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How To Kill A Mockingbird Identity Essay

1397 Words6 Pages

When asked about future plans, a common answer given by individuals is to travel. One of the main appeals of traveling is the experience it gives one in the outside world. Traveling can expose an individual to new places and people, as well as moral views and opinions outside of those in their own society. Although one might want to depart from their hometown, what they have grown to experience in it is what makes up most of their identity. In Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, she demonstrates the opposing identities of people who live in the same community, but different society. As characters like Scout and Mayella grow in the same community of people, they experience different societies and influences. Her novel symbolizes how the identity of an individual is heavily influenced by society through how much of the world one sees, what moral views an individual is exposed to, and what actions the people around them perform. The availability of experiences in the physical world contributes to the influence of society on a person’s identity. In order for someone to form a strong opinion on the world, they need to gain …show more content…

From the extent of one’s experiences of the world, what moral views they are introduced to early on, and what role models they are able to look up to, one’s identity grows. Harper Lee demonstrates the impact of societal influences in To Kill A Mockingbird, with her varied characters and their views. She plays with the idea that as an individual ages, their identity ages with them, taking in details from the outside world. What eventually becomes the person is not born with them, but what they are exposed to. Ideas of racism, sexism, war, and violence are not born. They are told. A person grows into the identity shaped for them by their society, never given the chance to form their own opinions. An individual’s identity is anything but their

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In society, people would usually associate with others who are the most similar to them since they tend to feel more comfortable around them. For instance, in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, is a story of Mayella Ewell who is a poor, white woman living in a racist environment during the 1930s. Some people will say that Mayella isn’t sincerely powerful and others might disagree. On the contrary, Mayella doesn’t have much capability when it comes down to her low financial status and her gender; however, her race is what makes her highly powerful. Mayella lives in a tremendously poor neighborhood since she “lived behind the town garbage dump”.

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1473 Words | 6 Pages

The main theme of “ To Kill a Mockingbird” The main theme of the novel is about how people learn and grow to understand the world and how complicated it is, including issues such as prejudice, discrimination, and unfairness. Harper Lee uses the novel to show that these issues are everywhere in society and can have serious consequences. But also shows that empathy, kindness, and doing what’s right can make a major difference.

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1253 Words | 6 Pages

By analyzing the struggle of these individuals throughout Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader observes that the prejudiced society hurts the mockingbirds; this is important because the author demonstrates it is a sin to harm an innocent being. To start, Mayella Ewell symbolizes a mockingbird that the discriminatory society misjudges as a result of her low social class. When Scout is in first grade, readers see that the Ewells are poor and struggle to survive. Atticus tells Scout, “the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations” (Lee 40).

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1072 Words | 5 Pages

Diane Sanchez Mrs. Andrews English 1 To Kill a Mockingbird April 15, 2024. Have you ever known that you were doing something wrong but still did it anyway, and it changed your perspective on life? Award-winning novelist Harper Lee’s controversial novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, follows two young kids in the 1930s, Jem and Scout, in which they figure out how the world works. This novel portrays the discrimination that took place at the time from the perspective of a young white girl and its effects on her and her family. In Chapter 6, Lee uses setting, conflict, and character to convey a didactic lesson to think about possible consequences before your actions.

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327 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the book ,The Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde the author Robert Louis Stevenson portrays the theme of temptation repeatedly through the story. An example of this theme in the story is the temptation for Dr.Jekyll to turn into Mr.Hyde(by taking a drug). During the novel the temptation for Dr.Jekyll to turn into Mr.Hyde who is the”evil” side of Dr.Jekyll dramatically increases due to the moral weakness of Dr.Jekyll .The reason why Dr.Jekyll enjoys turning into Mr.Hyde is because of the pleasures and adventures that occur while being Mr.Hyde. However Dr.Jekyll had come to a point of decision,to be Jekyll who “had more of a father’s interest” (page 48),or Hyde “who had more than a son's indifference”(page 48) Stevenson compares

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The Significance of Determination in To Kill a Mockingbird In the early 1930s, a black man is being convicted of taking advantage of a young, white lady. Atticus Finch, a lawyer, has become accustomed to defending the black man, Tom Robinson. It’s no easy task when the whole town looks down upon you for it, it takes perseverance, strength of character, and especially, determination. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee implies that the significance of determination is crucial in our lives as it acts as a driving force that pushes oneself regardless of circumstances that may come one way or the other.

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711 Words | 3 Pages

People constantly change as time passes and therefore their perspectives continuously alter as well. The classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, portrays the lives of two children, Jem and Scout, during the Great Depression, as they mature in a small, dull, and segregated town called Maycomb, Alabama. However, the once peaceful city, seen through the eyes of Scout Finch, suddenly shifts when the citizens falsely accuse a black man named Tom Robinson of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. The children’s view of the peaceful town transforms into a racist and stereotypical community of hypocrites. Furthermore, Scout was not the only white citizen of Maycomb to understand the unfair customs.

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1315 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout Finch embarks on a journey of self-identity in Maycomb, Alabama. Harper Lee allows readers an insight view of the protagonist Scout Finch through the use of first-person narrative. Throughout her journey in the southern racist town of Maycomb, Alabama, Scout grapples with gender norms, prejudice, familial conflict, and societal conflict that shape her into the woman she becomes at the end of the novel. Scout is seen as a tomboy throughout the novel that often plays with her brother Jem and his friends. In the 1930s southern town women were to be very feminine in their day-to-day lives and girls were to be dressed properly and act ladylike.

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837 Words | 4 Pages

Latin poet Phaedrus once said, “Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many”. American novelist, Harper Lee was the famous author of a best-selling book, To Kill A Mockingbird. This award winning book, published in the 1960’s, explores the 1930’s as two children, named Jem and Scout, come of age as they are introduced to the idea of racism and discrimination within their community. Throughout the novel, Jem and Scout encounter multiple situations where racism and discrimination was brought up and how it affected their community. In chapter 12, the literary elements, setting, conflict, and character develop the theme that coming of age involves people who may not always be as they seem.

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1386 Words | 6 Pages

Characterization of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Jean Louise (Scout) Finch as the narrator. Scout is now an adult and reflects on three very crucial summers during her childhood days. When Scout is first described in the novel, she is prone to violence, labels people based on class, denigrates people, uses racist language, and is prejudice (Seidel 1). All of these things show that she is childish at the beginning of the novel.

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1266 Words | 6 Pages

Identity is one thing that no one can experience, which comes to the conclusion that no individual has an identity. The community lacks individuality which there is no social stability without individual stability in the Brave New World. Community, being one of the 3 ideals in the Brave New World is shown through their placement within their social groups, Ford’s day celebrations, community sings and solidarity services. Although great lengths are taken to create a community in this dystopian society there still lacks the actual sense of a community, their emotions are limited, they are taught to fear as others and have the same likes and dislikes. In this society, their social groups In the novel, an individual's identity is known as a fundamental of society.

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614 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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476 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the setting is Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. The story is told by the narrator, Scout Finch. The side characters are Dill, Jem, Atticus, Tom Robinson, Aunt Alexandra, Calphurnia, and Boo Radley. The people of the town are extremely racist, prejudiced, sexist, and classist. They are in the time period of “The Great Depression”, so they are very poor on things like food and water.

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715 Words | 3 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird is a book mainly about the coexistence of good and evil. The book stresses and emphasizes on the exploration of moral nature in humans. There are many themes in this novel including courage, innocence, racism, femininity, etc. However the most prevalent theme in the book is innocence. Not just innocence in itself but the danger and harm evil poses to the innocent.

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1457 Words | 6 Pages

In society, education is often only related to academic studies and things that can be acquired in institutions like schools and universities. This often results in people believing that education cannot be acquired through daily life and leaving moral education ignored. Particularly, in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, this is represented by the protagonist: a six-year-old, white, middle-to-high class, Alabaman named Jean Louise “Scout” Finch who sees the world the way children are “supposed” to. Scout does not receive much in the ways of academic education from school.

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