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How Does Lee Present The Tension In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee chooses to set her novel in the Great Depression of the 1930s. Millions of people had lost their jobs, their homes, their businesses and their land; every thing that made up their way of life. Lee creates in To Kill a Mockingbird 1960s, a memorable character to explore civil rights movement; this was a struggle by the African-Americans to achieve the equality and racism in the segregated southern, the United-State at 1930s. She presents the special case in her novel to illustrate the tension between white people who had control over the communities they lived in, and black people who seemed resigned to accepting the 'Jim Crows laws' and living within the existing system. Many states passed ' Jim Crows Laws ', which limited how African- Americans could participate in society. The laws increased from there and lasted until the Civil Rights Movement. Moreover, one of the most important events in civil rights history began in 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, her decision giving new life to the Civil rights movement. Civil Rights issues were heating up across the nation. …show more content…

Scout Finch lives with her brother Jem and their father Atticus, who assigned to represent Tom Robinson. Every family in Maycomb has its social stations depends on where they live, who their parents are.
The Plot and characters of the story based on Harper Lee’s own family and neighbors' as well as an event that occurred close to her hometown. Lee presented a portrait of the African- Americans as a human

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493 Words | 2 Pages

They attempt to get him out of his house by leaving notes around his house. Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem’s father who is a widower after his wife died. Atticus is a lawyer and defending a black man named Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a 19-year-old girl named Mayella. Atticus tried to convince the jury that Bob Ewell (Mayella’s father) beat her because Mayella’s

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886 Words | 4 Pages

Brooke Hines Mrs. Kennedy English 8, Period 6 1 March 2016 Contrasts and Contradictions in To Kill A Mockingbird In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there were many different characters who changed throughout the book. The story was written in the perspective of a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, who was known as Scout in the book. The Finch family consisted of Jem, otherwise known as Jeremy Atticus Finch, and Atticus Finch, the widowed father of Jem and Scout. The Finch family lived in an old southern place called Maycomb County where almost everyone knew each other.

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977 Words | 4 Pages

“Confusion can actually be a good thing,” is a statement made by Tania Lombrozo. Confusion is one of the many writing techniques that Harper Lee, author of To Kill Mockingbird, illustrates throughout her novel. To Kill A Mockingbird is about a young girl, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, whose views about others change year after year, especially after her father is put as the defense attorney for the most exhilarating trial in Maycomb, Alabama. She learns to see things from other people's perspectives, never give up, and that someone should never hurt anything that has not harmed them. Harper Lee uses pleasure and disquietude to depict the events throughout the novel and to create a “healthy confusion”.

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682 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Depression was the time period in which Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was set and was a time of economic instability and unpredictability (McCabe 12). Lee used many historical events and influences in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the book, there are direct links to the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro trials. The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws.

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350 Words | 2 Pages

The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee follows the childhood of Scout Finch. Scout grew up living in Maycomb, Alabama along with her brother Jem and her father Atticus. In the midst of her childhood Atticus was called upon to represent Tom Robinson, a black man living in Maycomb who was accused of raping a girl named Mayella Ewell. During this time Scout and her family had many hardships due to the towns criticism while doing the right thing and helping an innocent man. In the novel, Harper Lees’ use of tone helped to develop the central idea, which is the importance of having a moral compass.

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1483 Words | 6 Pages

Scout’s family, the Finches, have been in the town of Maycomb for many years, but as Scout’s father, Atticus, decides to defend a black man, their

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830 Words | 4 Pages

In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her seat to a white man on a public bus. This was highly illegal, but she stood her ground, and other people followed in her footsteps. People started participating in sit-ins, boycotts, marches, and freedom rides. Some were peaceful, and some were not peaceful in the slightest. This was the start of a movement that is vital to American history.

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350 Words | 2 Pages

To Kill A Mockingbird In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the fictional town of Maycomb is situated in Alabama during the early 1930’s, and is home to the main characters Jem, Scout and Atticus Finch. In this piece of text, ideas of racial prejudice, discrimination and innocence are explored. “Nothing is more deadly than a deserted, waiting street. The mockingbirds were silent, the carpenters at Miss Maudie’s house had vanished” (10.98). The use of imagery creates a realistic depiction in the mind of the reader as to how seriously the citizens of Maycomb took the threat that the mad dog presented through the building of tension and suspense.

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904 Words | 4 Pages

Have you ever judged someone before you got to know them, only to find out that you were wrong? To Kill a Mockingbird by American Novelist Harper Lee is a controversial and amazingly crafted novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is about a young girl called Scout and the challenges she faces throughout life due to her dad defending a black man during racist times. In chapter 10, Harper Lee uses conflict, character, and setting to show that anyone can be a hero and a hero can evolve from anywhere or anything.

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1353 Words | 6 Pages

“A growing group of Americans spoke out against inequality and injustice during the 1950s… about the struggle against racism and segregation that entered the mainstream of American life” (“The Civil Rights Movement”). We see this being reflected in the mood Harper Lee uses in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. In this book, Harper Lee uses setting to create a range of moods for the reader throughout Scout's journey that ranged from tense to mystifying, and finally thrilling. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee used a more tense setting to reflect the mood of the novel.

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771 Words | 4 Pages

When reading novels, not many people actually realize what they are actually reading. The words have much more meaning than what is shown on the pages. In the To Kill a Mockingbird passage in which Jem and Scout show adolescence, author Harper Lee uses conflict and plot events to help develop the theme that not everything is as it seems. The use of conflict in the novel helps show the theme that nothing is as it seems. Lee uses conflict in chapter 11 in the conflict between Mrs. Dubose and Jem.

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1025 Words | 5 Pages

The Great Depression was marked as “a time of devastation and uncertainty” (McCabe 12). The novel was based during the 1930’s, an era of severe economic decline, with high levels of unemployment (McCabe12). Harpers Lee’s novel is based on the events of this time period, and how society harms innocent beings. The Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and Scottsboro Trials were all influential to the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird.

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988 Words | 4 Pages

In July of 1960 a lady named Harper Lee decided to publish a book that would affect society in ways that she never even imagined. To Kill a Mockingbird, released at the height of the civil rights movement, changed the way people saw each other and themselves. Back then a lot of people did not completely understand life in the South, and they looked down upon it. However, her novel delivered a point of view that people had never seen from before, and opened their eyes to the discrimination and mistreatment that African Americans were being put through. The book takes place in 1930's Alabama, in the midst of the Great Depression.

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1622 Words | 7 Pages

History and Hawthorne Herman Melville once said that “for spite of all the Indian-summer sunlight on the hither side of Hawthorne’s soul, the other side-like the dark half of the physical sphere-is shrouded in a blackness, ten times black….”(Cain 667). This quote would no doubt, peek many peoples interest in Nathanial Hawthorne and Melville’s reason for saying such a thing. In order to find out what Melville was alluding to in his quote, it is important to look at the background of Hawthorne, and how his background influenced how he wrote. There are many different aspects of Hawthorne’s past that can are seen in his different works. Much like all writers background information can be an important factor to look at, when examining a text, and

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1128 Words | 5 Pages

Although the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, took place in the 1930s, it ties closely into the Civil Rights Movement. This novel displayed the obvious superiority whites had over blacks. It took place during a time when colored people faced discrimination, prejudice, and racism. When the book was published in the 1960s, it made whites furious, resulting in a lot of controversy. Harper Lee had a goal when writing, she wanted to show the relation between actual events that happened during the civil rights and incorporate it into her own novel to show how cruel colored people were treated, specifically when whites accused blacks of doing sinful acts.

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