What Is The Theme Of To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, is a realistic story that deeply discusses issues involved with the 1930’s that still resonate today. The struggles of life are evident within the believable characters of Maycomb County which is a microcosm, reflective of universal issues. Along with the authentic characters, setting and style also helps to convey Lee’s controversial notions of racial and gender prejudice, and persecution of the innocent, discussing many other ideas within.

The book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, written by Harper Lee, is a very impactful novel that acutely connects an intricate plot and story to American history itself, specifically the time of the Great Depression, where racial oppression was rather common, and sadly, accepted. This novel dives into the harsh times of the Great Depression and gives readers a rather sufficient understanding of what life was like back then. In this novel, there are a plethora of archetypes, those being symbols, motifs, themes, myths, and characters that have a deep impact on the story’s development.

The genre of the story is historical fiction and the setting is the 1930’s southern America in a town called Maycomb, in Alabama. The story is narrated by Scout Finch, a young girl whose innocent heart has been exposed to the evils of southern United States in the 1930’s. This setting is vital to the plot of the summary because during that time was the great depression and racism was especially common in the south, where lynching rose from 8 in

You can not truly understand a person or a group until you consider it from their point of view. Atticus introduces this idea to Scout in the beginning of the book, he says “‘ You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’”(39). Atticus says this when Scout comes home with a problem from school. She tried defending the Cunningham boy because her teacher didn't know much about their town yet. Scout was upset about this because she didn't think she deserved to get in trouble, but Atticus explained that she should look at it from her teachers side and understand the teacher wasn't well informed on the people in Maycomb. Later on in the novel, Scout uses this lesson she learned from Atticus This is when she puts Boo in the darker area of the porch. In the text it says, “... I led him to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate. It was in deep shadow. Boo would feel more comfortable in the dark.”(364). In this situation, Scout takes Boo’s needs into consideration, she thinks what would be best for him. She noticed how he hid in the dark corner and how eventually Atticus moved outside where it was darker for that reason. This is because Boo felt like an outcast and felt more comfortable where less people could see him. Also, Scout takes Boo’s point of view in a

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.

Childhood years are a very impressionable time. This is no different for the fictional characters Scout and Jem Finch. Growing up in southern Alabama, they learned many lessons from the people around them and the circumstances they faced. Some of these important lessons learned are courage, empathy, and prejudice.

To Kill A Mockingbird is a highly successful, awe inspiring novel written by Harper Lee. It guides the reader through the complex structures of the small town mentality in 1930’s America, which is all written through the mainly objective perspective of a young girl named Scout. The major draw factor of this novel is the eloquent yet sometimes brutally upfront way in which it portrays not only racism, but the theme of appearances versus reality too. The choices Harper Lee made in terms of setting, character choice, and language technique cleverly influenced my reactions to the latter theme.

It has been over fifty years since Harper Lee wrote her classic book, To Kill a Mockingbird (TKM). “Harper Lee’s work is so powerful and popular that it has never been out of print,” (Price). Since then, the outside world has changed with significance. People wear jeans instead of slacks, pocket calculators have more computing power than the rocket that put humans on the moon, and culture is advancing faster than the rocket’s return. Through all these changes that have taken place since 1960, TKM remains ever present in the today’s competitive world and it “represents the best and the worst parts of American society” (TKM: Still Relevant). The symbolism and underlying messages of the book, specifically the illustration of the mockingbird in society, is extremely relevant in today’s world.

To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written by author Harper Lee, sets itself in the time period of the early 1930s. As the novel articulates how intense racism was in South America in the 1930s, another hidden theme is introduced at the very beginning of the novel. Although the idea of understanding another person by putting yourself in another person’s shoe is not as significant compared to the idea of racism in the early 1930s, this theme plays a vital role throughout the novel and delivers an important message to the readers through the use of dialogues between characters.

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.

The highly regarded book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee uses effective metaphors, symbolism and emotive language to represent the writers purpose which is to explore the race relations between African Americans and White Americans in the south of the US (Maycomb, Alabama) in the 1930s from the perspective of a young child. This influential piece of American literature will always have a place as one of the greatest representations of American culture and life in the 1930s.

The novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee explores how characters demonstrate social inequalities and how characters in the novel defeats them with acts of courage whether public or private. Harper Lee explores the need for courage to bring societal change by Atticus’ decision to defend Tom Robinson and how he challenged society as the book was set in the early 1930s and racial prejudice was a big issue and was normal in society, Mrs Duboses’ courage to defeat her addiction demonstrating private courage to fix her own issues as well as gaining a new perspective and Scout’s courage by establishing public courage and challenging. To Kill a Mocking bird is still relevant today, more than 50 years later because racism is still an issue and

To Kill a Mockingbird features many issues of prejudice within American society in the 1930’s. This allows the readers

According to the British Librarians in 1999, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was rated higher than the Bible on the list of books everyone must read. This book shows life in the South in the 1930s. It deals with the important themes of racism and segregation. Harper Lee, through the eyes of Scout, the 6 year old narrator, brings readers along for an accurate representation of family life, town life, court cases, and growing up in the South during the Depression. Her use of symbols in this book help the reader more deeply understand the plot, characterization, setting, and themes.

The central idea in an excellent piece of literature To Kill A Mockingbird, is open to many different interpretations. This book builds upon the central idea of racism based upon one’s upbringing or location thru the prospective of Jean “Scout” Louise, a child. She witnesses the long-standing racism between both black and white people. In the summer of 1935, she witnesses the stakes for standing up against racism.