To Kill A Mockingbird Character Analysis Essay

Dubose wants Jem to come read to her even though Mrs. Dubose clearly despises him. However through Mrs. Dubose Lee provides the reader with evidence as to why it is incorrect to form impressions of people hastily without thought and consideration. Lee does so by revealing that Mrs. Dubose was not necessarily as vicious as the reader first thinks. In fact she asks that Jem read to her, and he does so every day for an entire month. However Jem continues to strongly dislike her because she still continues to criticize him and his family; however, he persists. Despite his personal hatred for Mrs. Dubose, Jem battles his emotions and continues going to read to her. Jem learns from Atticus that Mrs. Dubose passed away and she had left him a camellia flower inside the candy box she gave him; his initial reaction is one of utter confusion and he is unable to understand the reason behind her actions because he had always believed that Mrs. Dubose disliked him. He is surprised when she leaves him something. Atticus explains to Jem that Mrs.Dubose was a morphine addict and her erratic behavior was a result of withdrawals. Jem never knew this, and this information overwhelms him both physically and emotionally. What Jem thought he had seen on the outside as bitter hate and anger was in reality just a thin layer of pain, which was hiding the true strength and courage, which she had within her. Mrs. Dubose had

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates organic unity through the use of literary tools to create, maintain, and amplify the central theme. Lee constructs and develops the theme of social inequality by employing dialogue, irony, and an extended metaphor. Through dialogue, the townspeople show contempt for blacks, viewing them and anyone who treats them as equals as inferior. This is evident in the analysis of the conversations of Bob Ewell, Mrs. Dubose, and Francis Hancock where they refer to black people as uncivilized savages. Not only does Bob Ewell, contribute to the theme through his dialogue, but his full name of Robert E. Lee Ewell provokes irony that clarifies the racist undertones of the novel. Moreover, irony functions

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 children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray

As a result of Atticus's decision, Jem and Scout get into a number of fights with classmates and their cousin when they taunt them and call Atticus a "nigger lover." Life seems to be full of lesson for Scout and Jem. For example, when a rabid dog chases Scout, she discovers that her father, whom she previously thought too old to do anything, does possess some talents. Atticus turns out be a crack shot, killing the dog in one shot at a great distance. Another time the children learn to be tolerant of people who have problems even though they say mean things. A neighbor, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, derides Atticus and spreads lies about him, and screams insults at the children when they pass by. Jem gets very angry at her and cuts off her flowers from her bushes. Instead of siding with Jem, Atticus feels that what he did is wrong and as punishment, Jem has to read out loud to her every day to take her mind off her predicament. Atticus holds this old woman up as an example of true courage as she

During part one of the novel, Scout and Jem are still only 6 and 10 years old, respectively. Both still believe the people of Maycomb are the best people in the world, and they are incapable of doing bad things. In an exchange with Atticus about Tom Robinson’s case, Scout goes on to say, "Atticus, you must be wrong...most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong...." (Lee 11). This quote shows both her innocence and to what extent it clouds her world view.

Jem and Scout judge their neighbour Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose very negatively, along with many other’s in Maycomb, except for Atticus Finch. He is the one who encourages Jem to bring Scout along to visit and read to the old lady, so that they may treat her just as their father does; with respect, kindness, and empathy. Atticus even admits that they have differences by explaining, “She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe…”, but proves that you can still understand a person with different morals and values (149). He spoke positively of Mrs. Dubose by stating to Jem, “According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew” (149). Atticus is one of the few people in town to think this way, because he understands how she wants to live her life. Mr. Finch’s encouragement for Jem and

To Kill A Mockingbird is a modern literature novel published by Harper Lee to describe the events of the 1930s. Lee revolves the literature around a six-year-old, literate girl name Jean-Louise Finch, commonly known as Scout, who lives in a compact populated city of Maycomb, Alabama. Since the classic historical novel associates to the time period of 1930, the literature exhibits dismantled early thoughts of the South. Scout, being exposed to unadulterated talk from Southerners as well as the whispers of the town, receives information very quickly as a curious child. Lee wants to communicate progressively, Scout is exposed to countless mature situations from her curiosity. She in result gradually starts to be deprived of her innocence to display the advancement of a young girl.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Harper Lee articulates coming of age in a town struck by racism. Scout begins the novel as a six year old girl who does not fully recognise how skewed her world is until she is nine and sees what it really means to kill a mockingbird due to the actions of a shy Arthur Radley. In the passage Jem and Scout are attacked by Bob Ewell; the father of supposed rape victim Mayella Ewell, in response to Jem and Scout’s father Atticus embarrassing Bob during the trial of Tom Robinson. However, Arthur Radley comes out to save them, inevitably killing Bob. This means he will have to go through the burdensome court process, but the county sheriff, Heck Tate wants to change that and Scout needs to understands why. Furthermore Scout realizes what it's like to be Arthur Radley, always watching. Within the final two chapters, To Kill A Mockingbird conveys the theme that there's good and evil in coming of age throughout the book by utilizing symbolism, conflict, and character.

The main characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird” are Scout(Jean), Atticus, and Jem . Scout is a tomboy and a peculiar character in the novel. She learned how to read before starting school, she fights boys which makes her assured. She seems to be philosophical because she thinks about the good and evil things about life; but Scout is the way she is because Atticus has shaped her. At first, Scout was a kindhearted child. But when she encountered her first experience with racial prejudice, her knowledge changed. Atticus taught her about how humanity has its good and bad parts. For a child,

Mrs. Dubose lived in the neighborhood of Maycomb. She was a morphine addict yet she died with courage. She used to gossip about everyone in town and used to call Atticus a nigger-lover. Before her death in a month Jem and Scout were passing by her house and she was sitting outside on the porch. She started talking badly about Atticus and that he is a nigger-lover and that he should’ve married after his first wife died. This drives Jem crazy mad that he ruined the flowers she had in front of her house and Atticus punishes him for doing that. The reason why Jem reacted the way he did is because he remembers his mother very well and does not accept what Mrs. Dubose says. Comparing Scout and Jem, Scout does not remember her mother very well yet

Criticism comes easy to Ms. Dubose for she yells and degrades those around her. Jem and Scout look upon her as an evil woman with no respect for the society. Little do they know she is fighting her own battle each and everyday. As Atticus has said many times before “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.” Children never quite understand the complexity of life as a whole. They see what the want to and choose what to believe. This is the case for Jem and Scout, understanding Ms. Dubose’s cruelty does not come easy. Atticus sees the light in her and was able to foresee what she put forth towards the children. Throughout the novel she unveils her true colors and proves she is not merely evil. Being a morphine addict turns her bitter and forces her to become somebody she is not.

Jem and Scout make a judgement about Mrs. Dubose that she was a terrible lady without knowing anything about her. They hated her because she was rude and yelled at them, even though she wanted to change her ways before she died. They later realized that she was a lady trying to do her best and try to make up for her past mistakes in her life.

On one side of the coin is Atticus, unyielding in his belief that people usually contain aspects of both good and evil, but that good will usually prevail. Harper Lee created him to embody the moral voice of To Kill a Mockingbird, he who remains virtually unchanged in the novel in that he even as he experiences and understands evil in his job as a lawyer without losing his faith in the human capacity for goodness. Atticus understands that, rather than being simply good or evil, most people have both good and bad qualities and that you should never judge a person as he quoted: “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” to his daughter Scout showing Scout the important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities by treating others with sympathy and trying to see life from their perspective.

When children experience disturbing events, they may become traumatized however they will also come out stronger. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a family in the South during the 1930’s, experience prejudice at the extreme. Young Scout, who is the narrator, lives in Maycomb, Alabama where there is a lot of prejudice. Because of this, many problems erupt when people try to change the towns ways. Scout grows throughout the book as she experiences many events that test her strength. In the novel, Lee uses the characterization of Scout to demonstrate that innocent children who witness cruelty, often question society's racist actions, which causes them to become more sympathetic to others.