ipl-logo

Race In To Kill A Mockingbird

521 Words3 Pages

Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, themes of race are present. Through the use of symbolism, Harper Lee expresses the role race plays in the South during the early 20th century. For instance, in the novel,when there was not enough snow in Maycomb to build a snowman Jem Finch improvised and made a snowman with a foundation of dirt and covered the dirt with snow. This symbolizes the prevailing of white colored people over Blacks during this time period (Smykowski). Race issues also affect the lives of the white characters in the novel. For example, Mayella Ewell helps convict an innocent black man to save her reputation because in the society she lives in, kissing a black man is “unspeakable” (Zaldman; Lee 272). In addition, Scout and Jem also …show more content…

“Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(Lee 119).

In Harper Lee’s symbolic category of a “mockingbird”, the themes of innocence and wrongful prosecution are evident (Chura). Lee is saying that killing a mockingbird is the equivalent to destroying innocence. This category can represent Tom Robinson, who is an upstanding citizen that helps out Mayella Ewell in exchange for nothing, yet he is accused and prosecuted for a crime he didn’t commit (Chura; Smykowski). Another theme present in To Kill a Mockingbird is justice (Johnson). In the novel, Mayella Ewell lied and accused Tom Robinson of raping and beating her which resulted in the conviction of Tom Robinson, However,in actuality, Mayella Ewell was trying to seduce Tom Robinson and was beat up by her father, Bob Ewell, when he caught them together. The fact that the Ewells had no tangible evidence to support their claims except for their testimonies and that Tom Robinson was physically unable to have committed the crime due to his handicap is overlooked by a jury that consists of white men.While

Show More
Related

Examples Of Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

458 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee conveys that prejudice divides communities and that persecution of innocent people is evil; furthermore; these two minor themes reinforce the major thematic idea that a simple assumption can divide people. When Tom Robinson is put on trial for supposedly raped Mayella Ewell, the racism in Maycomb surfaces and creates conflict. In the novel, a stranger says, “You know what we want,” ‘another man said.’ “Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch.”(172). Some drunken men want to harm Tom Robinson for the wrong that he did.

Read More

Examples Of Parallelism In To Kill A Mockingbird

842 Words | 4 Pages

Author Harper Lee, in her novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, depicts a court trial in which Atticus Finch, a Maycomb County lawyer, attempts to defend an innocent black man, Tom Robinson, who was falsely accused of rape and beating by a young white woman, Mayella Ewell. Finch’s purpose is to prove Tom’s innocence to the court and avoid an inaccurate conviction. He adopts a deliberate tone in order to rule the jury’s speculation in favor of Robinsons guiltlessness. Atticus begins his argument by contrasting social moralities versus actual law.

Read More

Miss Maudie's A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird

630 Words | 3 Pages

In the historical fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the issues of racial inequality and injustice towards the innocent are exposed and clearly stated. The novel is a story of a young girl and her coming of age in the Deep South. As she grows in age, she begins to understand the unjust ways of the world, and how some people who are accused, such as Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley, are faultless. Lee’s symbol of the mockingbird is a representation of these characters. She shares her opinion that it is a sin, physically and verbally, to attack them.

Read More

Examples Of Alliteration In To Kill A Mockingbird

248 Words | 1 Pages

They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (To Kill a Mockingbird 119). Lee put this into the book because she wanted the Mockingbird to represent

Read More

Of Tom Robinson And Boo Radley In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

821 Words | 4 Pages

In Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," the concept of the mockingbird symbolizes innocence harmed by injustice. Characters like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson represent this theme, showing how prejudice and injustice can lead to tragic outcomes. Just as Atticus Finch teaches, it's wrong to harm those who haven't done any harm, much like it's wrong to harm an innocent mockingbird. Tom, a good man, suffers unjustly due to societal biases, similarly to shooting a harmless mockingbird. Equally, Boo Radley, kind but misunderstood, embodies the innocence of the mockingbird, unfairly accused due to false rumors.

Read More

What Does Jem Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

432 Words | 2 Pages

To Kill A Mockingbird is about racism and diversity, Atticus doesn't care about the color of a mans skin and took on a colored mans case and defended him against rape charges. Harper Lee offers several examples of symbolism to explain the themes diversity, racism, and courage. Smykowski explains “ First of all, the creation of the snowman by Jem can be seen as being symbolic of Jem trying to cover up the black man and Showing that he is the same as a white man, that all of mankind is virtually the same.” Jem believes everybody is the same no matter the skin color. If you’re in the right and you’re telling the truth then you're free and innocent.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Society

1253 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout life, society creates stereotypes and misinterpret people. This often has severe impacts on the person’s life and their interactions with outside world. Similarly, Harper Lee connects people in her novel to an innocent songbird: the mockingbird, a symbol that she uses a numerous amount of times to connect between the title and the main theme. Throughout the novel, the mockingbird represents two things: an innocent creature that perishes by acts of evil and a symbol of innocence and purity that does no harm while spreading joy and happiness. Mayella Ewell, Tom Robinson, and Arthur Boo Radley identify as mockingbirds - pure, innocent characters that face injuries through contact with evil.

Read More

Thompson's Arguments Against Abortion

1258 Words | 6 Pages

Abortion Defense Author’s name Institution Affiliation ABORTION DEFENSE Abortion remains a contentious issue in the current society. Various arguments have been developed, either for or against abortion. Most of these arguments rely on the premise on whether a fetus is a human being from the moment of conception. Thompson (2003) presents a violinist fictional case whose moral relevance complements the permissibility of abortion in a moral society. The violinist example is as follows; a famous violinist has been diagnosed with a fatal kidney ailment, and it is discovered from medical records that only you has the blood characteristics that correspond to his.

Read More

Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

1982 Words | 8 Pages

“Killing a mockingbird is a sin” (119). This basically means that harming something or someone that doesn’t do anything wrong, is a sin. In the book, cruelty and vehement behavior were more visible when someone not deserving of being attacked, is attacked. The mockingbird had its own beauty that shouldn’t be messed with. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy” (119).

Read More

Examples Of Racial Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

857 Words | 4 Pages

Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.

Read More

Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

885 Words | 4 Pages

Miss Maudie told scout that “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but . . . sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(Lee 119). They are completely innocent because they “don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs” (Lee 119), but only sing beautiful

Read More

Theme Of Racial Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

754 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Theme Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

529 Words | 3 Pages

They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” (Lee 90). Not only is killing a mockingbird a terrible sin, but it symbolizes both a metaphor and what really happens when kill

Read More

Race In To Kill A Mockingbird

700 Words | 3 Pages

Why do people get separated by their race and wealth? In to kill a mockingbird, by Harper Lee is mostly about the great depression. It’s telling us that in this book there’s racism. They also called it the southern segregations. People shouldn 't be mean towards to others, because it could lead to serious problems.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Injustice Quotes

643 Words | 3 Pages

In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, has many themes but none more evident than the losses and suffering of innocent people. For example, Mayella Ewell expiriences this theme as she is forced by her father to go along with the false accusation of rape comitted by Tom Robinson. As stated by Atticus Finch it wasn’t Tom but Mayella who committed this, "She was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in our society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man.” (271).

Read More

More about Race In To Kill A Mockingbird

Related Topics

Open Document