Firstly, the kids in To Kill a Mockingbird are expressed as mockingbirds. "Cal...Why do you talk nigger-talk to the--your folks when you know it's not right?" (Lee ). Sout asks Calpurnia. Scouts curiosity and naiveness towards the cruel adult matters of society come to show that she is clueless and innocent towards them shown when scout asks Calpurnia about her ‘folks’. Another example would be scouts appearance during the lynch mob. “Hey Mr. Cunningham. How's your entailment gettin' along?...I go to school with Walter...and he does right well. He's a good boy” (Lee ). Scout being so young does not understand the reasoning of the lynch mob and notices Mr. Cunningham within the crowd and starts conversation with him not realizing that
Scout(Jean Louise) is an adventurous young girl who narrates the story To Kill A Mockingbird. She stands as an unreliable narrator because of her actions while eating dinner with a past friend. Mr. Caroline offered Wallter a penny for lunch but he refused to take it. In response to other students telling Scout to talk, she stepped in and tried to explain why the Cunninghams don’t borrow from others. The planned backfired as Ms. Caroline thought it was an insult to the Cunninghams. Scout showcased being an unreliable narrator when she had a conversation with Calpurnia, “‘He ain’t company, Cal he’s just a cunningham.’ ‘Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’
As children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray
Scout has to deal with becoming prejudiced to Walter Cunningham, she does not want him to come for dinner, but Jem still invited him over. Scout is talking to Calpurnia; Walter is in the dining room eating dinner when he pours syrup all over his plate. “‘He ain’t company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham—’‘Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!’” (24). This shows how Scout is being taught to treat all people equal no matter what their race, religion, or social class. Scout had been going around calling black people niggers, but Atticus tells here that it is degrading and that she should not say that because she is just acting “common” even if she is not. “Of course I do. Don’t say nigger, Scout. That’s common.” “‘s what everybody at school says.” “From now on it’ll be everybody less one” (75). Although Scout is acting “common” by saying these words, she is being taught by the kids in her school that it is okay to speak like this. Atticus quickly corrects her teaching her that it is wrong to say such things; he is teaching her to be a respectful young lady. Scout is learning to be respectful like her father and all of the people raising her.
We can all agree that children have different illusions about what the world is really like around them. Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a bildungsroman that shows how a young girl named Scout grows up in Maycomb county with her father Atticus and her older brother Jem to guide her. The novel is set in the 1930’s in Maycomb county, a southern town where most of the neighbors get along with each other. Some of the neighbors have secrets that only the adults know, but eventually Jem and Scout find out what those secrets are, which challenges the illusions they have about their perfect little hometown and the friendly neighbors that live around them. In To Kill a Mockingbird it demonstrates a theme in the book about how things you believe to be true when you’re a child turn out to be different as you start to see them through adult eyes.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee chooses to narrate the book from the perspective of Scout, who is a child. One of the themes of the book is growing up, and questioning the ways of the people in Maycomb. Scout always thought that the people in Maycomb were the best until she started to realize that a lot of them were very racist when the trial gets closer. Because she is a kid, her opinions can change more easily than those of an adult. Because she hasn’t known the people in Maycomb for as long as the adults, she can more easily accept that they have bad views, while people who have known them for a while would deny that because they’ve always thought they were a good person.
It is a pleasure to read your post. From a Christian point of view, the Bible is the word of God,2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul asserted that the Bible equips for good work, is beneficial for correction, rebuke and training in righteousness. God’s word gives the view of life and His absolute standards. The Bible is not irrelevant to ethics but, instead, it is the foundation for ethics.
<br>Unjustified discrimination, undoubtedly on of the main, key concepts of To Kill a Mockingbird, is a large element in which Harper Lee employs the effects of irony, sarcasm, and hypocrisy in criticizing it. "He ain't company, Cal, he's just a Cunningham-" (pg. 29) This is one of the first times in which Scout Finch encounters unjustified discrimination, and sadly, she fails to recognize it. When everybody invited to one's house should be considered "company," Scout redefines
The novel “To kill a mockingbird” demonstrates the theme of racism through the various situations that occur within the book. Atticus’s decision to defend Tom Robinson begins to have a deep effect on the Finch family. This is demonstrated by the Finch family receiving many racist comments from various people. The next example of racism is demonstrated when Calpurnia, Scout, and Jem go to a church where only “black” people attend, and the Finch family gets discriminated. Later, when Calpurnia, Scout and Jem got home, Scout asked Atticus if she could go to Calpurnia’s house, but Scout’s aunt said “no”. This is because Calpurnia’s neighborhood has too many “black people” which is a “bad influence” on Scout. Through these situations, it is clear
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is about two children, Jem and Scout, and their relationships with their father, Atticus. The children raise themselves growing up, many people would say they were irresponsible, but they are both appear to be intelligent individuals. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird the novel demonstrates a rigid class structure and social stratification in the County of Maycomb. People should not be judged by their social class, they should be judged on their personality.
At one point Scout was told that her father, Atticus, "Defended niggers," (Harper Lee, page 99) and when she asked him he replied with, "Of course I do." (Harper Lee, page 99) The words came out of his mouth simply and his answer was sure of himself, and even at Scout's young age she's still able to understand that if someone thinks they've done something negative or bad they would be more comprehensive to answering and if someone is proud and sure of themself they will reply immediately and Atticus uses the word "Of course" almost as if to say, "Why wouldn't I?" and seeing her Dad confident in the fact he defends black people probably leads her, correctly, to think that it is a good thing to defend people, if her Dad thinks a balck guy is innocent then he probably is and him being black doesn't make him guilty. Also, when Scout used the word "nigger" Atticus tells her, "Don't say Nigger, Scout." (Harper Lee, page 99) trying to persuade her to not use rude and derogotary comments. Another thing Atticus had one to teach Jem and Scout to not be racist and fall in to the norm of Maycomb is taking the Tom Robinson case. The kids get to see the racism in maycomb in the court room when Atticus had all the proof that it wasn't Tom Robinson, but he was convicted anyway. They got to experience racism
“I thought Mr. Cunningham was a friend of ours...You told me a long time ago that he was...He still is. But last night he wanted to hurt you… He might have hurt me a little,” Atticus conceded, “but son, you’ll understand folks a little better when you’re older. A mob’s always made of people, no matter what. Mr. Cunningham was part of a mob last night, but he was still a man. Every mob in every little southern town is always made of people you know…” (pg. 157). Though this discussion Scout began to learn about the unbending prejudice of people who have been raised in a racist environment. Through this event she learned that people in groups are capable of doing things that they wouldn’t ordinarily do on their own.
Anthropologist Thomas Gregor said that there are continuities of masculinities across cultural boundaries. If continuities concerning “manly” behavior are present among men of varying societies, why is this so? What is the reason for males to be placed under pressure to “act like a man” or to “man up” and why is it a common theme found in so many different places? Why do boys often find themselves in situations that are meant to test or indoctrinate them before they are allowed to be considered a man? Male and female are two distinctions that all societies make, and all provide roles appropriate for the two sexes.
Also, even the children of the county view the blacks as lower class. They know that they are above them, and sometimes the children act like it. Scout says during the trial, “Well, Dill, after all he’s just a Negro,” (Lee 226). This shows that even innocent Scout can just act like she’s better than Tom.
Though Calpurnia and the people involved in Calpurnia’s life are greatly impacted, Jean Louise Finch, a.k.a. Scout, deals with more confusion and frustration brought on by racial discrimination. During a day at school, Scout encountered Cecil Jacobs and his ignorant mind. “Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more… I soon forgot. Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defends niggers”(Lee 99). Scout did not realize what this meant, but she was hurt by it any way. Scout is affected by a copious amount of racism, she just has no clue what is zipping around her. When she confronted Atticus about him defending Negroes, he said of course he does, and to not use
Atticus teaches the children how to not only recognize this problem of prejudice, but also how to defeat it. When a mob of men try to lynch Tom Robinson at the jailhouse and Atticus protects Tom, Scout innocently involves herself in the situation and as a result forces Mr. Cunningham to put himself in Atticus’s shoes. In his moment of realization, he disbands the mob, which saves Tom’s life. Atticus later explains to his children that “A mob’s always made up of people, no matter what. Mr. Cunningham was part of a mob last night, but he was still a man. Every mob in every little Southern town is always made up of people you know - doesn’t say much for them, does it?” (Lee 179). Atticus says this in order to give his children a better understanding of the events of the previous night. He also wants the children to understand that all chains have a weak link, and finding that weak link in Mr. Cunningham