To Kill a Mockingbird Research Paper

Courage isn’t always bravery. Sometimes courage goes unseen. To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, displays different types of courage. It is written from a point of view of a child whose name is Scout growing up in a Southern town with her brother Jem. Their father, Atticus Finch, is defending an African American man named Tom Robinson who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. The Finches mysterious neighbor in Maycomb County, Arthur Radley, whom the children have never seen until Halloween night, adds to the rising tensions in the town. The book teaches many lessons and sheds light on some of the problems we still have today. One of the lessons it teaches is courage. Courage is standing up for what is right, just like Atticus,

I’ve always aspired to be a teacher. Growing up I wasn’t the smartest kid, and honestly my teachers weren’t very much help with that. Truly, as a struggling student I felt that when I had a bad teacher, there was no chance for me. So ever since I was young, I wanted to grow up to be that change, I didn’t want any struggling student to feel like I did.

Scout experiences changes in her view of the people around her, leading to a mature view of the world.

Scout struggles, with varying degrees of success, to put Atticus’s advice into practice and to live with understanding toward others. She doesn’t turn away from Walter Cunningham Jr. just because he is poor and made her get in trouble. At the end of the book, Scout succeeds in comprehending Boo Radley’s perspective. After she drops him off at his house, Scout takes a moment to survey the rest of the world from the Radley porch. “...Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” Scout imagines many of the events of the story (Atticus shooting the mad dog, the children finding Boo’s presents in the oak tree) as they must have looked to Boo. She finally realizes the love and protection that he has silently offered her and Jem from the beginning.

Bringing Boo to trial would be like shooting a mockingbird because all he did was save Atticus’s children from Mr. Ewell. This moment showed the result of Scout's progress throughout the book and was a pivotal moment for her. She learned that the right thing to do isn’t always to follow the law.

Scout's father, Atticus, had played a huge role on her development by teaching her life lessons and making her a better person. Atticus would always teach her life lessons on becoming a better person. Atticus would explain, “ Until you

The lessons Scout learns from these people help her to mature from a naïve child to a child that understands how the world works. Atticus, Scout’s father, teaches her about the importance of respect and tolerance towards everyone, regardless of their background or race. When Scout comes

Harper Lee's reaction to the success of "To Kill a Mockingbird" was a strange one. She said she didn't expect it to be such a success. She was hoping someone would like it, and give her a chance. In 1957, Lee met with editor Tay Hohoff in a meeting to discuss her novel. They were in New York at the time. Nelle was an airline reservation agent for 8 years to support herself while writing the manuscript "Atticus." It was about a girl named Scout Finch and her father Atticus Finch, who was a lawyer. Atticus was given a case to represent a black male accused of rape. This was during the 1930's, when racism and segregation was very alive. It shows us what the blacks had to endure while living in the south. The book has a strong meaning about racism and stereotyping.

Other people, like Dolphus Raymond, were also thought of by Jem and Scout to be a bad person with little evidence to support it in the beginning of the novel. Jem and Scout make false inferences about him with very little to support it. Raymond knows that his actions cause the people of Maycomb to look down on him, so he pretends to act drunk all the time to make life easier from himself. Raymond tries to overshadow his racial relations by acting drunk, and we know this because he explains, “I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason” (268).

Scout’s maturation and non-judgmental attitude that develops throughout To Kill a Mockingbird help her mature into an individual with integrity. Contrary to the beginning of the novel, Scout establishes herself as a wise character in the latter portions of the book. After an incredulous Atticus is told that Jem did not kill Mr. Ewell, Scout reassures Atticus by saying, “Well it’d sort of be like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (Lee 276) Taking Atticus’ advice into consideration, Scout climbs into Boo Radley’s skin and finally respects Boo’s decision to remain indoors and not be proclaimed a hero. Additionally, Scout matures into a very open-minded

The story took place in the 1930’s in a town called Maycomb, Alabama. The story is told to us by a young child in her perspective. It was during the time where racism was a big part of the word still. The story told by the child during a trail of an African American facing charges of rape of a white women. The child name is scout and her father Atticus given the trial to defend the African American name Tom Robison, but Atticus already knew how the outcome of the trial was going to be. Atticus raised his children Scout and Jem in a very different way from many different white folks raised their own. Jem and Scout get to see a different perspective of the world from their father Atticus and there black cook Calpurnia. Jem and Scout did not have a mother figure so Calpurnia took the role of being the mother figure by giving her life lesson to Scout and Jem. Jem and Scout to see the world how it is instead of seeing the black and white like most people. Atticus try’s to be honest with his children and does his best to explain things to his children that would make his children understand the situation. As a reader we see that Atticus try’s to do good for the community for the whites and blacks. He want his children to believe that tolerance of people and for the word of the bible, but to accept and forgive as well of other people way of thinking.

Growing up isn’t easy. Scout of all people showed us this, as she regularly tackled the mysteries and difficulties a young life has to offer, in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Being a young child, finding your own path and becoming mature seems nearly impossible. What you are told is what you believe. Fortunately for Scout, she had influences such as Atticus, Calpurnia, and Jem to push her in the right direction, thus helping her reach a level of maturity that not many children had the ability to achieve. Likewise, Scout also managed to acquire a broader understanding of all things, especially as her naive opinions and suspicions of people were proven wrong more and more often. A crucial part of this story was focussed mainly on the

Calpurnia pulled Scout into the kitchen, and scolded her, then went on to explain to Scout how to properly treat a guest. Calpurnia was also a role model to Scout, shown when she took her to the African American Church. Going to the Church, and seeing the differences between the African American Church and Whites Church strengthened Scout’s sense of justice

Atticus is the most influential and important role model to Scout because he has the ability to make Scout implement his teachings effectively in her society. Significantly the first lesson, Atticus teaches Scout you can not understand a person “until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). He teaches Scout that she can not judge or make assumptions of someone without looking at it from their perspective which is a quality most of the community does not possess. She also puts it into effect when she educates him of how unfair her Uncle Jack was to her when delegating the situation between her and her cousin, Francis. Scout utilizes Atticus’s advice when she “trie[s] to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it” (77) after Mr. Radley ended their communication to Boo Radley through the tree. After Atticus gifts, Scout a gun for Christmas, Atticus teaches Scout is that she can shoot all the bluejays she wants but, “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (119). Of course, Scout is not mature enough to understand the significance of this lesson, so she has Miss Maudie explain it to her. Atticus wanted Scout to realize the symbolism between the helpless, harmless mockingbirds and the citizens in her community, such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.

For my paper, I have chosen to analyze the movie “To Kill a Mockingbird.” This movie is based on the novel – by the same name – written by Harper Lee. The story has two major plotlines. One follows Jem, Scout, and Dill as they try to uncover the secrets behind the infamous “Boo” Radley. It’s only at the end of the movie that we learn “Boo’s” real name to be Arthur, and that we discover he actually tries to protect people, as he saved Jem and Scout’s lives. The other major plotline, and the one most relevant to this class, follows Atticus Finch, Jem and Scout’s father, as he tries to represent Tom Robinson. Mr. Robinson is an African American man who has been charged with raping Mayella Ewell. The movie then