“Shoot all of the Blue Jays you want, if you can hit them, but Remember it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.” That was a major quote in Chapter 10. I chose Chapter 10’s Rabid dog scene from the book To Kill A Mockingbird as my Coming of Age scene. Let’s talk about three literary elements from that one particular scene/chapter.
The first literary element is setting. The setting of the Rabid dog scene is in Maycomb County in front of the finches house, looking down the road. The kids see the Rabid dog, tell Calpurnia, then Cal called Atticus. Atticus then came home with Sheriff Heck Tate, and Sheriff Tate handed Atticus a rifle. The Children were confused because they had already claimed that “Atticus can’t shoot”. Then in one shot, Atticus killed the dog. Jem and Scout were shocked, and later found out from Ms. Maudie, that Atticus was the best shot in Maycomb, and his Nickname was One-Shot Finch.
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A quote that helps support the theme is “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… but sing their heart out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird.” That’s a powerful quote because it explains that Mockingbirds are the good in their chaotic world. That anybody that is purely good or Innocent represents a Mockingbird. You see more examples of this quote throughout the
The award winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee includes several key components that are exemplary passages of coming-of-age scenes. One of the most significant scenes throughout the whole book is the courtroom scene that describes the trial of Tom Robinson, who has been accused of rape by Mayella Ewell. The outcome of the trial was creating a coming-of-age scene for several characters, including Jem Finch, Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, and Dill Harris. In this scene, it is seen that in defense of Tom, Atticus Finch uses ethical, logical, and emotional stances in order to find Tom innocent and continue to fight for justice by being impartial and having no judgement unlike society. Although a strong defense was presented, society still
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee includes many coming of age moments. For example, I chose the part where Scout walks Boo home. Scout is the narrator of the book and Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley accompanies her in this scene. This is a coming of age example because near the end, Scout talks about how she felt she’d already learned what she needed to be an adult. Today I’ll be talking about literary elements in this passage.
Since the first spark of human life, coming-of-age has even occurred at the time of Adam and Eve. Many people think that the only part of maturing is puberty. However, one of the greatest parts of growing up is not, surprisingly, going through puberty. Coming-of-age involves recognizing different perspectives.
An instance where the mockingbird is mentioned in the novel is when Atticus tells his children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird and they consult Miss Maudie about this and she replies with, “‘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’” (94). This quote is significant because its meaning is that mockingbirds are generally harmless and shouldn’t be killed because they have done no harm to humans. The theme of the mockingbird can relate more to just the bird, as it can also relate to Tom Robinson because he has done no harm to humans, yet he is being put on trial and has a chance of being executed. It can also relate to Boo Radley because he was kind to Scout by placing the blanket on her, yet the people of Maycomb are frightened by him and spread nasty rumors about him. In brief, the theme of the mockingbird has a deeper meaning than it appears and is an important life lesson in the
The passages i have chose today for my coming of age essay was the court scene and the problems after the court scene because there were multiple parts in those 2 scenes where the kids could have possibly observed some experience for coming of age and i will explain every single detail and every little piece of information to show you how and what they observed to coming of age in the future.
Lee implies that people learn lessons through life experiences that school can ever teach. Throughout this novel, Atticus taught his kids many lessons that was hard for them to hear at times, but it later on helped them in the story. Or it helped them grow up and mature. On page 40 of To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus was explaining to Scout that Miss.Caroline was new and didn’t know anyone, and she especially didn’t know the Cunningham’s story, Atticus states, “Atticus said… but if Walter and I had put ourselves in her shoes we’d have seen it was an honest mistake on her part” (40). This quote by Atticus is meant to explain to Scout that Miss. Caroline just made an honest human mistake. He tried to get Scout to realize that if he put herself in Miss.Caroline’s shoes then she might better understand the confusion. Obviously you can’t really be in her shoes, but he said it figuratively to show her why it was important to give her another chance, or at least try to be nice and listen. Atticus taught this to Scout at home later on that night. At her school after that she tried to just get by in her class. Lee also shows mainly throughout that the school system doesn’t help when it comes to teaching children life lessons. As shown in the earlier quote Atticus, had told Scout to jump in Walter’s shoes, and walk around in it. This other quote shows how Scout actually takes into consideration of Atticus’ words, and chooses to not bother Jem because she tried to imagine what it had
Everyone has their own way of explaining things to understand what is being done or said. In the coming-of age novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the novel is written from a narrator's’ point of view. The narrator, Scout, is the younger sibling of Jem Finch. She is only six years young.Scout like everyone else, has her own way of telling this novel, she has her own way of telling her it. She experiences events that other characters don’t and she gives us an idea of what may be coming up. Ask any characters in the novel to write this story as the narrator, it wouldn’t be the same.
Harper Lee, in the realistic-fiction novel To Kill A Mockingbird, uses a variety of literary elements to aid in the overall development of the theme. All of the characters are going through some sort of coming of age experience or enhancing someone else's experience as well as their lives all the while being greatly impacted by the racial discrimination and injustices that occurred all around them. An event in the novel that expresses this is the court case of Tom Robinson, or more specifically, Atticus’s, Tom Robinson’s attorney, closing argument. During this Tom Robinson is wrongly accused of raping a white girl in their town of Maycomb, and Atticus decides to defend him as his attorney despite the town's clear racial biases and preconceived stereotypes on people of color; this greatly impacts Atticus’s daughter, Scout. To show this Harper Lee uses setting, plot and conflict to enhance the development of the novel and put forth the theme. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses these literary elements, plot, conflict and setting to develop the idea that the presence of racial inequality leading to the undermining of justice impacts the coming of age for Scout on a variety of levels.
As Stephen King once said, “The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.” In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird", by Harper Lee, Jean Louise Finch, a young girl who also goes by Scout, experiences many things such as racism, friends, and family. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer who is sacrificing his reputation to defend a black man, Tom Robinson. Scout and her friends take it upon themselves to uncover the mystery of Boo Radley. In this book the mockingbirds represent innocence. Many characters take on the role of the “mockingbird". Exploring Lee’s title, to kill a mockingbird is to kill innocence.
"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.
A coming of age story is a story about a child’s life and growing up. To kill a mockingbird is a coming of age story that explores the themes of racism and family. The main character, Scout, goes from being seven to ten years old and goes from being a child to a lady. The story takes place during the 1930’s when being racist wasn’t frowned upon. Scout has a small, supportive family whereas other families in the story are not as supportive.
In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, the writer uses the experiences of Scout and Jem to show their coming of age, and how they learn to understand people for who they are, and not what rumors say they are. It portrays a strong message that you never really understand someone until you have put yourself in their shoes, or in their skin, as Atticus would say, “and walked around in them”. At the beginning of the story, Scout and Jem are childish, naive siblings, who wish to learn more about, as well as provoke the character Boo Radley, they believe the rumors that he is the town’s lunatic. As they grow up, they begin to learn that people are categorized and judged on the way they look and by the colour of their skin. Through their father, Atticus they learn to view people and society from a different perspective, learning from his wisdom.
Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, many characters develop and mature in unique ways. Boo, who fears talking to others, Aunt Alexandra, who is against people of other races or social classes, and Scout, who is young and is not aware of life’s challenges, constantly suppress their emotions and personality. Their life choices and decisions that they make throughout the book, lead them to be more accepting of others and less prejudice. As the book progresses, Boo, Aunt Alexandra, and Scout learn life lessons and develop into mature adults.
Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.
Since the dog carries a disease that would harm Atticus’ kids, he protects his kids from it by telling them to go inside and killing the dog himself. This relates to how Atticus tries to constantly keep his kids from the racism bias that lurks in their society. This scene also reveals how heavily the town relies on Atticus, and how they cannot do anything without the assistance of Atticus. When officer Heck Tate arrives to the scene, he throws Atticus the gun and remarks that, “‘I’d feel mighty comfortable if you did now’” (Lee 127).