To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

A Time to Kill and To Kill a Mockingbird both have a number of similarities to be compared and contrasted. Both stories can be compared in their themes about justice and racial prejudice. However, this is where the similarities end. The themes and ideas in both novels are vastly different in shape and scope. In A Time to Kill justice is the main theme and most of the ideas are focused on justice and the gray in between the lines of black and white set by the law, racial prejudice is also touched upon very frequently in the comparisons between Jake Brigance and Carl Lee Hailey and how he wouldn't even have had to face trial if he was a white man. In To Kill a Mockingbird justice is a theme which is not expanded upon or explained in nearly

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a multi-faceted novel which explores the principles and morals of people in the South during the 1930s. Mockingbirds are symbolic of the people that society abuse. Lee narrates the events of the novel using Scout’s voice and uses this technique to add emotional context and develop themes. Themes of racial and classist prejudice are developed by Lee to challenge the reader. These techniques are all powerful ways to alter the views of the reader.

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.

A theme from To Kill A Mockingbird is Racism. Because of racism in the book a innocent black male is accused of rapeing a white female. Racism affects a lot of people in this story by it changing the outcome of many different situations not just in a courtroom situation.

“It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered”...

One of the biggest themes in To Kill A Mockingbird is racism. The story takes place during 1963 in Maycomb, Alabama. At that time slavery was legal and many people in the South had slaves and treated them badly. The theme of racism is very significant to the story because Scout is a kid and doesn’t really understand why people are racist, she thinks everyone should be treated the same. The trial scene was very important because it was one of the first times Scout experienced major racism especially when they took a white man’s word over a black man just because he is white, there was undeniable evidence proving that Tom was innocent, and how it took the jury 5 hours to come to a consensus.

All in all, the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro Trials were three historical concepts Harper Lee used frequently in her story. In To Kill a Mockingbird, she uses these concept to influence, enrich, and ultimately determine the plot. Ultimately, it was with these critical connections that this American classic has been able to have the profound effect it has had on its readers over the years.

Throughout the history of humans, racism has always been an issue. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird and Joel Schumacher’s film A Time to Kill both explore the idea of racism. Multiple scenes in the novel and film use various themes to help convey this idea of racism. Both of these texts explore this idea with differences and similarities. Character’s lives and situations play an important role in conveying this main theme of racism.

The theme that plays the strongest role in creating the setting of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is society. Maycomb County is an old, small town in Alabama during the Great Depression. All of its citizens have lived there, for almost their entire lives. Throughout the years the townspeople create a reputation, some are good and some are bad. Since Maycomb is such a small town they have nothing else to do but gossip. “Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.” because they are expected to be perfect and if they are not, the town will go against them. Another example is Maycomb County created stereotypes. If someone did not fit in with the rest of Maycomb’s citizens they were viewed as odd, even

Racism was one of the biggest topics in To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee and also one of the biggest issues in the United States during the 1930’s. In the novel Atticus Finch is a distinguished and successful lawyer in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb during this time was home to many racist citizens, and also home to many struggling families. Even though Maycomb’s community is filled with racist people, Atticus agrees to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell, but claimed he did not. Once Robinson’s trial begins he is put in jail and then soon after a mob gathers at the local jailhouse to lynch him. Atticus, having exceptional morals stood out from the rest of the residents in Maycomb. He defended Tom not only as his job but as a

To Kill A Mockingbird is set in the early 1930s, the years of the Great Depression when poverty and unemployment were widespread in the United States. During this time, segregation was a large problem in American society. Atticus taking the case for Tom Robinson and actually trying to defend him was very

To Kill a Mockingbird, a Pulitzer Prize winning novel has taught many people about the reality of life in the mid 1900’s and is a book that captures the attention of the reader as soon as they first pick it up. This amazing book written by Harper Lee is set in a small town called Maycomb, which is located in Alabama. It is set in the 1930’s a time between the rush of the roaring twenties and the distress of World War II in the 1940’s. This was a time when the economy was low and money was scarce for both races, Whites and African Americans. The cruelty of racism still loomed over communities and this had a huge impact on the children of this decade. To Kill a Mockingbird exhibits the harsh cruelty of racism and stereotyping throughout a community through tangent events and show the impact it has on children’s innocence through the perspective of Scout and Jem Finch. These two children of a respected lawyer are forced to face the cruelty of violence and racism while their father fights for the justice of an African American who has been charged with the rape of a white girl. The Great Depression in the 1930’s is accurately portrayed in Harper Lee’s novel through the representation of families seeking financial aid due to scarcity of money, the methods of payments that many families had to use and also the hostility and prejudice attitudes that were between the citizens of many families in Maycomb during this time. Many people are shown struggling in this novel due to this

Feature films have served as depictions of our society. They have been mirrors reflecting upon us what we are, what we would like to be, and how we view ourselves. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is in fact a classic film that does just that. Directed by Robert Mulligan, this film was based on Harper Lee’s novel of the same title. The screenplay by Horton Foote, “To Kill a Mockingbird is both a coming of age story of three young children, told from the perspective of Scout as she reflects upon an important court case involving her father when she was only six years of age (Pakula & Mulligan, 1962). It is a commentary on racism in the 1930’s south, its affects upon a small town, and the minority-liberal Whites. As an American/historical drama, its characteristics are clear. There is a perspective on life, a sense of humor, political view and moral values established early in the film. The setting is also important to the film, as it draws a theme and structure for the audience. This analysis will view “To Kill a Mockingbird” through the lens of the genre theory as it applies to the contextual information, story/plot, aesthetic choices, and social impact that helped form the theme and created an Oscar award winning and nominated film classic, again proving that great cinema serves as commentary on society, for better or for worse. It forces us to see ourselves and question who we are and who we want to be.

Both the text and the film are set in the southern states of America, “To Kill a Mockingbird” in Maycomb Alabama in the 1930’s and “A Time to Kill” in Mississippi in the 1990’s. This was intended by Harper Lee and Joel Schumacher due to racial discrimination being a prominent issue in these eras as well as the southern states being known for their belief in white supremacy. In both towns in the text and the film there were definite segregations between white and black people. This allowed both Lee and Schumacher to easily portray the idea of racism to their intended audience. In the text “To Kill a Mockingbird” Lee utilises a variety of language techniques to convey the idea of racism to his readers. Whereas in the film “A Time to Kill” the director, Schumacher, uses language features as well as a range of stylistic devices to effectively present racism as a key idea.

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.