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How Does Harper Lee Use Fear In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In 1960, a novel was released by the famous author Harper Lee, this book has then won the Pulitzer Prize, Bestseller and Brotherhood Awards, Library and Presidential Awards and the Academy Awards. The setting of the novel is placed in a small The title of this book is ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ which represents Harper lee’s perspective in America 1930s after slavery was abolished, through the narration of the main character Scout. Harper Lee’s perspective of 1930’s America is efficiently portrayed through the development of coexistence of good and evil, through her manipulation of stylistic devices and aesthetic features. The main themes portrayed in this essay are, growing up and family, courage and fear and Prejudice and Racism.

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A main scene that explains the society in 1930s America is the rabid dog and Atticus. The rabid dog, also known as Tim Johnson is feared by the townspeople as he has a murderous disease. The rabid dog symbolises the racial intentions of society and how this disease is made from the society. Society will not protect this disease but rather fear it which is represented in the novel in pg. 104 “Every wood door within our range of vision was closed tight.” Harper Lee usage of this event signifies the 1930s American society as shunning out the coloured people because they are dominantly viewed as “misfits”. Harper Lee uses a quote to describe what courage is, pg. 124 “I wanted to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.” As Atticus talks to Jem about courage and how it’s not just holding a gun but what real courage is persistence through times of difficulty. This may symbolise the trial for Tom Robinson which Atticus knows he cannot win from the beginning because of the society’s racial profiling. This represents the 1930s American society as African Americans were considered as the lowest class which makes them an easy target for fake accusations which in result, leads to death. Harper Lee is trying to convey to not treat others according to who or what they are but according to they’re behaviour. Harper Lee usage of courage and fear in To Kill A Mockingbird is an important theme because it’s an accurate representation of those who would see African Americans as equal and those who fear them in America during the

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