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How Does Lee Present Injustice In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In 1960 Harper Lee published a book by the name of To Kill a Mockingbird. The book tells the tale of a young girl named Scout and her life in the town of Maycomb. Harper Lee surrounds Scout with characters, her brother Jem, their friend Dill, her father, Atticus, Her Aunt Alexandra, and many others. The interactions of these characters and the events of the book portray the good and the bad of the 1930's, the book's setting. While the narrative displays many key themes of the time period, from racism to religion. Injustice, one prevalent theme to both book and time period most often surfaces through the events of the novel. However, the author uses one character to represent the smaller injustices of the time, Scout's upper class aunt, Alexandra. …show more content…

Lee presents one injustice through Aunt Alexandra, labeling people because they are poor. Aunt Alexandra exclaimed to scout, “I'll tell you why. Because-Walter-is-trash, that's why you can't play with him.”(301) Her reasoning for this came from the fact that the Cunningham family owned little money. This labeling does the family, and Walter, an injustice because, though they were poor, the Cunninghams always made it their goal to repay people, even without money. This honest, hardworking standard set the Cunninghams apart, placing them even above many of the richest. In this way, Harper Lee employs Aunt Alexandra to represent the theme of injustice very …show more content…

Atticus a busy man, had less time to raise his kids than many parents, this led to Jem and Scout having a more unconventional upbringing. Aunt Alexandra unjustly ignores these circumstances, ridiculing the children's manners and clothing choices constantly. “...you've got to do something about her. You've let thing go on to0 long, Atticus, too long.”(182) Not only does saying this show a lack of respect for Atticus, but Aunt Alexandra says this to Atticus during the time where he works on a incredibly stressful case. Even after this she also says he should stop his defending work in the court. The work she believes he should stop is the work he considers to be his calling as a lawyer. Lee again displays the smaller injustices of the time through Aunt Alexandra, as she ridicules Atticus both for his hard work that he values so mush, and his upbringing which he had to achieve without the help of a

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722 Words | 3 Pages

This incident shows the reader that she wants to be taken seriously by her colleagues. It also displays that Hilly deeply treasures her reputation because of her reaction towards the situation. On the other hand, Aunt Alexandra has also shown the reader signs that she values her family’s reputation. In chapter 23 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Aunt Alexandra did not allow Scout to play with Walter Cunningham because of his poor background. She said, “Because-he-is-trash, that’s why you can’t play with him.

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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.

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To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee and set in the early 1930s, follows through the young eyes Scout, Jem and Dill and their development throughout the book. The book reflects the dominant view of racism, through the use of the characters who see the world through innocent eyes. Through the use of characterisation Harper lee invites the reader to view Scout, Jem and Dills loss of innocence through the racist beliefs of the 1930. Throughout the novel Scout gradually loses her childhood innocence as she encounters life's many injustices. Jem loses his innocence by realising the racist stereotypes of the people in Maycomb and Dill loses his care free attitude by seeing how Maycomb treat Tom Robinson.

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1247 Words | 5 Pages

The name of the novel being explored is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1950's in Alabama Maycomb during the racist times towards the blacks. Throughout this topic the focus is on the main character/narrator Scout (Jan Louise Finch). This essay will explore Scout's character and the negative and or positive influence she has on other characters at the start, throughout and at the end of the text. At the beginning of the novel 'To kill a Mockingbird' Scout is a naïve, has a very tomboy like personality, is a judgmental five year-old girl who was oblivious to the cruelty's of the outside world.

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In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee uses negative connotation and vivid symbolism to persuade that being judged by an outward appearance or backstory can affect a person negatively and make the judgers feel superior. Lee uses an outstanding amount of characters to persuade this but some distinctive characters that she uses is Aunt Alexandra and the Cunningham’s. Lee also uses the Ewells and Tom Robinson to persuade her meaning. In chapter twenty-three Scout asks Aunt Alexandra if she can play with Walter Cunningham but Aunt Alexandra declines the request and does not give Scout permission to play with Walter. She explains why plus starts to judge Walter.

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875 Words | 4 Pages

Aunt Alexandra is way that she wants Scout to be “ dignified” by getting rid of Calpurnia because hanging out with blacks is a disgrace to Maycomb. Aunt Alexandra also thinks it is civilized to despise blacks and show no respect, because that is the way most people view the American culture during that time. Racism is avoided by choosing not to draw conclusions based on outward appearances. One must get to know a persons

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To prove this point, Aunt Alexandra even goes as to tell her niece, Scout Finch, that her friend, Walter, “is trash,” based upon that of his family being dirty and poor (Lee 301). Aunt Alexandra, is deeply set upon saying that Walter and his family are below hers, as a result of the classism, caused by the Great Depression. In fact, if it was

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Race has always been a part of history, from slavery to MLK, to Barack Obama. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee defines race in the south during the 1930’s. Jean “Scout” Finch, is the narrator of the story. Her brother Jeremy “Jem” and her dad, Atticus, are both main characters. Calpurnia is their house cook and helper, she is also black.

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Option 2 Literary Analysis To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel set during the 1930s in a small town in Southern Alabama called Maycomb. The story is told through the narrator, Scout, a young girl who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her older brother Jem. As a child, Scout is portrayed as a stubborn and obnoxious little girl who loves to read, play with her brother Jem, and fantasize about her mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. However, her life gets turned upside down when Scout’s father agrees to do something that is deemed unacceptable in the south; he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white girl. Instantly, Atticus and his family go from being respected and beloved by their town, to being

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1317 Words | 6 Pages

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The author Lee demonstrates some major themes such as social inequality, intolerance, education, legal justice and bravery through this character. The title To Kill a Mockingbird symbolises innocence where Lee explores this through the eyes of Jem and Scout who are kids of Atticus Finch. He is one of the most honest, patient, kind, fair, respected and admired men in Maycomb during the Great Depression. Atticus is known for his moral character throughout the book.

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592 Words | 3 Pages

Of the numerous themes from Harper Lee’s famous novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, one stands out, injustice. This subject appears multiple times throughout the book. Firstly, Mr. Ewell demonstrates injustice towards the Finch family by insulting them and harming them. Again injustice shows itself in Tom Robinson’s false accusation. Lastly, this horrible topic becomes apparent in Aunt Alexandra’s actions towards Calpurnia.

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1067 Words | 5 Pages

How does Harper Lee vividly capture the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb county in ‘To kill a mockingbird’? In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird’, Harper Lee conveys the theme of racism and social inequality by setting up the story in Maycomb, a small community in Alabama, the U.S back in 1930s. Lee presents some of the social issues of 1930s such as segregation and poverty in the novel. These issues are observed and examined through the innocent eyes of a young girl, Scout, the narrator.

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In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the small, imaginary town, the Maycomb County, as a place where racism and social inequality happens in the background of 1930s America. Not only the segregation between whites and blacks, but also the poor lived in a harsh state of living. As Scout, the young narrator, tells the story, Lee introduces and highlights the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb County by using various characters such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell. Firstly, Harper Lee portrays Boo Radley as a victim of social inequality through adjectives and metaphor in the phrase, “There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten;” ‘Long jagged scar that ran across his face’ tells us that Boo Radley has stereotype about his appearance, which forces to imagine Boo as a scary and threatening person. The phrase, ‘yellow and rotten’ make the readers think as if Boo Radley is poor and low in a social hierarchy, as he cannot afford to brush his teeth.

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998 Words | 4 Pages

In 1973, abortion was legalized within the United Stats of America, which resulted in the termination of over 57 million pregnancies. This equals to 1 pregnancy every 24 seconds, and totals to 155 in an hour alone. With these statistics, it’s a marvel as to why abortion is still legal in some parts of the world. There are many reasons as to why abortion should be illegal all over the world, such as the reasons against abortion that are listed for you within this essay. Life Begins At Conception

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In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the issue of Southern Womanhood is brought up many times throughout the novel. Lee uses many different characters to help show how she viewed Southern Womanhood. Specifically she uses, Scout, Mayella Ewell, and Scout’s Aunt Alexandra. In "To Kill A Mockingbird", Harper Lee uses specific characters to show how negative of an impact Southern Womanhood used to have. Harper Lee uses Scout in many cases to show how she thought Southern Womanhood used to have a negative impact.

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