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Literary Elements In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee became the bestselling book when it was first published in 1960. In To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 11, Harper Lee uses literary elements to develop a theme in the novel. One of the themes in this book is that true courage is when you fight for what is right, whether you win or lose. Both Atticus and Mrs. Dubose showed courage in To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the literary elements that conveys the theme of courage is conflict. The conflict between Atticus and the town shows that when you fight for what is right, you are showing courage. Atticus says, “It’s when you’re licked before you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do” (page 149). In this quote, Atticus is explaining to Jem what real courage is. This quote is important because Atticus goes to …show more content…

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose represents courage. She shows courage by battling her morphine addiction before she died. Atticus says, “I wanted you to see something about her--I wanted you to see what real courage is… Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew” (page 149). In this quote, Atticus is telling Jem that Mrs. Dubose showed courage by not taking her pain medicine. This quote is important because Atticus uses Mrs. Dubose as an example of what true courage is. Mrs. Dubose is a symbol that represents courage because she knew that she was dying and she chose to stop her morphine addiction. Instead of choosing to die free of pain, she chose to die free of the control of her addiction. The symbol causes the reader to feel that Mrs. Dubose is what true courage is because she overcome her morphine addiction. She still fought no matter what, even though she knew that she was dying. Mrs. Dubose could’ve died comfortably, but she died

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The theme of an ever present coexistence of positive and negative in all aspects can be seen when Mrs. Dubose knows that she will die, but she chooses to fight herself through her inner conflict and emerges victorious. Her story teaches the children that through every negative situation, a balance of positivity is possible through their personal resolve. In Atticus’ words, “‘She was the bravest person I ever

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Bravery can be demonstrated in many ways. The most common way we see it today is in movies or books by a hero facing a villain who is much more powerful than themselves. However, bravery can be much more. It can be killing a spider despite having an extreme fear of the insect or speaking your mind knowing there will be backlash. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose demonstrates an entirely different kind of bravery, and one which may be the bravest of all, she stands up to pain in the face of death in order to be a better person.

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He shows this when he says, “‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,’” (101). Atticus knows the outcome will end in failure and that everyone is against it, but he had bravely chosen to take on the African-American man, Tom

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Mrs. Dubose’s death came abruptly to the children, but not to people who knew she was addicted to morphine. Atticus explains her struggle and courage throughout her life by saying, “I wanted you to see something about her. I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway

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She was a morphine addict for years; however, she decided she was going to quit her awful habit before she died. On page 112 Atticus explained to Jem, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.” … “According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.” As he read to Mrs. Dubose every day for a month as reconcilement, she slowly weaned herself off the awful drug.

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Jem had the conception that courage was a “manly man”, a man that was tough and could fight. However, using Ms. Dubose as an example, she explained a new type of courage to Jem. Ms. Dubose knew that her struggle was close to impossible to win, as many people failed to break addictions, yet she still tried to fight it, and winning at the end. The courage to do so was considered, by Atticus, real courage. This was also demonstrated by Liu Xiaobo.

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To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Analysis Throughout To Kill A MockingBird, by Harper Lee there are many acts of courage. This is shown in Atticus Finch, Jem Finch, and Boo Radley. Atticus shows the most courage in the book but all three of these characters show true courage in some way, shape, or form. Boo Radley showed a lot of courage, but he was not in the storyline as much as Atticus. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, courage is defined as standing up for people and doing what’s right.

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Dubose’s death acts as a catalyst for his development. When speaking to Jem, Atticus states, “‘I wanted you to see what true courage is… It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (112). He uses Mrs. Dubose’s determination to break out of her morphine addiction as a lesson of courage to Jem.

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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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The kids learn after Mrs. Dubose dies that she was a morphine addict. They also learn that when Jem would read to her each day that it helped her to take her medicine later and later in the day. Mrs. Dubose's goal was to free of her addiction before she died. This is such a great example that Harper Lee put in the novel to show that it is so easy to judge someone without knowing their situation. Although the kids hated Mrs. Dubose for being mean, they learned a great life lesson to not judge a person before you know what their going through.

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"Jem, I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It 's when you know you 're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what. " This insightful statement was told by Atticus Finch to his son, Jem Finch. Many people in Maycomb had to deal with racism, hatred, and discrimination because of their skin color or because of the court case.

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"(Lee 221). This is an example of how Atticus shows courage because it takes a lot so courage to show kindness to a man that has accused an innocent man and that spits in your face. Also Atticus even teaches courage to his children so that it can be passed down for

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“Courage doesn 't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I’ll try again tomorrow’” - Mary Anne Radmacher. Through this quote one can see the advantages of real courage. One can really understand the true meaning of courage by reading the books To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The book by Harper Lee is written by a 9 year old’s perspective named Scout.

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Dubose as an example of integrity. Atticus is explaining to Jem that Mr. Dubose is a morphine addict. The doctor prescribed it to her and she has been addicted to them for years now. Atticus tells Jem “She said she was going to leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody”(111). Mrs. Dubose no longer wants to be a slave to morphine.

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Topic #5—Writing Style To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic. It was written by Harper Lee in 1960, making it a modern classic. It stood the test of time by having an artistic quality with a unique storyline. It uses several different literary devices to interact with the reader. From metaphors to letting the reader become Scout, it purposefully engages the reader.

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