the time period, especially in the South. Not a whole lot happens in Maycomb, it 's a quiet town, but one summer, things start changing. Racism is no longer a distant problem, is it real and present and the folks of Maycomb are forced to deal with it much sooner than they expected.

Tom Robinson’s case contributes to how he resembles a mockingbird and shows the injustice of society. Tom Robinson, an African-American man accused of raping a girl named Mayella Ewell, has his case taken to court. Tom is tried in front of a jury of twelve white men along with a white judge which does not display a fair representation of his peers. This results in them finding Tom guilty and sentencing him to death, even though all evidence points to him being innocent. Tom later gets shot while trying to escape prison. Atticus Finch, Tom’s lawyer, says in the beginning of the book, “‘It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’” (Harper Lee 119). Using the word “sin” shows harming an innocent being would be a very cruel thing to do, especially coming from Atticus. This relates to Tom Robinson’s situation because every piece of evidence from the trial proves he is not guilty, yet he still gets sent to jail and ends up being shot. The town’s newspaper publisher, Mr. Underwood, writes about Tom’s death and says, “ [I] likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children” (Lee 323). This quote emphasizes the similarities between Tom’s case and a mockingbird. Equally important, it uses words like “senseless” and “slaughter” to further highlight the severity of harming a creature who did nothing wrong. Lee compares Tom Robinson to the “songbirds” because both of them have positive effects on their surroundings and do nothing but be beneficial. Through the case of Tom Robinson, Lee shows the connection with the innocence of Tom to the symbol of a mockingbird.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee. The book follows the Finch family, that consist of two young children Jem and Scout and a Father Atticus, who is a criminal attorney in the town Maycomb, Alabama. Atticus is requested a trial by the judge to defend a black man who was accused of raping a white woman. This puts him and his family in jeopardy when he makes the decision of defending Tom Robinson, the man who was accused of rape. The consequences of him taking this case were that Jem and Scout were faced with many problems, in school everyone says that there dad is a nigger lover and the long term theme of the book is loss of innocence.

Scout and Jem were given air-rifles by their uncle Jack. With these new toys Jem started to have an interest in guns but Atticus wanted no part in the whole ordeal. Atticus says, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(90). Lee uses this to point out the symbolic mockingbird and its deeper meaning of true innocence. When Atticus tells the children that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do no harm it can be traced to Tom. Tom had been falsely accused of rapping a woman and when a mocking bird dies so does its its innocence. As time swifts buy the children still have dirt on them because of the trial, this dirt causes both Jem and Scout to get attacked but luckily they are saved by a man known as Arthur “boo” Radley. This man had been cooped up in his house his whole life so when Atticus finds out what he killed the children's attacker he didn’t know what to do. Scout says, “Well it’d be sort of of like shooting a mockingbird”(276). Scout was replying to the ideas of not telling the town what Mr.Radley had done. When Scout says this it shows that she understands the depth behind this issue and the fact that she understood shows that this childhood blindness and innocence she had once had was now gone in a

The story, in the eyes of two innocent children Scout and her brother Jem, of the discrimination and hypocrisy throughout the town. Maycomb County, Alabama, faces an African American’s injustice while the children learn valuable lessons from their father, Atticus and their housemaid Calpurnia, during the Great Depression. All the while, we are learning from it. To Kill a Mockingbird teaches us the lessons of morale, justice and equality.