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Conventions In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Discuss the idea(s) developed by the text creator in your chosen text about the significance of individuals attempt to live unconstrained by conventions or circumstances.

Customs, traditions, conventions, mores, norms these have been here since beginning of time and one is expected to follow them without question and pass them on to their offsprings. Majority of conventions are good and meaningful, however some conventions are destructive, harmful and dangerous. One can say that conventions are like cocoons they shield youth and give them a pathway to follow however, when these customs threaten to put down a group in society, one must break out from the cocoon. In the novel, To Kill A MockingBird, the author, Harper Lee, explores characters that attempts to live unconstrained by conventions or circumstances. In the town of Maycomb the …show more content…

In the novel, To Kill a MockingBird, Harper Lee illustrates the harsh treatment receive from the townspeople’s when he is order to defend Tom Robinson. When talking to his brother, Jack, Atticus explains that he hopes that his children will not catch Maycomb’s usual disease of racism and prejudice, he hopes his children will come to him. “I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers, instead of listening to the town.” When Scout asked Atticus if he was really a n***** lover, Atticus responded “I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody... I'm hard put, sometimes—baby, it's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you." That shows that he believes good wins over evil. Looking at Atticus we can see that he is not held back by the conventions of racism and prejudice, he is trying to live and guide his children to be fair and loving towards

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To Kill A Mockingbird Society Quotes

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“The world is full of people who think different is synonymous with wrong” - David Levithan. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, she writes about a county named Maycomb that is fearful of anyone that is different from them. Jean Louise Finch, often called scout in the book, grows up in a xenophobic society. Scout grows up alongside her older brother Jem, her father, Atticus and their family’s mother-figure caretaker named Calpurnia. When Scout’s father is asked by Judge Taylor to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, he faces harmful backlash from the community.

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The main character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch, a middle aged man living in Maycomb Alabama. Even though he is a southerner he isn’t racist and he believes that everyone should be treated equal, Atticus teaches his children empathy and not to discriminate against other people, he does his by telling them “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.” Even though Atticus treats everyone as equals he gets affected by the town and their prejudice way of thinking. Because Atticus accepts Tom Robinsons case he gets called a “nigger lover” and him and his children get treated differently by the town.

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Atticus Finch Prejudice

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In society today there are those that are pushed out of the crowd because of what they look like, how they act, and what others say to be true about them. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that unselfish, kind hearted people can experience prejudice from others. Always wanting to be the better person, Atticus Finch is like the mockingbird when taking the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson, who is a black man. Once Atticus gets the news that he will be defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape, he is very stressed until the end of the trial. Harper Lee shows this when she says, “It’s this Tom Robinson case that’s worrying him to death...”

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Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys that prejudice divides communities and that persecution of innocent people is evil; furthermore; these two minor themes reinforce the major thematic idea that a simple assumption can divide people. When Tom Robinson is put on trial for supposedly raped Mayella Ewell, the racism in Maycomb surfaces and creates conflict. In the novel, a stranger says, “You know what we want,” ‘another man said.’ “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.”(172). Some drunken men want to harm Tom Robinson for the wrong that he did.

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In the 1930’s south, racism was at its peak, but one man with contrasting ideas, was willing to sacrifice his entire social standing to defend a negro. In Harper Lee’s, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Scout’s father, Atticus, taught her many things. He taught her how to shoot, not to fight, and most importantly, to stand up for her values. Atticus showed his children the importance of protecting their beliefs on a few occasions: when he took on Tom Robinson’s case, when he protected them from the mad dog, and when he raised them to judge upon character, not appearance. First and foremost, when Atticus took Tom’s case upon himself, he showed the importance of doing what you think is right, regardless of the consequences.

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Atticus knew the consequences of supporting tom because of his skin and how bad segregation was in his town. He knew the community of Maycomb would dislike his actions and call him and his family names like “negro lover”. Scout asks Atticus why he was defending Tom he says“ The main one is if I didn’t I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature, I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again”(Lee 86). Atticus could not live to know that he did not serve justice in his county, and that even though he would be called names or looked at differently, Atticus would still be doing the right thing.

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Even though Some people, like Aunt Alexandra thinks Atticus is raising scout wrong because she doesn't like to wear girly clothes. Atticus acts like a teacher to his children, he teaches them wondrous things. Atticus punishes his kids when the deserve it. Jem and Scout are shown to be respectful and treat people the same.

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Atticus being a white men also showed courage by going against the Maycomb people and willingly defended Tom Robinson, a black men. Due to that he was often called N-lover by other white people. Despite of those criticisms given by many of the town’s people, he did his best to defend Tom. He said, "If I didn't I couldn't hold my head up in town, I couldn't represent this country in legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something".(page 75). On page 149, Atticus says : “Son, I told you that if you hadn't lost your head I'd have made you go read to her.

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“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it.” Harper Lee had used the tragic situation of Tom Robinsons trial to explore many themes including, racism and differences in privilege. “To kill a mockingbird” written by Harper Lee explores many situations linked to the broad idea of racism throughout the systems of Maycomb and differences in privilege in many different ways. The quote that Atticus argues with explains that in Maycomb, all men and things are equal.

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How Does Lee Use Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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“Prejudice: To Kill a Mockingbird” Why do we judge strangers so harshly? Why is it that, when we walk down the street, we look and treat ‘odd’ people differently? Instead of giving the homeless person a wide berth when he flashes you a hopeful smile, why not return the smile, just as you would for anyone else? In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the townsfolk of Maycomb treat ‘odd’ people and African Americans with no respect or kindness.

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