It's easy to find the main themes of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, but when you take a closer look at them, and see their applications today, these themes take on a larger meaning. This book teaches significant lessons about prejudice, courage, and education, lessons that are still important today. These values taught in the book are vital to us, especially now, when it comes to politics and rights for all. This is because the world we leave our kids into, and what we teach them, is crucial to our progression. To Kill a Mockingbird's most obvious theme is prejudice. People judged Boo harshly, and didn't take any time to learn about him, or understand his situation. This attitude of prejudice is reflected onto all parties who end up being different from others, or even if they are just harder to understand. We see the LGBT community, Muslims, other races, immigrants, lower class citizens and more being faced with harsh judgments like this even still today, some people going out of their way to discriminate them. This persecution drives the tension between groups, leading to things like riots,extreme discrimination, and no trust between either. In Tom Robinson's case in the book, the juries did not have the courage to trust him, and justice was not sought. …show more content…
People need it today to stand up for what the believe in and fight for it, for instance in the case of civil rights. Courage was also needed back then, however, and we see this in the book, when the jury votes Tom guilty. Fortunately, people did stand up against this, and forced everyone to admit the wrong that was committed. This shows that courage is more than just guns and power. In fact, it's such a large theme in the book because it's one of Atticus' teachings to his kid. He shows Jem what courage is through Mrs. Dubose, someone who stood up against her addiction and fought it till the
To Kill A Mockingbird is an important book that has continued to teach people about race and prejudice for over 50 years. Harper Lee’s message is the harsh reality of how prejudice is built into society and is one of the most important messages of the 20th and 21st centuries. This book teaches us to stand up to prejudice and spread more love. It teaches us to look at things from another person's point of view and to be accepting of those who are different from us. Even to this day we face issues involving prejudice such as police brutality, the achievement gap, homophobia, and equal
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee and was published in 1960. This novel is included in various curriculums to enable students to take this well-written novel to identify the themes and messages and be educated from their literature. Prejudice is defined as a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. The different forms of prejudice that will be analysed are racial, class and social, thus, leads to the citizens of Maycomb to marginalises characters and treat them as an insignificant. It is evident that many characters in this novel suffer from different types of prejudice, which creates a sense of marginalisation. Tom Robinson, Mayella Ewell and Arthur Radley are the important, main
Prejudice is one of the world’s greatest struggles. It does not only hold society back, but is harmful to the people who do good .In Harper Lee’s book To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem live through and witness prejudice and racism in the small town of Maycomb. They see someone wrongly accused of a crime because of his race. Scout and Jem also witness and take part in prejudice against a man no one knows anything about. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee uses characterization to show the negative effects of prejudice and racism.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, has been challenged dozens of times because it has been claimed it does not benefit the public, but in reality, the book benefits the public more than they think. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are very valuable lessons that are taught, but parents are too afraid to let their children learn the truth. The book still relates to today’s events and causes us to realize how similar they are. To continue, while book may have some negative points, there are more influential positive messages, and it still relates to current events.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a multi-faceted novel which explores the principles and morals of people in the South during the 1930s. Mockingbirds are symbolic of the people that society abuse. Lee narrates the events of the novel using Scout’s voice and uses this technique to add emotional context and develop themes. Themes of racial and classist prejudice are developed by Lee to challenge the reader. These techniques are all powerful ways to alter the views of the reader.
‘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.
Imagine a world where evil and unjust actions are based on the color of skin; a world where some don’t even realize that they are prejudicing. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, these themes are present. People and how they commit evil, hypocritical, and unjust acts. We see these themes and great issues through the point of view of a child; the vigorous, youthful, elementary-aged Scout. Through this character Harper Lee shows the innocence of children, and what they go through in our inequitable world.
Courage is a difficult thing for people to do in real life. Some people may say courage is people who have strong bodies and hearts. The others would say it is someone who tells the truth instead of avoiding it. In To Kill A Mockingbird courage is presented by standing up to your fears and helping people that need help. Early in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem shows courage by touching Boo Radley’s porch. “In the waning moonlight I saw Him swing his feet to the floor. “I'm going after them he said. I sat upright, you can't I won't let you. He was struggling into his shirt, I've got to. You do and i'll wake Atticus. You do and i'll kill you.” Jem lost his pants on the Radley fence by making a raid on the property in the hope of catching a glimpse of Boo from the back window of the Radley House. Atticus would demand to see the pants the next morning, so Jem knew he had to get them back. He also didn't want to lose Atticus's trust in him, or be punished further. This is an example of curage because Jem knew if he didn’t show Atticus the pants the next morning Atticus would had been really mad, so he decided to go back for
Nelle Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird was published in July 1960. Since then, it has won numerous awards and has become a book read by nearly every student in America’s public schools at one point or another. Books so widely read as this have a power over the minds they touch; it is a subconscious power, something absorbed while you try not to fall asleep listening to the droning voice of the reader. No matter how little attention a student paid to the novel, the message of strength in the face of a decision between what is obviously right and what everyone else says must be, is one that lingers in their mind.
Mrs. Dubose was one of the individuals who affected Jem the most. Having to read to her every day after destroying her flowers, Jem was approached with these struggles throughout all the time he spent there. After the many words of wisdom Atticus shed on the situation, Jem came to realize that Mrs. Dubose was very sick and was having struggles of her own. Taking things from other people’s perspective was a good life lesson for Jem, not only noticing the good in people but forgiving the bad. After Tom Robinson’s trial, Jem saw how quick someone’s life could be taken away from them.
The thematic implications of prejudice are seemingly endless, and with its one simple conclusion within its stories, it is no surprise to see that prejudice can sometimes, in literature develop the most important themes. One case of this would be the experiences of jem and scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper lee. In To Kill a Mockingbird the two main characters are faced with many events in which their reflections of these events show prejudice. Using all the concepts and the story of To Kill a Mockingbird I have come to the conclusion that prejudice is the one of the major themes of the story if not only.
The novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, written by Harper Lee in 1960, explores the values and attitudes of America’s Deep South in the 1930's, a time of great intolerance, ignorance and racial inequity. The southern context and retrospective style of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is an ideal format for the exploration of the themes of prejudice, education/knowledge, and innocence. The novel’s mature and complex themes are explored as the story unfolds through the eyes of a young girl as an account of injustice to 2 benevolent yet unjustly accused citizens of the town of Maycomb.
In the riveting coming-of-age novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee projects the idea of acceptance of all people, through the eyes of a child. Harper Lee combats the prejudice of social standing when she proves that some of the poorest people have the best of character traits. While racism of African Americans is first and foremost in this novel, the acceptance of white people into the African American community shows racism can be beaten from both point of views. Finally, the disabilities that Arthur Radley portrays, is forgotten, when his actions help him soar above the bigotry of the people of Maycomb County. The most obvious topic is the overt racism based on a person's skin color, however, Harper Lee takes us beneath the skin to show that discrimination occurs in other ways.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that aims to change the reader’s perspective on life. Harper Lee presents controversial issues and ideas through the innocent eyes of a child. Throughout the novel, you are assaulted by the evils in the narrator’s society; chiefly racism and prejudice. With events such as the unjust trial and the revelation of people’s true identities, the reader is forced to see the faults in the public’s opinion. As the child grows up and learns more about the adults in her town, she sees that many of them are deliberately blind to the real problems and truths in society, and she must choose on her own what is right or wrong, true or false. Harper Lee expertly shows the struggles involved in seeking the truth about society,
Ultimately, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” teaches the reader many lessons regarding the ideas of prejudice, racism, justice, and courage. Scout and everyone in her family were courageous and brave throughout the whole story, despite the many problems that they faced. The big ideas portrayed in the story each gave their own significant message about what life was like for the people of this era. In conclusion, To Kill A Mockingbird conceived many big ideas about justice, being prejudice, and having