How Does Lee Use Conflict In To Kill A Mockingbird

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. In the story Scout narrates, “He did not begin to calm until he had cut the tops off every camelia bush Mrs, Dubose owned, until the ground was littered with green buds and leaves” (118). In this quote, Jem can not hold back his anger anymore after what

Plot events are used throughout the entire book. In the first chapter of the story Scout narrates, “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom” (9). In this quote she describes Boo calling him a very bad and mean person. Scout is too young to tell whether someone is mean or nice to herself, so she really doesn’t know who he is. When she describes Boo as a “malevolent phantom” she is just basing it off what Jem tells her about Boo. Throughout the story Boo starts to do plenty of nice things for Jem and Scout like giving them gifts, covering them up with blankets and much more. In chapter 29 of the story, Boo does something that nobody could ever show their grace for. He saves the life of Jem. Jem is walking down the street and out of nowhere Mr. Ewell starts chasing Jem and starts beating him and trying to kill him. Boo then runs out and helps Jem get away and stabs Mr. Ewell in the doing. In this quote, Scout is narrating the man standing in the corner. I looked from his hands to his sand-stained khaki pants; my eyes traveled up his thin frame to his torn denim shirt. His face was as white as his hands, but with a shadow on his jutting chin. His cheeks were thin to hollow; his mouth was wide; there were shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind. His hair was dead and thin, almost feathery, on top of his head. The man standing in the corner is Boo Radley, the man who saved Jem’s life who people used to think was an evil villain, and only did bad. This plot event changed the way Scout and Jem look at Boo Radley. He is nothing like all of the rumors yet he is much more, a life saver. In the To Kill a Mockingbird passage, Harper Lee uses plot events and conflict to defy the theme that not everything is as it seems. Overall, you will find the good in people if you really look deep