To Kill a Mockinbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been banned and/or challenged over thirty times since its publication in 1960. Effectively preventing many students from enjoying the novel and benefitting from its message. To ignore racism is no different than denying it ever existed. To Kill a Mockingbird is appropriate for mature adolescence/students and should not be banned from schools. Despite its sexual related content, or profanity, a valuable lesson remains that should be taught to students.

“Human beings are poor examiners, subject to superstition, bias, prejudice, and a profound tendency to see what they want to see rather than what is really there” ~ Scott Peck. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird abounds with the injustice produced by social, gender, and racial prejudice. The setting of the book takes place in the 1930s, where racism is a big deal in society. In the novel Harper Lee uses a mockingbird as an analogy to the characters. The Mockingbird is a symbol for Three Characters in the book, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. The people of Maycomb only know Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by what others say about them. These Characters are then characterized by other people 's viewpoints. In the novel there are many themes that are adjacent to our lives, the one that is found in To Kill A Mockingbird is Human Conflict comes from the inability for one to understand another. “ You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has many ongoing themes such as Walking in Someone Else 's Shoes, Social Classes, Scout 's Maturity, and Boo Radley. These themes contribute to the story in many ways.

For Ben Hamper it was inevitable that he would end up working in the General Motors factory in Flint, Michigan. He was a third generation “shop-rat” following in the footsteps of his family and extended family. Working on the Rivet Line for General Motors was far from what Hamper wanted to do with his life. Unfortunately for Hamper this was the only job where he was receiving good pay and was able to drink throughout his day. Hamper faced many ups and downs being an American autoworker; the working conditions, labor-management relations and psychological problems to name a few. It would eventually be the psychological issues that would lead Hamper away from General Motors and the auto industry.

Issues like downsizing and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers at one factory told me that the unit I was working in would be shut down within six months and moved to Mexico, where people would work for 60 cents an hour”, in this statement he gives the readers reasons for factory work being a hard way to live. Lastly, this statement he made, “The things that factory work has taught me how lucky I am to get an education, how to work hard, how easy it is to lose that work once you have it are by no means earth-shattering” the author is giving examples of the different lessons that leads to my main claim about his purposes for writing his article.

Barbara describes in great detail, the hard work, everyday suffering and sacrifices that poverty-stricken Americans experience. She explains how workers of unpleasing jobs suffer from “chronic

Despite that he is willing to work grueling hours every day and send his wife and children to work as well, he is not able to make the money that he needs to simply survive. “They were willing to work all the time; and when people did their best, ought they not be able to keep alive?” Sinclair pleads, demonstrating a basic right of individuals: the ability to make a living and support their families. This was the reality for Jurgis and millions of other workers, immigrants and natural-born citizens alike, who found themselves in a race to the bottom where wages were as low as the

In Barbara Ehrenreich’s bestseller, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, the author provides a peek into the daily lives of the unskilled workers forced into the labor market by welfare reforms. She shares her experience, capturing her use of the“undercover” method of journalism to better understand the world of the minimum wage working class. Her memoir details the endeavors she took to maintain a lifestyle under circumstances just as millions of Americans would soon experience it. Parting with her desk job as a writer and essayist, she uncovers what life under the poverty line is like first hand as she enters the world of service, attempting to work some of America’s least attractive jobs. With every account, Ehrenreich concisely

Ehrenreich challenged the popular opinion of poverty being a condition of unemployment, through her experience as a low wage worker. Barbra witnessed her fellow employees work incredibly hard, face disdain by managers, and persist for long hours, in exchange for wages incapable of sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Circumstances her fellow employees endured included, living in what Barbra refers to as “substandard housing” such as motels or vehicles, or

Barbara Ehrenreich the author of Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting by in America aims to show her perspective and own experiences by going undercover as a journalist. She portrays herself as a recently divorced woman with the skills of a homemaker. The objective of Ehrenreich’s experiment was to evaluate different jobs requiring little to no skills and to see if she could survive economically on a low wage income. This essay will demonstrate the agreements and disagreements found in Ehrenreich’s experiment. II.

Olsson uses the story of Jennifer McLaughlin, a twenty-two year old mother that works at a Wal-Mart in Paris, Texas. Jennifer describes many examples of mistreatment from being given too many tasks for one person, being underpaid, and having to opt out of health coverage to support her young son. “After three years with the company, McLaughlin only earns $16,800 a year. “And I’m considered high-paid...you cannot make it by yourself without having a second job or someone to help you”.(Olsson 607) Jennifer’s boyfriend Eric Jackson was the first person to talk about starting a union in Paris, Texas. He originally wanted to work for a factory like his mother did but since they only accepted 350 people out of the 22,000 in the local workforce, he had to settle for Wal-Mart where he was working higher positions for the same starting pay of $5.75 an hour. Once Jackson started pushing for a union, the company quickly responded with anti-unionizing tactics. At one of the anti-union meetings, Jennifer stated that she used to have epilepsy, but since her father was in the union, he had proper insurance that had her recover. She pointed out that she does not have insurance and if her son were to get epilepsy, what would she do? “ “Doesn’t a union help help you to get paid company-paid insurance?” The man as she recalls, became flustered. “Jennifer, I don’t have an answer about that… I’ll have to get back to you,” (Olsson

Issues like downsizing and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers at one factory told me that the unit I was working in would be shut down within six months and moved to Mexico, where people would work for 60 cents an hour”, in this statement he gives the readers reasons for factory work being a hard way to live. Lastly, this statement he made, “The things that factory work has taught me how lucky I am to get an education, how to work hard, how easy it is to lose that work once you have it are by no means earth-shattering” the author is giving examples of the different lessons that leads to my main claim about his purposes for writing his article.

Growth and development is a natural process in life. It can be seen through change in one’s behaviour and actions as a result of major life changing events or simply age. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee integrates growth and development as seen through the progressive maturity of her characters Jem, Scout and the citizens of Maycomb.

The text type of To Kill a Mockingbird is a fiction novel which deals with the racism the author observed as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee, who wrote her novel in a retrospective point of view. There were numerous aspects of historical, personal, cultural and social context in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee was born on the 28th of April, 1926, in Monroeville Alabama. Monroeville was a close-knit community that has many similarities with Maycomb, which is the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee’s father was a prominent lawyer, whom she drew inspiration for the protagonists father, Atticus Finch. Among Lee’s childhood friends was Truman Capote, from whom she drew inspiration to the character Dill. These personal details help portray Harper Lee’s own childhood home, where racism and segregation was highly evident. Another example of context which helped shape To Kill a Mockingbird were the events that occurred during Harper Lee’s childhood. In 1931, when Harper Lee was five years old, nine African-American men were accused of raping two white women near Scottsboro, Alabama. After a series of lengthy, highly publicised, and often bitter trials, five of the nine men were sentenced to long term imprisonment. Many prominent lawyers and various members of the general public saw the sentences as spurious and believed that it was motivated by racial prejudice.

While he earns a great deal more money than his father did, he faces an unpredictable future, as he doesn't know where his employment will take him, or for how long it will last. Enrico's work was mundane and boring; however he knew exactly where he would be and how much he would be earning when he retired. Sennett's article examines the effect of these new work places on the people who populate them and on society in general.