Lindsey Congdon Mrs. Peterson Period 7 December 1, 2009 To Kill a Mockingbird Essay The Dictionary defines prejudice as, “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” There has been prejudice known throughout history, mostly against the blacks during and before the time of Martin Luther King Jr. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there is clear evidence of prejudice against the blacks. In both of these novels, the readers are shown that Rosaleen Daise (The Secret Life of Bees) and Tom Robinson (To Kill a Mockingbird) are two characters affected the most by discrimination and prejudice. In both novels, the authors had one major …show more content…
Ewell of the crime. Also, if the jury was half black the verdict would also be different, but since the whites did not believe that colored people were equal to them, no blacks were allowed on the jury. Similarly, in The Secret Life of Bees, if Rosaleen was white woman she would not have been stopped in the first place and she would not have gotten into that situation. Being black made the difference. Tom Robinson and Rosaleen Daise both had at least one friend, a white friend. Their friend was someone who they could trust to be looking out for them. Rosaleen had Lily, who rescued her from being thrown into jail by getting her out of the hospital and escaping with her. Tom Robinson had Atticus Finch and the entire Finch household. They all believed in him even though he was a black man and it was a black man’s word against a white man’s. Even when everyone turned away, and each of these characters was threatened with being killed, Atticus and Lily protected them from harm. Atticus protected Tom by guarding the jail during the night when, “four dusty cars came in from the Meridian highway, moving slowly in a line.” (Lee151) When these cars came, out of them came drunken men with only one purpose: to kill Tom Robinson and to hurt Atticus if he got in his way. These men probably would have prevailed too, if Scout, Jem, and Dill had not come to see Atticus and help him. In The Secret Life of Bees, Lily Owens,
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the trial in the novel is one of the most important incidents that takes place in the text. It is very important to our understanding of the text as a whole as it shows the racial discrimination in that time period of the 1920 – 1930’s and how society in the 20th century has improved and has become more accepting of different races throughout the world as a whole. The topics that will be discussed in this essay are the trial and how it represented a prejudiced society, what happened after the trial and the effects that the trial had on the children.
It’s interesting to see the ways different authors depict how a character matures. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird we can easily see how she chose to do it. The novel is set in Alabama in the 1930’s, while black vs. white racism was a big issue and problem for many. Atticus is the father of Scout and Jem, young children who witness the discrimination first hand when their father, a white man, defends a black man in court. Lee does a great job developing the characters; especially the narrator, Jean Louise Finch (Scout). Scout’s thoughts, conversations, and actions, illustrate that she’s emotionally maturing from the innocent child that she was.
The jury believes her words over his because she is a white lady and he
Understanding perspective is essential to understanding people. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird presents this idea in multiple passages of her writing. It can be seen in the rough, unknown troubles that people face despite their wrongful actions. As well as the rumours that are untrue and give complete false impressions of people. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird uses these topics to illustrate the dangers of judging others before getting to know them.
The equality between the blacks and whites was a slow progression in American history. The majority of white people were prejudice against black people causing many disputes. In the novel Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily Owens, who was a young white girl who was able to overcome the social constraints against black people, like the Boatwright sisters. Firstly, even though Lily is a different race than the sisters, they allow her to stay in their home and care for her. Secondly, Lily felt more comfortable with the Boatwright sisters than her father. Thirdly, Lily and the sisters develop a mutual respect for each other. As a result, the relationship between Lily and the Boatwright sisters shows that the colour of skin does
Throughout most novels, characters encounter obstacles or events that once faced change their lives for the better or worse. In this book, that obstacle is racism. This is evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird when ... ____________________. Due to... ____________________. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Dolphus Raymond, Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell each encounter racism in different ways; however, they all suffer as a result.
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.
Perspectives can change beliefs in many ways. In Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, Bob Ewell hears and sees Atticus defending Tom Robinson who is black, therefore, he believes Atticus ‘loves niggers’. Jem, Scout, and Dill have never seen Boo Radley come out at day and they hear rumors that Boo only comes out at night. People believe rumors and their perspectives until they get the truth and change their beliefs.
Tom Robinson had been accused to raping Bob Ewell’s daughter, Mayella. Although Atticus provided all the evidence that proved he was innocent, the jury declared him guilty and he was sent to a prison. There, he was shot dead by the guards after allegedly trying to escape. But this is all suspicious since Tom knew that he might still have a good chance of being released. It is also skeptical because the guards shot him seventeen times, an unnecessary amount, Atticus said “seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much” (Lee 268). Atticus realizesDill dares Jem to run up to the Radley’s door and touch it, which is a big deal to them. Scout’s comments and reactions aided in triggering her older brother to accept Dill’s dare. Scout teases and mocks him about being scared. She says that “in all his life, Jem had never declined a dare”, and he wasn’t about to now (Lee 14).When he hesitates, she laughs at him. He can’t admit that he’s scared, especially not to his little sister who would never let him live it down.
The novel To Kill A Mockingbird is successful in delivering the story in a manner that captivates the audience. The story began by setting the scene, mood and also by introducing each character, which familiarized the reader with the environment. The author wrote the story in a manner that flowed with real life events of a time relative to the story, such as the segregation, racism and any financial struggles. It also did well to give each character a realistic mindset and reactions based on each person’s respective characterization. In a similar way, the story was written from the perspective of Scout, and the story was effectively narrated with the innocence and a lesser knowledge coming from someone of her age. Additionally, the story did a particularly good job at introducing details that were important to the story as it progressed so there were no surprises based on a sudden law change, for example. This aided in building the story to its climax, and other peaks of action. Each element to the story worked in sync to maneuver easily through the plot in a well thought out and executed story.
“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.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Report 1. Q: What’s the title of your novel and who is the author? A: The title of this novel is To Kill a Mockingbird and it’s written by Harper Lee.
For the Finch family they had Calpurnia, a paid, black maid that was respected greatly around the house. Atticus trusted her to babysit the kids while he went to work in the summer. The kids respected Calpurnia enough to mind her commands and to receive advice from her. The Finches’ where some of the few families that had some respect for the black community in Maycomb. This wasn’t true for the rest of the commity.
To Kill a Mockingbird is an appropriate title for this novel. This saying comes from the book by Harper Lee and it means that it is a sin to do harm to those who do no wrong. The book is filled with moments where the innocent are persecuted when they have done nothing wrong. There is Miss Maudie who is hated by deeply religious people. There is also a moment where it is prevented because the person is a mockingbird.