To Kill A Mockingbird Character Analysis Essay

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

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

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.

From this, one can see that Scout is still in a juvenile state of mind. Furthermore, one can see how the beliefs of the townspeople have been transferred to Scout, who had taken them as they are considered the social norm. She unknowingly accepts their racism when she thinks of Dolphus Raymond as a “sinful man” because he associates himself with black people and “…had mixed children and didn’t care who knowed it.” (201) She does not understand why he freely displays his transgression to the town when it is acknowledged as a wrong thing to do in Maycomb. However, Scout slowly starts to develop her own sense of right and wrong and create her own judgments of others. Boo was once the monster of her childhood, but after witnessing his cordial and courageous actions, she realizes that “he hadn’t done any of those things…he was real nice.” (281) In the end, Scout matures and sheds her childhood nickname to become the young lady called “Jean Louise” by family and friends. (211, 224, 229) This change in Scout is a result of her loss of innocence and is a focal point in the novel to give a thought-provoking perspective on the events of the book.

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

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

Learning from Scout, we can ruminate about how her life slowly changed as a result of the people she was around. With this information to apply to our life, choosing who we want to hang out with would be represented through our personality and how we choose to carry ourselves. After listening to advice from Atticus, she exhibits development when she later in the future recalls Atticus’s advice and applies it to her life. She also shows a negative development when she decides it is better to lie to her father when she understood how grand her punishment could be, exhibiting that her situation was something that an adult should have handled and not something she should have interfered with if it was

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.

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.

Throughout the book, there are many racist jokes/comments and inferences about people that they do not even know. There are also many problems that occur in the book. People throughout the book criticize human beings by the color of their skin, and not how they are as a person. As Jem and Scout grow up, they begin to understand many complicated events that they did not know about when they were younger. The theme of understanding other people from their perspective plays a key role in the book To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee. The book shows this topic by revealing who African Americans, Boo Radley, and Atticus are as people, not by what people say about them. These three elements of the story reveal that understanding what another person is feeling, and what that person is like by their point of view is important because the person can help other people.

Strong morals are a large component of igniting change in the world. However, strong morals alone are simply not enough, and some kind of sacrifice is required to truly cause a monumental shift in the world. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story set in the deep south in the 1930s. The story is told through the eyes of Jean Louise (Scout) Finch, who is the daughter of Atticus Finch. He is a lawyer defending a black man (Tom Robinson) accused of raping a poverty-stricken white woman. The author, Harper Lee, illustrates through the characterization of Atticus Finch, that when someone with strong morals sacrifices their reputation to preserve justice, their actions can influence positive change in their community.

In To Kill a Mockingbird the main idea is to not pick on the on people who are helpless or don’t cause trouble on purpose it takes Jean Louise to learn,but other characters in the book had to show courage like Atticus Finch,and Arthur Radely.To Kill a Mockingbird was about learning to walk in someone else’s shoes. To not go by what other people say about someone.