In our life, we learn many valuable lessons from our experiences, which help us to improve and to mature as human beings. This is evident in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, where through Scout, the narrator who learns major lessons over the course of a story from Atticus’ extraordinary teaching of morals and from her own experiences. In the beginning, Scout is six years old. Through Lee’s choice of writing in a first person point of view story, the readers are exposed directly to Scout who makes mistakes by being naïve and innocent. These traits are highlighted by her early interaction with Arthur who lives across the street from Scout. The first part mostly reflects Scout’s mistakes due to her judgmental and naive perspective. Arthur is described as reclusive as he has not been out of the house for a very long time because he is afraid and is fragile about the society judging him. It is rumoured that ‘he stabbed one of his family members with a pair of scissors.’ However, he is also caring toward Scout and the other children by leaving various gifts in the knothole of the tree. His unusual behavior leads Scout, Jem and Dill to be very curious about him and they refer to him as ‘Boo Radley’ as if he is a monster from scary stories. Lee allows us to connect with this character through this point of view, seeing the world through her eyes and being able to empathise with her situation. From this perspective, we are able to witness Scout’s naïve understanding and
Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.”
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is an exceedingly powerful novel. It includes many significant minor themes such as racism and hatred which leave the reader to have grown more attentive to the past once they complete the book. The book takes place in Maycomb County Alabama during the great depression. During this period there was a great deal of hate and prejudice towards people of color, in addition to a great regard to social class. The novels protagonists, Atticus Finch a well-respected lawyer and his children Jeremy “Jem” Finch and Jean Louise “Scout” Finch are a few of the towns occupants who respect others regardless of social class or race. For this reason, Atticus has no objections
To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses unhypocritical, more experienced characters like Atticus to expose Jem and Scout to adult knowledge. Their adult influence is what brings about the empathetic growth and maturity of Jem and Scout.
As we follow 5-year-old Scout Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, we experience all her adventures and misgivings throughout her life. Throughout the book, we follow Scout on a pathway to maturity, shown through her personal perspective on the world around her and her morals developing and changing with each adventure she goes through. In other words, Scout comes into contact with events and people that change her perspective of the world, from her next door neighbor to a stranger charged with a capital offense, Scout learns that the world and everyone in it are not what it seems.
As a child, one embarks on an adventure that is filled with lessons and morals along the way. From the morals that are learned , it helps to shape oneself as a person in society. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is an exquisite example of how two characters such as, Jem and Scout Finch are able to conquer obstacles and learn the lessons that come from them. Jem and Scout experience three significant life lessons, that end up drastically changing each character as a whole. These morals include ; learning the meaning of the famous saying “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird”, as well as a difference of colour of one’s skin should not make one person superior than the other, and that one should stand by their values even if others believe otherwise.
How would the novel be different if it were narrated from a different character’s perspective? Jem? Atticus? Calpurnia? Boo? What benefit does a child narrator provide?
In her coming-of-age novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, portrays the main character Jean Louise “Scout” Finch to reveal to the causes and effects of lies in the small southern town, Maycomb County. In Maycomb County, Alabama, the civilians of the town make “telling lies” a helpful thing to do. Most of the people who live in the town come up with lies to protect themselves and other, affecting the lives of innocents. This harmful and selfish act harms the town and its citizens in many ways. Through the use of characterization, rising actions, and falling actions, Lee portrays gossip spreading and telling lies have a big impact on the town, Maycomb.
Throughout this novel, Scout has learned lessons and grown with the help of not just her father, but with the help of every character. She has learned something from almost every character in To Kill A Mockingbird. She learns about the racial
Courage is an essential human quality. Facing fears against all odds is a feature in many novels. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is no exception. Many characters depicts the quality. Some in normal situations others, take on terrifying tasks in a unique and original way. Scout, Jem, Atticus, and Ms. Dubose show bravery in many areas of their lives, one character risks their careers, others have a situation that lacks massive consequences.
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, many themes are conveyed throughout the book, including the lessons of childhood. As Scout and Jem grow up, Atticus attempts to teach them proper morals and values. They become very aware of their surroundings and try their best to do the right thing.
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.
Doctor Seuss once said, “Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.” This can be taken to mean that adults are not more than big people with the brain of a child. So there is no reason that children like Scout and Jem Finch should not be able to understand them. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee peruses the idea that children and adults view the world in different manors. It is evident that children see the world more coherently and clearly than adults, and that adults are more prejudiced.
In 2015, there were 5,818 incidents of single-bias hate crime reported by the FBI ("Latest Hate Crime Statistics Released."). This shows that while times have changed since the 1950s, prejudiced behavior is still an enormous issue. With this in mind, the question arises: is prejudiced behavior inherent or acquired? By majorly focusing on racism, this complicated idea is displayed through Harper Lee’s captivating novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and other literary sources. Prejudiced behavior is learned, not born.
The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, is a story that’s full of life lessons. Scout, the narrator, tells the story through her own point of view. One of the themes in the novel is racial injustice in the town of Maycomb. Harper Lee tells the hardships that the Finches and the other characters face each day. The story represents how people are stereotyped from their race, gender, etc.
When people think of a coming of age story, they tend to think of the young and rebellious teenager who has to overcome a powerful enemy. That character often comes into an age of power and strength, fighting for their survival and developing a maturation around what they went through to survive. Usually, they end up becoming the hero in their story, undergoing many insane feats to demonstrate their worth and, inevitably, their maturity. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, her characters do not have to fight for their survival and become heroes to develop. Instead, they undergo subtle development that shows hints of maturity and even immaturity as the story progresses. She shows that through Scout and Jem Finch, who, as the events of Maycomb transpire around them, mature and demonstrate an understanding of other people and their actions in the world they live in.