Thoughts are like seeds that take root in our minds. They spawn feelings and more thoughts that can have powerful consequences. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the views of the townspeople in the 1930’s Southern town of Maycomb greatly impact the lives of two innocent men. The people make false accusations against Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley because they are different. These characters are representative of the author’s reoccurring symbol of the mockingbird, which signifies innocence, and subjects them to vulnerability. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, although innocent, fall victim to the hatred of society and thus emerge as mockingbirds. Tom Robinson, is black man, who is wrongfully
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, they were both kids. They were both immature children, they both taunted Boo Radley, they both interpreted things similarly and they both eventually "came of age". Yet they were both different; one was innocent and one was narcissistic and more. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout are two very similar and different characters throughout the entire novel. They show both common and differentiating traits that determine their character. The traits that these characters had in common were they both thought similarly when a situation arose especially when they were at a younger age, they both started out as immature kids and obsessed over childish things like Boo Radley, and they both eventually "came of age". The traits they differed in were that Scout throughout the whole novel was an innocent character even in her "coming of age" while Jem was a narcissistic one, Scout went against what her family/town wanted her to be (a lady) while Jem tried more and more to be like Atticus and lastly Scout never understood racism while Jem showed he somewhat did understand it. These two main characters are similar like brother and sister and different like boy and girl.
Caring and noticeable is Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird take readers to the source of humans action, through faults and experiment, kindness and trouble, hatred and love, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch is a lawyer and a single parent at Maycomb town in the 1930’s. He was set by the judge to defend the guy who was charged with raping a white woman: Tom Robinson(Black man). Friends and neighbors of Atticus Finch were not happy with the fight Atticus was putting up to defend the man who was charged for raping a white woman. Not only does Atticus enjoy being a lawyer, Atticus even enjoy being a father of Jem and Scout. Atticus Finch is a excellent character who is known for certain accomplishment and superior. He is known for many stuff. Atticus Finch has remained a hero in modern days for american literature for decades and an honorable figure due to his honesty as a parent, a lawyer, and a respectable community members.
“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)
Imagine a world without law, surrounded by anarchism and people who can do whatever they please. A world without law would result in a corrupt and unfair society, ruled by the authoritative elite. In the narrative, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, law is a major theme in society that controls the actions of the people and the destiny’s of the wrongdoers. A world without law is a world of chaos and calamity; therefore, laws are established to keep order and safety in the world that God created.
One of the most interesting characters in To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch. He is a good representation of someone that is strong while keeping in mind other’s feelings. Throughout the book Atticus is show as a kind man who really cares for the people of Maycomb County. However, he still demands justice when someone is treated unfairly, even for the likes of a black man. Atticus Finch is very influential and yet still listens to what needs to be heard. In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee portrays Atticus as a man who values justice, wiseness and fair-mindedness.
During the 1960s there was a very strict caste system in the South United States. This caste system was based on race and social inequality. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the main character and narrator is Scout Finch, a naïve but insightful young child. Through the help of her father, Atticus Finch and her brother Jem Finch she learns about human nature and starts to mature to see the world differently while Lee delivers a brutal and thorough social critique on the existence of social inequality, the coexistence of good and evil, the importance of Moral Education, Innocence and Experience and Fear and Courage through the eyes of an innocent child.
The same cool air that flows through the sky, is the same as the rotten prejudiced air, in which, the people of Maycomb breathe every day. It’s an unnecessary sickness that spreads throughout the whole town. In Harper Lee’s novel of To Kill a Mockingbird, it symbolizes the many divisions and classifications used in Maycomb to differentiate different groups of people. Although, each individual is in fact different, the people of Maycomb are blinded to the fact that, “’there’s just one kind of folks. Folks’” (Lee 304). Scout understood the fact that people shouldn’t be judged based on divisions and classifications, and rather focused on people’s similarities. Scout’s mature way of understanding, le her see something, that most people in
People often fear what they don 't understand. Evolutionary psychology can be traced back millions of years, when fear was avoided because of its repercussion of death. An aversion to the unknown was usually safer. Therefore, evolution culled for human traits that feared and avoided the unknown. Fear of the unknown shows how people become narrow-minded and ignorant to their surroundings, and how people behave when they believe something will happen even though they are solely intolerant. This ideology directly correlates to Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a MockingBird. Throughout the story, the townspeople attempt to overcome their various fears by turning against each other. In Maycomb, fear enforces racism and causes the townspeople to
Even though some people aren’t treated equally, many are seen as equal and are treated equally. Some people are seen as unequal because of race, job description, or even age or gender. We are all humans, and are born with many of the same qualities. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, is treated unequally throughout the book during the case because of his race, but after his trial and death, people such as Aunt Alexandra start to see Tom and others like him as equal. Even though Aunt Alexandra is initially a racist against blacks, she begins to see them as equals once she hears about what the officials did to Tom and how they excessively shot him.
Imagine making 95 cents a week, and not even being able to use the bathroom that everyone else uses. At this time period black people were treated like dirt, and they were basically slaves that did whatever a white person said. Well this is exactly what
Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Many believe that courage is the ability to do something that is challenging and requires lots of effort, but that is not all. According to Psychology Today, six attributes of courage include feeling fear yet choosing to act, following one’s own heart, persevering in the face of adversity, standing up for what is right, expanding one’s horizons, and facing suffering with dignity and faith. People in the real world can show unexpected and overlooked forms of courage, just like Atticus Finch does in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. The setting takes place in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, where a young girl named Scout Finch learns to see the lively views of society. Maycomb society is characterized by racism hypocrisy, prejudice, and fear. Scout lives with his brother Jem and his father Atticus, who is a well-known lawyer in town. Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the loneliest girl in the whole town. After the jury debates over the verdict, Tom Robinson is guilty for what he has done and gets sentenced to prison. Mr. Bob Ewell, father of Mayella, wins the court case, and starts to go after the Finch kids with his pocket knife. Boo Radley, a neighbor who has not gone out for many years, notices this and peacefully saves the Finch kids from Mr. Ewell. Lee clearly demonstrates through
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.
The well-known history novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper lee takes place in Maycomb County during the great depression. In this town, the main characters’ father, Atticus Finch, is tasked to defend a black man named Tom Robinson in a race-induced rape trial. Many themes in this novel were represented, however a few minor points stood out. A major point that stood out was the development of the main character Scout and her brother Jem. Also racism and evil contrasted to good and compassion are very evident throughout this novel.
Racism, the belief that one race possesses inherent traits that make that particular race superior to other races. In 1900s black people were treated cruelly, and even got killed because of racism. They were considered inferior to the white race. These factors inspired Harper Lee to write “To Kill a Mockingbird” she expressed her feelings and thoughts of how black people were treated brutally. People used to judge each other based on their skin color, and race. The society used to turn a blind eye to the racial problems. Jim Crow Laws, Scottsboro Trial, and African American Church Burning were some reasons why Harper Lee decided to write her book about the injustices and discrimination black people faced back in the 1900s.