To Kill A Mockingbird Essays: Literary Analysis

To kill a mockingbird can mean many things. It’s the title of a book that has been bought 40 million times. But, it also has a definition. To kill a mockingbird means to destroy innocence. The theme of my literary analysis is mockingbirds. Mockingbirds in TKAM are innocent things tainted by the skewed society of Maycomb. Some of these mockingbirds are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the children. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book set in a small Alabama town in the 1930’s. The main character and narrator is Jean Louise Finch, but is almost always called by her nickname, Scout. Scout, her brother, and her summer friend Dill get into all kinds of mischief while living in the racist society of a 1930’s Alabama town. Scout’s dad, Atticus, is a prominent lawyer in Maycomb and is appointed to a controversial case, and is defending a black man. Scout and her brother, Jem go through many troubles and learn many lessons from the days leading up to, and during the trial. The trail makes their family some friends and a lot of enemies. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story of courage and despair. Throughout TKAM, mockingbirds are used as an example of something innocent being tainted by the skewed society of TKAM. Some great examples of these are Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the children.

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.

Yet Perry’s childhood bliss was taken from him, somehow creating his current disposition, the true purpose is the falling of unity from inside the people of Holcomb, therefore; pinning every person against another. A dark curtain that falls over the children, parents, farmhands, hunting regulars, and police officials. A curtain that keeps them apart from one another because they are lost in the infinite blackness that surrounds them, an evil they let seep into their minds and imaginations.

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.

Throughout the article Carr establishes the mental process of what reading used to be, and now the modern technology reading. Before one is immersed in the tech world, reading books and newspapers was easy, flying through the books and need to run to the local library. Nowadays, teenagers, and adults all resorts to the Web. Whether it is a blog, social media post, or the online newspaper, many tend to read the bare minimum. Some may complain about the comment or caption is longer than a paragraph. Readers in today’s age

Essay Prompt: In a 1-2 page character analysis, explain what makes Atticus such a good parent, using quotes and evidence from the text to back up your claims.

“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.

Chapter nine of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ begins with Scout fighting a classmate named Cecil Jacobs. It starts when Scout reflects what happens that day at school when she fought Cecil Jacobs at school and her cousin Francis later on. We also learn more information about the family of Atticus and his relatives. Lee’s style of writing is extremely coherent and uses imagery and figurative language in her writing. She uses these writing techniques to demonstrate human action and story development throughout ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. She also uses metaphors as a literary device. Using these writing techniques, she gives the story a unique perspective as the plot develops.

There are many different types of symbols in our world today; in English literature as well as all around us on a day-to-day basis. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird we follow a little girl, Scout, as she faces the truth about the world and its injustice. The central and most obvious symbol of this novel, as well as the title of the book, is the mockingbird. It represents the innocence and injustice in this story, represented by Tom Robinson and the events surrounding the trial, but also sets the theme of racial prejudice.

Imagine a place where the verdict of a rape trial stems from racial prejudice rather than the proper evaluation of proven evidence. This is Maycomb, Alabama, the strange, Southern town where Scout and Jem Finch grow up during the 1930s in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. In short, the novel travels a thin line between a light-hearted narrative of the siblings’ childhood with their single father, a defense attorney named Atticus Finch, and the injustices that arise within their close-knit community. The complexities include extreme racism, a peculiar social hierarchy, and general misunderstandings of certain people within the small town. These are all seen as “Maycomb ways”, almost as if they are considered facts. Through her writing, Lee conveys an important message that an essential part of a child’s education often takes place in a home or community rather than a classroom by utilizing the characters, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson, a black man accused of rape whom Atticus is defending.

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.

The book To Kill a Mockingbird is set somewhere around Great Depression in Maycomb County, Alabama. The book focuses on three years of Jem, Scout, Atticus, Calpurnia, and Dill’s lives. The story begins with Scout and Jem meeting Dill and coming up with a plan to get Boo Radley out of the house. As the story progress, Atticus is preparing to defend Tom Robinson, an African-American, who had been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, daughter of the town drunk, Bob Ewell. Even though Atticus successfully cross examines the testimony of Bob Ewell, and Mayella Ewell, Tom is convicted. Enraged by Atticus cross examination, Bob Ewell swears revenge. A little later, as Jem and Scout are walking home from school, they are attacked by Bob, and Boo Radley

Jem began to cry after the Tom Robinson trial because the jury and the judge had found Tom guilty. Jem believed that it

Courage is the quality of mind that enables one to face danger with confidence, resolution, and gain a firm control of oneself. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird showed courage in their own way. Courage can come in many different forms: physical, mental, emotional and moral. Courage is not the only main theme displayed in To Kill a Mockingbird; prejudice and education are also very important themes exhibited throughout the progression of the novel. Through the eyes of Scout Finch, a bright, sensitive and intelligent little girl, these themes of the novel are explored in great depth.