To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

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

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a novel written by Harper Lee. It is set during the early 20th Century in the fictional town of Maycomb. Lee has decided to write the novel from a child’s point of view because a child is innocent but as the novel progresses the narrator, Scout, loses her innocence as she deals with the complications of her father being a lawyer. The novel revolves around racism and Scout sees discrimination wherever she goes whether it is racial or social prejudice. The town’s people agree with the idea that whites are superior to blacks. An example of this is when Atticus, Scout’s father, has to defend a black man who is accused of raping Bob Ewell’s daughter.

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.

"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.

Growing up is a difficult task, especially when the town around you doesn’t offer to help you understand what’s going on around you. Using many examples of the loss of childhood innocence, Harper Lee shows us that a corrupted society leads to growing up faster and one’s childhood is stripped away. Through Jem, the eldest of the Finch children, and Scout, the youngest, the readers see how a trial in 1930 Alabama takes a toll of young minds. In Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she implies that growing up leads to loss of innocence, especially in troubling times.

Racism is one of the main messages in this book also how people around us, not only parents have a strong influence on us when we are growing up, and how rumors and misjudgements can make a person look bad. Judging people without the knowledge of facts is also a common occurrence. I think this novel has this genius aspect of capturing these particular events through a child's eyes yet also being able to keep the adult perspective alive. It makes important points about prejudice and humanity without clobbering anyone over the head with the idealism of Atticus. A quote said by Atticus on page 99 of chapter 10 says, “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it”(Lee,99). I feel that this quote is referring to the people that can be considered as mockingbirds hence characters such as Scout as well as other children are mockingbirds because Scout has the innocence of youth and it would be wrong to steal the innocence of children by issues concerning only to adults therefore this happens frequently in the society we live in by becoming pawns in divorce, through exposure to inappropriate media and other types of abuses. Tom Robinson gets falsely accused of a crime. He is a symbol for innocent people who are the victims of everyday prejudice hence his greatest crime was feeling sorry for a white woman that was a crime back in those racist days therefore even in today's world racism does take place . Mayella Ewell should also be considered as a mockingbird whose innocence has already been destroyed by her abusive father and had been forced to confront to the court that Tom had raped her even though it was not true. Her situation is similar in almost

Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird details the life of young Scout Finch and brother Jem Finch, who is growing up in a time of racial uniqueness. Jem and Scout Finch are what most would call a typical family growing up in the small Alabama town of Maycomb. They encounter many different obstacles during their childhood missions with many characters making the novel an interesting read. Throughout the book, Lee is showing Jem and Scout grow up and become mature young adults. This novel, written by Harper Lee, demonstrates the themes of growing up, Innocence and most importantly, racism.

“Shoot all the Bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee pg. 90). The bird, mentioned nearly twice, seems to show little importance to the story. Nonetheless, it resembles the perception of some characters. The one time Scout had ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do anything was when referring to the mockingbird. He advised his children when hunting to never shoot a mockingbird. Miss Maudie followed with further detail by explaining that “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” (Lee pg.90).

Her father, Bob Ewell, is very accusatory of Tom Robinson and is quite prejudiced against multiple characters in this novel, particularly because of their race or involvement with people of other races. To Kill a Mockingbird is also a story of the coming of age of Scout and Jem, Atticus’ children. Throughout the novel, they learn more about the culture of Maycomb, Alabama, their hometown, through their involvement in the Tom Robinson case and interactions with their neighbors, including Miss Maudie, Miss Stephanie, and Mrs. Dubose. They also experience discrimination directed at them because of Atticus’ decisions regarding the Tom Robinson case, further educating them about the culture of Maycomb as it relates to the treatment of others and general beliefs of the county. In the To Kill a Mockingbird play adaptation, Christopher Sergel shows that people’s prejudice and false assumptions towards a person based off of their age, social class, or race can greatly affect how they treat people and how those people are generally treated in the society that they are a part

Mayella Ewell is an abused young woman in Maycomb, Alabama who accused an African American man Tom Robinson of rape during the Great Depression in the early 1930’s. Mayella took advantage of the Jim Crow laws so she could end the mental and physical abuse her father caused. Since Mayella is white and female, she has power. Although she lives behind a dumpster this still provides a significant amount of power for her. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” Harper Lee shows Mayella’s power for class during the trial.

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that takes place throughout the 1930s in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb. During this time period, people dealt with large amounts of discrimination, along with the effects of the Great Depression. Harper Lee is able to develop various themes using this setting, such as the stereotyping of gender roles, loss of innocence, excess violence, superstition, and prejudice. Some readers believe that the theme of innocence is most relevant to the novel as its message directly relates to Scout and Jem Finch, two major characters in the story. However, the theme of prejudice and superstition is more prevalent. This theme creates a well-developed storyline for the different “mockingbirds” in the novel while also projecting the actual struggles that came with living in the 1930s. Readers should understand these themes because it is important for them to realize that prejudice leads to injustice, negatively affecting society as a result. Not only that, readers will become more aware of the fact that these problems are still impacting people to this day. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee expresses the theme of prejudice and superstition through several characters, including Tom Robinson, Dolphus Raymond, and Boo Radley, to reveal how these judgements ultimately lead to the downfall of Maycomb.

The novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, is a narrative told from the first person perspective of the character Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. It follows the story of Scout and her immediate society, relaying the destruction of innocence. The theme that the tale conveys, along with the underlying messages, would be contemplated differently if the author had told the story from a different point of view. Lee’s sleepy and southerly conformed ideas corral concepts provoked during the process of reading the work from both the geographical location and time period’s eyes.

"The greatest pain is to be innocent and be wrongly accused" (Joshua Iginla). This idea is expressed in Harper Lee's novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird" as he introduces Jem and Scout Finch, who live in a small town called Maycomb. They learn about the importance of tolerance toward others; that people and appearances aren't always what they seem. At the end of the story, they finally come to understand Atticus' repeated motto: that they cannot judge people until they have fully come to understand them. The underlying theme of the novel is the mockingbird and it develops over the course of the novel by representing the true goodness and innocence that should always be protected.

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.

Over the decades, culture has changed many times. People become tired of the way it is at the time, and they decide to remake it, their way. People bring new ideas to the table and only time will tell if the changes made will stay. This truth is evident by the actions of Scout, Jem, Atticus, and many other characters in To Kill A Mockingbird. It seems unlikely for people to act in a counterculture way in such a town as Maycomb. It is a town that is deeply rooted in its history and has very strong cultural beliefs. This family, however, shows that you don't judge a person by where they live. No matter how a town looks on the surface, it is about the people.