Embedded in the heart of American social history is the spectre of racial and economic inequality and discrimination against people who are outside the norms of conventional white society. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression Era, these traits of life were recurrent, especially in the Southern states. Harper Lee recognizes this and writes what would become one of the most treasured pieces in the history of literature: To Kill A Mockingbird (1960). Centered around Maycomb County, a small town in Alabama, Jean “Scout” Finch, a bright juvenile girl , depicts her simplistic life with her widowed father, Atticus Finch, and her older brother Jem. Jeremy “Jem” Finch, a role model to Scout, spends his time engaging in activities with his sister and their friend Dill Harris - those of which routinely concern their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley. The Radley family lives in unorthodox ways, inducing the town to assume fallacious stories that they are deranged and damaged. The lives of the children change forever when Atticus takes on the case of a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman. The threat of danger and bigotry looms over their heads as Jem must learn to accept his beloved town for it’s negligent flaws. His realizations are parallel to the movement he represents: the movement of purity and innocence to the bitter reality. Along the way, he discovers, with a heavy heart, that violence is often times the catalyst to change. Jem Finch’s maturity and growth
Today’s society is damaged with the results of people doing terrible things to each other. Peoples actions can make or break lives.The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is about a little girl, her Brother, their Dad, and the negro they all fight to defend. The main character scout and her older brother Jem, get into all sorts of dilemmas in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As they learn new valuable lessons about life, they also pick up that the small town they grow up in is not as clean and safe as it seems. The father, Atticus Finch is a kind hearted soul who was given the case of Tom Robinson, a negro accused of Raping a white woman. As soon as Atticus was given the case he aimed to defend Tom but a faulty jury made sure it did not happen.To
The novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is based in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. When slavery and the Civil War were still present in the people’s way of living and the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s are far from close. The novel focuses on the Finches: Scout, her brother Jem, and their father Atticus, and the trial of Tom Robinson and how it affected them and the town. Witnessing the injustice of Tom Robinson’s trial changed Scout Finch in many ways. Scout learns that there is more than one type of courage, she learns about race and its complexity, and she also changes how she views the people around her by putting herself
Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, is a realistic story that deeply discusses issues involved with the 1930’s that still resonate today. The struggles of life are evident within the believable characters of Maycomb County which is a microcosm, reflective of universal issues. Along with the authentic characters, setting and style also helps to convey Lee’s controversial notions of racial and gender prejudice, and persecution of the innocent, discussing many other ideas within.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that takes place in Alabama during the Great Depression. It is narrated by the main character who is a little girl named Jean Louise Finch aka “Scout”. Scout has a father named Atticus who is a lawyer and an older brother. The Finch’s are a white family and when Atticus goes to defend a black man, the whole town is shocked.This novel has tons of racism. Racism is an issue that is still current. Large amounts of racism are expressed in the novel still happens today through racial profiling, police brutality, and segregation.
Few people can imagine living during the time of racial segregation or the great depression. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird takes place from the year 1933 to 1995. During this time, two siblings named Scout and Jem Finch are living in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. While growing up, they go through many events and learn numerous lessons from their father, Atticus Finch. Throughout the novel, Jem goes through many experiences that change the way he perceives the town of Maycomb and it’s people.
Being at the top of the social hierarchy has been a must for every American of past generations, but can lead to fatal damages for some trying to obtain that goal and a cause to ruin people’s lives. In a remarkably triumphant story on compassion, Harper Lee explored the horrors of racial prejudice in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Set in the 1930’s, the poor town of Maycomb, Alabama has been hit by the depression hard, which created a vast, complex social pyramid, with distinct families and lifestyles. At the Finch household, composed of a little nine year old girl, Scout, a twelve year old boy Jem, and their father Atticus, proceed through a whirlwind of events throughout the next few years. Atticus, a lawyer who is a hardworking, honest man at the top of the social hierarchy of Maycomb, has to defend a colored man by the name of Tom Robinson. This happened to be very unusual for the time period, as the family has to transcend through the struggles in a racial prejudice town and learn the raw nature of the worst in humans, thus trying to overcome these events through compassion. The author utilizes metaphor, characterization, and mood to describe the situation of Maycomb, it soon then becomes very clear that the dangers of ruining innocence can lead to a vast road of horrors and evils.
As children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray
Embedded in the heart of America lives racism, prejudice, and severe oppression against people who fail to fit into the norm standards of society. In the 1930s, during the Great Depression Era, these traits of life were recurrent, especially in the South. Harper Lee recognized this and wrote what would become one of the most treasured pieces in the history of literature: To Kill A Mockingbird (1960). In small town, Maycomb County, located in Alabama lives Atticus Finch and his two children Jem and Scout. Jeremy “Jem” Finch is a young boy who spends his time playing games with Scout and their friend Dill Harris. They daringly venture by the residence of Boo Radley, the town’s asylum case, who hasn’t been seen by anyone in Maycomb for
Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in the difficult times of the Great Depression in the early 1930’s. The novel surrounds the life of a young girl named Scout Finch, along with her brother Jem, and their friend, Dill. Who are forced at a young age to watch the people of their small town of Maycomb not only receive, but also give prejudice to numerous, harmless people. Whether it be Boo Radley, a shut in who falls victim to the town’s gossip, even though he is constantly showing acts of kindness towards the Finch children. Or it be Tom Robinson an innocent man that Atticus, Scout’s father must defend be accused rape, and be convicted of a crime he did not to just because of the color of his skin. Throughout the novel, the people of Maycomb deal with prejudice in the forms of sexism, intolerance of differences, and in racism.
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.
“To Kill A Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, is a novel from the point of view of a young girl, far too intelligent for her age, and the problems she faces with others of her family, friends, and the people in her town in her coming of age story. This young girl’s name is Scout, or Jean Louise; she lives with her father, Atticus, and brother, Jem. Every summer their acquaintance, soon to be friend, Dill comes to stay with one of the neighbors and they slowly grow closer. They live near a residence that belongs to the Radleys, Mr. and Mrs. Radley and their son Arthur, or Boo, Radley; this house is considered intimidated by some of the town because of stories they had heard about Boo Radley. This story was written to express the discrimination against African Americans back in the 1800’s and how Scout loses her innocence while she grows, learns, and must overcome the discrimination and bigotry in her town.
As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.
Have you ever wondered what it was like to live in a racist society in the 1930 as a 6 year old. In Harper Lee’s epic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, it takes place in Alabama during the Depression, and is narrated by the main character, a little girl named Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer with high moral standards.The most prevalent theme is the evils of racism.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” is a novel written by Harper Lee. It is set in America in the 1930s during the Great Depression, a time of economic decline after World War II. The novel follows a young girl called Scout Finch and her brother Jem as they learn about the prejudice and racism within their society of Maycomb County. The children and their widowed father, Atticus have a unique relationship that includes the teaching of valuable life lessons and unusual, maternal nurturing.
During the heart of the Great Depression in Maycomb County, Alabama, an individual 's appearance, values, and reputation often are sources of limitation to the categorical minds of society. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, confinement of even the most complex characters expresses the limiting scope of view of the prejudice society. Atticus Finch, a prosperous small-town lawyer and single father of Scout and Jem defies his stereotypes of being weak and impotent in his career, as well as in his ability as a father. To his kids, he serves as a source of emasculation and embarrassment in comparison to other fathers from Maycomb. His erudite nature and aged appearance, with his seemingly passive occupation are read by society as cowardly and incapable of masculine tasks. The town’s sociopath, Arthur “Boo” Radley, comes off as an insensitive recluse who resorts to violence in his anger, as in the case of his father, as rumors state he mercilessly murders him with a pair of scissors. By distancing himself from society, the only information society knows about him are snippets of unreliable gossip from the town’s crier, Miss Stephanie Crawford. Atticus’s age, moral values on the colored folk, and his lawyer occupation earn him a distinct reputation from the other characters. He is considerably older than fathers of other children close to Jem and Scout’s age, yet defies his stereotyped weakness