To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

After Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to church, she tells them, “You’re not gonna change? any of them by talkin’ right, they’ve got to want to learn themselves, and when they don’t want to learn there’s nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language,” (Lee, 1960, p. 167). This statement Calpurnia tells to Scout and Jem proves in Maycomb she has no right to having one life. She either has to act more smart and sophisticated, or she must act like her friends and family in the black community. Calpurnia having to go back and forth between lives shows the readers the way most African American woman had to act to be able to fit in without being discriminated or treated unequally by others.

"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.

Calpurnia does not force Scout to be feminine; she lets Scout observe and be who she wants to be. In a way, her teachings also mirrors Atticus- slowly nurturing the children’s morals, answering whatever questions they might have, and leading them in the right direction while letting them also try to discover things on their own. In addition, Calpurnia acts as a bridge between the two worlds (black and white & the Finch’s house and her black community). At the church, the Finch children are able to see the other world (the black community) and to their surprise, they face prejudice there by a woman named Lula. Lula wanted to know why Calpurnia was “bringing white nigguns to their church”. For possibly the first time, Scout and Jem is in a situation where they can see that as much as there is prejudice from white to black, there is just the same from black to white. They might not fully understand what prejudice is at the moment, but this experience definitely helps them understand later on in the story as they mature. In their trip to the black church, Harper Lee portrays the black community in a highly positive light to highlight the idea of racism and prejudice in the white

Scout has to deal with becoming prejudiced to Walter Cunningham, she does not want him to come for dinner, but Jem still invited him over. Scout is talking to Calpurnia; Walter is in the dining room eating dinner when he pours syrup all over his plate. “‘He ain’t company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham—’‘Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!’” (24). This shows how Scout is being taught to treat all people equal no matter what their race, religion, or social class. Scout had been going around calling black people niggers, but Atticus tells here that it is degrading and that she should not say that because she is just acting “common” even if she is not. “Of course I do. Don’t say nigger, Scout. That’s common.” “‘s what everybody at school says.” “From now on it’ll be everybody less one” (75). Although Scout is acting “common” by saying these words, she is being taught by the kids in her school that it is okay to speak like this. Atticus quickly corrects her teaching her that it is wrong to say such things; he is teaching her to be a respectful young lady. Scout is learning to be respectful like her father and all of the people raising her.

After Calpurnia takes the kids to church with her one day, Scout begins to ask questions while they walk home. She asks Cal why she talks like the other black people while she is at church. Cal tries to explain why she does that. After trying to explain a few times, she says “‘It’s not necessary to tell all you know.’” (Lee 167). Cal explaining this to Scout and Jem changes a lot for them. After this, the kids gets another glimpse of the difference between groups of people in Maycomb. This helps them understand again that everyone is different and that you have to think of other people’s perspectives before you conclude something.

As Jem and Scout approach the church with Calpurnia, they are at first greeted respectfully. But then a black woman named Lulu confronts Cal, telling her, “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?” At this point, Jem wants to leave, but then other members of the church greet them warmly, and they stay for the service. But it also proves that blacks can be just as prejudice to white people as white people are to them. Scout and Jem learn about racial prejudice from Atticus. They see from example, Atticus strongly believed that racial prejudice is wrong. Atticus treats everyone with respect, black or white, and he does his best for Tom Robinson even knowing that he had little chance of winning the case and that his active defense was going to bring trouble for him and his

Did you ever make someone learned a lesson by saying things from your heart? Did you ever have a discussion with someone about a situation made you and someone felt different? Everyone has a different perspective view, and people learn their lesson from others different perspective view. From ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, the author Harper Lee taught a lesson that people can learn their mistakes from others perspective view.

Scout is a very judgmental girl who is quick to judge people if she feels they are different or not what Scout is used to. Growing up as an African-American woman in the 1900’s Calpurnia is used to the harsh judgments of many. Calpurnia makes sure that Scout is accepting of all people no matter their ethnic background. She enforces the importance of being accepting to all on their visit to the black church, “"It's right hard to say," she said. "Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks' talk at home it'd be out of place, wouldn't it?

One of the key elements to the success achieved by “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the focus on racial issues. Racism in the context which the novel is written was not even frowned upon, it was a social norm that was practiced by all classes of society. In the novel, Scout and Jem, Scout's older sibling, are cared for by Calpurnia, their black maid. In spite of the fact that Scout imparts her disparities to Calpurnia, Calpurnia fills in as a mother-figure for the kids. She's loved and regarded by Atticus, who recognizes that Calpurnia is educated. However, it is discourse that isolates the dark group from the white. Whenever Scout and Jem go to Calpurnia's church, Scout takes note of that Calpurnia embraces an alternate discourse when she speaks

In chapter 12, there’s a dialogue between Cal-the Finch’s helper and Lula-Cal’s neighbor when they look like they’re fighting and mocking at each other. Lula was kind of racism when Cal brings Scout and Jem-white kids to the church of black people community. You can see the racism from Lula when she asks “I wants to know why you bringin’ white chillum to nigger church”. The word “nigger” and “whit” in one sentence, with the irony attitude Lula gave to Cal can show how much racism she is in this case. And she was mad “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white little chillun here – they got their church, we got our’n.” then she go to the “fact” which is “It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?” All are human yet they act like despite each other and have no respect at all. Not only affect to how people think around but those words also affect to the children. They’re still young and naive. Imagine if they’re not Atticus’ children, not being educated well in Atticus’ way: treating everyone equally, what would happen to them later in the future? There will be more racism people and this thing will keep going on and on, seems like never stop. This situation related a lot to what is happening nowadays. The racism has been decreased and people already treated well between one another, yet it still exists. It’s like an ancient thing running through everyone’s blood. This part is really meaningful and need deeply understanding. Harper Lee has done a great job sharing it down on

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.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee she uses many excellent quotes that relate to not only the story, but to time today. Almost all of the quotes can be broken down to find a meaning and they can mean a variety of things. One of the quotes she uses that relates to today and that you can break down is “People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.” Everybody looks at the world differently. If you ask someone what they saw or heard it could be different from you and most of the time will be. Go and find thing out for yourself, don’t believe what others tell you.

Scout Jem and Dill all have very innocent views of racism as the novel begins, but as they mature and grow older they begin to see the harsh reality of racism in Maycomb County. In the novel Scout will see how racism affects every little thing. One day Calpurnia decides to take the two children to church. While they are there scout realizes that Calpurnia talks different than she does at home with them. As they return home, Scout asks Calpurnia about why she talks differently at a her church than at home. Calpurnia tries to explain and then Scout says "but Cal, you know better". I think this is a major point at which scout realizes how much racism affects every little thing. After this Scout understands that even though Calpurnia knew better she had to act like she didn't, because she would get made fun of if she didn’t. Jem, has a little more understanding about racism. Scout makes a comment about that “ if we came out in the Old Testament it's too long ago to matter”. "That's what i thought ,said jem, but around here once you have a drop of Negro blood that makes you all black." Jem says this when they are trying to explain to

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. TO the dismay of the racist resident of Maycomb, Alabama, Atticus Finch decided to represent Tom Robinson, who is one of the few black men in town. He decided to be a voice for Tom even though he knew the repercussions that would come. It was going to be a difficult trial since the same biased residents are going to make up the jury. Everyone in Maycomb had decided Tom was guilty as soon as the accusation made its way around town. Atticus overlooked the complication of the jury and the consequence because he knew this trial would be unfair if he didn’t help in any way he could. Toward the end of Atticus Finch’s closing argument, he is seen trying to plead the jury to overlook the color of the defendant’s skin color. He tries to persuade the entire courtroom of prejudice residents that Tom Robinson is innocent. Atticus is surrounded by people that believe that there should be no trial. He uses logic to place doubt in their minds that maybe there was a way that Tom didn’t commit this crime. He used his observations to show that they shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but to actually pay attention to the evidence to prosecute someone.

First and foremost, In order for humanity to understand that in order to improve this nation, society must not discriminate against others based on their appearance. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird there are many occurrences when people immediately judged someone by their appearance. In one section of the book, Calpurnia took Scout and Jem to her black church on a sunday. Although, they did not get a pleasant welcome; “Lula stopped, but she said, You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here—they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?” (158). This demonstrates an individual who quickly wanted Jem and Scout out even though she does not even know those two. It shows the impact of racism on our world today and the negative effects of it on the town of Maycomb. However, unlike Lula, Zeebo came from the crowd and treated Jem and Scout with lots of respect, opposing Lula of her