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Literary analysis essay on to kill a mockingbird
To kill a mockingbird critical analysis
Literary analysis on to kill a mockingbird
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On July 11, 1960 Harper Lee published her first novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To date over 40 million copies of this chart topper have been sold to the public. The story is told from a child’s point of view and how she survives the challenges of racism and growing up. To Kill a Mockingbird also illustrates that challenging the opinions of others can aid in one’s moral improvement; Jem Finch experiences the most developmental progress through expanding his moral ideas and beliefs. Coming from a strong moral figure like Atticus, Jem is expected to become a respectable young adult.
The game played by the children Scout, Jem, and Dill in the book To Kill a Mockingbird emphasizes their ignorance and prejudice towards things they don’t understand. Such as when they talk about Boo Radley being dead, “Besides, I don’t think he’s still there. He died years ago and they stuffed him up the chimney.” This dismissal of the possibility that they might feel shame for their actions reflects the theme of ignorance to a tee. The apparent incapability to feel shame is apparent in them when they continue the game in front of all the neighbors, save Nathan Radley.
The theme of this novel is "Not everything is the way you predict it is". I believe this thematic statement suits the story because throughout the book there are lots of surprises, and most situations don't go the way people predict they will. For example, Aunt Alexandra was first seen as mean, according to her attitude towards Scout. At the end of the book Aunt Alexandra hands Scout her overalls, as mentioned in the story, "the garments she most despised." Because she always wanted Scout to be a lady and wear dresses.
Tom is a black man who lives in a time where many people consider Blacks as inferior. Blacks had a very small chance of winning a case in court. Most of the juries were made up of white men who only worried about getting rid of Blacks and nothing else. They would convict a black man even if all of the evidence pointed to him being innocent, especially if the case had anything to do with a white woman. Black men were not even allowed to offer their hand to a white woman without being accused of rape.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Nelle Harper Lee, the citizens of Maycomb give and receive respect from the amount of conformity that is shown. At the beginning of the book, Jem is given little respect, Atticus is given a lot of respect, and the Radleys are given almost no respect. As the novel progresses, Jem matures and learns responsibility as a young adult. Atticus loses a bit of respect because of his defense of a black person. Meanwhile, the Radleys never conformed much and so never gained much respect.
What foster is trying to tell us in this chapter is that most book have some kind of political reference. Its related to something political but not too much because the book will be messed up. It can engage on real world problems and how some humans suffer. This also includes how some political stands and leaderships are wrong.
Even people who are generally racist see that the court justice system is flawed. Due to the trial Tom’s life is constantly being threatened. “Then he straightened up and waved a big paw. ' Let's clear out,' he called. ' Let's get going, boys” (Lee 154)
To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Analysis Throughout To Kill A MockingBird, by Harper Lee there are many acts of courage. This is shown in Atticus Finch, Jem Finch, and Boo Radley. Atticus shows the most courage in the book but all three of these characters show true courage in some way, shape, or form. Boo Radley showed a lot of courage, but he was not in the storyline as much as Atticus. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, courage is defined as standing up for people and doing what’s right.
These same events happening in the novel are unfortunately events that happen in today’s society. When Tom is wrongfully convicted in the novel based on the color of his skin, I compare this to the rising number of black males that are proven innocent and getting released from prison after their original guilty verdict. With advances in the DNA system, the number of murderers being proven innocent has risen, many black males have been able to walk free because of this fact. This statement means one thing, racially biased convictions. These black men, much like Tom, were wrongfully convicted, and I feel that race had something to do with this.
Final Essay Outline: Thesis Statement/opening paragraph: In the story To Kill A Mockingbird, discrimination and the act of being prejudice is common among the main characters, on both the receiving and serving end. Certain characters, like Scout and Jeremy Finch, Bob Ewell, and the town folk truly create the main problem and set the theme of the story. For example, when Bob Ewell accuses Atticus Finch of being an african-american lover, because he is defending Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, according to Bob. Boo Radley is accused of being dead by Scout, Jem and Dill.
In To Kill A Mockingbird Mr.Ewell shows prejudice against a black man named Tom Robinson. Prejudice is frequent in the story and it is used on a innocent man. A poor white girl accuses a black man of raping her, which leads to a trial. The residents of Maycomb think black people don’t matter because of their racial superiority complex which comes from slavery. HARPER LEE Harper Lee wrote this because of prejudice back then when she was little.
In society, there are very few people who have the unwavering dedication to stand up for what they believe. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man was convicted and accused of a crime he didn 't commit, raping a white women, which is not in anyway tolerable in society. In Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird, the author used point of view and symbolism to acknowledge how the the several social divisions which make up much of the adult world are shown to be both irrational and extremely destructive. To begin with, the short story To Kill A Mockingbird, used point of view to show how the many social divisions in the world are irrational and destructive. Scout; a first grade student at the time, was telling the story from her point of view and what had occurred from her childhood perspective.
Essay 1 Date Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird “To kill a Mockingbird” is a novel in which Harper Lee, the author, presents forth various themes among them the unheard theme of social molarity. Harper dramatically uses a distinctive language through Scout, who is the narrator of the story to bring out the difficulties faced by children living in the southern Alabama town of Maycomb. Harper has dramatically displayed use of bildungsroman throughout the story; this helped to give the story a unique touch of a child’s view to bring out a different type of humor and wit. It has also used to develop and thrive the theme of morality in the society.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is so titled because there are several characters in the story which could be consisted mockingbirds. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley do not cause any harm, they go about their business without interfering in the lives of others, and however both of them are in turn harmed by the citizens of Maycomb. Harper Lee’s novel examines the dark side of human nature and explores the ramifications of prejudice, racism and bigotry in a time when people were openly hostile to anyone they considered different and inferior. Lee tells her story to highlight the injustices of the South during a time of inequality, discrimination, where the innocent are unfairly punished. Tom Robinson a character in the novel is accused of something
In our society, innocent people, known as mockingbirds, experience prejudice in their lives. A/T: In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Background: Tom Robinson is a black person who’s was accused of raping a white girl named Mayella Ewell which he has never done. For this reason, Atticus Finch was appointed to be his lawyer. As a result, Atticus takes a stand for him by approving his case and standing up for him, but Tom was still found guilty.
