To Kill A Mockingbird Essays: How Literature Affects Our Lives

“At all times, day by day, we have to continue fighting for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of want- for these are things that must be gained in peace as well as in war.” - Eleanor Roosevelt. Just because laws say we have freedom, doesn’t mean people are treated equally. The laws that speak of equality take away freedoms of others. Ever since the first time civilization had a ruler or gave power to an individual, there has been a struggle for freedom. Utterly showing that freedom in all forms, must be worked for in some way, the well known texts, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, “I Have A Dream Speech” by Martin Luther King, and Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, press one cannot just stand by, waiting for what

‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee explores several different issues which are still relevant in today’s society. Harper Lee uses conventions within the novel to convey these ideas. The three main issues Lee explores are; Importance of Moral Education, Prejudice and Bravery and Courage.

I grew up in a home where my parents taught us to serve our country, community and those around us. They taught me through example, my father was a scout leader when I was a child. He often took me camping and to merit badge Pow Wow’s. As a boy I began to dream about becoming a boy scout. When I became old enough I joined the cub scouts. While in Cub scouts I learned about being part of the pack, about working together to accomplish large projects, to work together to accomplish a larger goal. Then when I was older I was able to join the boy scouts they taught me about being a citizen in the community, about being a good neighbor. They taught me about doing a good turn daily, and being prepared. When I was 13, I became a life scout. Being a life scout is not anything special, other than I was able to start working on my eagle project.

Harper Lee once wrote, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, she develops a definition of a lady or gentlemen. According to Harper Lee a lady or gentlemen is someone who is empathetic, and someone who doesn’t judge what people do when they don’t know the full story. In the book, Atticus is trying to teach his two children lessons like, walking in someone else’s shoes helps understand their perspective, and, don’t take advantage of things that are innocent. From these lessons the kids will grow up to become true ladies and gentlemen.

     In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, through a child's eyes Haper Lee develops a character named Arthur Radley. Arthur is know to the children simply as Boo . The name they have given him, depicts the way the children views him. Throughout the town of Maycomb, people twisted Boo’s personality and character into a terrible person. As the novel unfolds, the children finally discover the true character of Boo. But, because Arthur Radley lived in the shadows of society, the creation of the myth of the monster Boo Radley thrived.

“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”. Discuss this quote from Atticus in relation to 3 characters from the novel.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird a major theme is the loss of innocence. Whether from emotional abuse, racial prejudice or learning, Boo, Tom, and Scout all lose their innocence in one sense or another. The prejudice that each character endures leads to their loss. Through the responses of Boo, Tom, and Scout, Harper Lee shows how each character responded differently to their loss of innocence.

she is firm in what she believes to be right and has a lot of

“To Kill a Mockingbird” Based on a best-selling novel by Harper Lee has the theme of the constant fight between different sides. It is realistic, good and bad, oppression and the law versus justice. The novel mirrored life back then and in a way can still resemble some things in modern time. People could relate and understand this book on personal levels, that why it was such a hit, now it is used as a life lesson or for educational purposes.

The novel develops a series of key symbols as compositional devices that develop character and expand on the deeper moral issues underlying the text. The children at Hailsham are afraid of the woods which represent the outside world. A world they will never fully understand or occupy. A horrible school story includes a boy’s body with his ‘hands and feet chopped off’ (p.50). This foreshadows the clones being dissected for organ parts. Fences represent confinement both at school and at the end of the novel at Norfolk, where Kathy goes to where she has to go. The ‘beached boat’ (p.220) represents their lack of options; they confront their own deaths briefly in discussing Chrissie recent death and Ruth reinforces being donors is what they are

People in the world are not ready for change, and it may take many generations to fix it. “Some of the parents in Prom night in Mississippi do not want one prom for everyone” (Prom night n.pg.). This shows that the parents could not accept change and would do anything for the prom not to happen. When Dill Scout figured out Dolphus only drinks coca- cola he says “You little folks won’t tell on me now, will ya”(Lee 267). The people in Maycomb pitted Dolphus for living with a black girl, and blamed it on his so called drinking habit, when in fact he only drank coca-cola. When people are not ready for change they tend to hide who they really are in order to fit in with the norm.

There are many significant symbols used to represent the different themes in To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the book Harper Lee transmits a message to the reader using examples and symbols to get her point across. Some of these symbols include the dresses, Tim Johnson, and dependencies.

Another reason why social change happens is because people are influenced by others around them. Many times, simply watching someone working hard towards achieving something makes individuals want to join them and help. Mate is influenced by Minerva at a very early age which is why she easily agrees to help fight in the revolution. When Mate confronts Minerva and asks her why she has been sneaking out of school at night, Minerva said “she wanted [Mate] to grow up in a free country”(Alvarez,39). Mate was being impacted by Minerva’s thinking for a very long time without even noticing it so when she found guns in Minerva's house, instead of being frightened she decided to step up and help.The words of a single person, no matter who they are, affect

Prejudice has been present for many years in many countries. Almost everyone has been affected by prejudice either directly or indirectly. The definition of the word prejudice is the preconceived opinion of a person or thing. Almost every one has prejudged someone before meeting him or her or before getting to know them. There are many ways in which one is prejudged such as gender, age, race, religion, the way one dresses etc. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird the lesson the author portrait the most was prejudice in the town and how it can happen anywhere and at any time.

Literature has been the gateway to imagination and curiosity of the human mind. It enables people to see the world through the perspective of another. As one dives deeper into a novel, they begin a journey through each page of an experience like no other. While literature is ultimately just written words on a page, one can visualize themselves in a totally different world, yet still be in the comfort of their own home just by the power of imagination that is presented with a novel. Most specifically with classic literature, it portrays life from the period in which it was written in but still stands the test in time and has that timeless feel to it. A prime example of this category of literature is the mystery novel, The Hound of the