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Self Identity In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Recommended: Examples of racial symbolism in to kill a mockingbird

A novel of civil right struggle
Harper Lee's only novel got her a Pulitzer Prize, this novel has sold over 30 million copies, it’s a integrated in the U.S. high schools educational system, and has been given the name of “our national novel” by Oprah Winfrey. According to the BBC, the amount of appeal this book has it beyond boundaries, beating the way the Bible (although not Pride and Prejudice) to come in fifth in a British poll for World Book Day. Among British librarians, it was the number one book they would advise. As Megan Behrent alleged while reviewing the novel in her article:” A novel of the civil rights struggle”; published in the Socialist Worker in August 5, 2010, it is as an anti-racial novel of the civil rights movement, with …show more content…

The Other varies from a person to another and from a generation to another, The first thing we have to do is to identify the Other by exploring it in Lee's novel, Claudia Durst Johnson states in her book In To Kill a Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries that the work "invites the conclusion that we reach some sense of self-identity by our encounters with other forces, that is, with forces alien to our commonplace lives. As a result of these encounters, we break the cultural and psychological barriers that imprison us and come to embrace a larger world" (p.72). Meaning that the process of Othering is purely subjective to the white folk, ‘the Other’ is black; to the black people, ‘the Other’ is the whites and so on the circle is endless.
In To Kill a Mockingbird the children began a journey of self discovery and to do so they must understand the word surrounding them in this case Maycomb community but this book can be portrayed not only as exceptional story but an incarnation of Michel Foucault's Panopticon; the supposedly demonstration of power in society present as Foucault states “we live in a society where panopticism reigns” (215) applying it on Maycomb County will challenges the idea that the Panopticon is a flawless creation of repression from which no one can flee, at least not without consequences …show more content…

Social otherness in mainly created out of invisible lines as he said f inclusion and exclusion, in To Kill a Mockingbird era those lines rule the lives of people and categorized them into groups and sections according to their race, gender, social status …, these distinctions carry on a high rate of dominance and authority, giving the control to the people in charge so they can socially supervise the other categories according to the disciplines they force. He suggested that “contemporary society deserves the name of disciplinary society” disciplines comes from the distribution of power thus by othering people you will be the one holding the control. Panopticism is very present in Maycomb County; everyone must act according to the traditional arranged disciplines and not sway away from

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Social normalities, stereotypes , conformities, are all words to explain the categorized groups and expectations certain people are supposed to hold and exploit. To Kill a Mockingbird has a very strong message relating to going against these social normalities, one person especially, Atticus Finch. However, there are many people not only in this book but also all around the world who are standing up against these norms. One of these people was Asa Philip Randolph, a human rights activist. Both Atticus Finch and A. Philip Randolph are men that challenged these so called social norms when they stood up for civil rights

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In the classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee takes on the malignant impact of racism, a deeply rooted problem, from a different perspective and teaches readers what it truly means to be a good person as she brings to life one of the most virtuous characters in American literature-Atticus Finch. Told through the eyes of a young child, readers learn about the heavy prejudice embedded in the people of Maycomb County and the loss of innocence that is brought upon the kids as a racial conflict spurs a series of significant events in their quiet town. Taken place during the early years of the Great Depression, Maycomb must face its biggest problem-racism. Atticus Finch is the lawyer who defends this case and ultimately brings a

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Showing them the harsh reality of life with honesty and fearlessness. During this time the Great Depression was hitting the southern town of Maycomb. This novel compares many of its characters to mockingbirds, a symbol of pure innocence. One summer, Atticus, who is a lawyer, finds himself in the middle of a controversial case, involving a African American man, Tom Robinson and a white woman, Mayella. Despite the town throwing hatred towards Atticus and his family, he doesn’t back down because he takes pride in helping the innocent.

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Literature can be analyzed with many different critical lenses. While analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, one may use a critical lens to recognize the different ideas throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates her perspective on intolerance and discrimination within the early twentieth century. Firstly, intolerance of people who are different is very prevalent within the novel.

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Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that show the life of a southern state od Alabama during the “black racism” time period, where majority of the people had the mentality that (quote) with the exception of a few. To chosen to portray it from the eyes of Scout Finch, from a child’s point of view. Living in Maycomb, in the midst of a conservative society of the 1930’s and 20’s Southern America Scout Finch is an extra ordinary child.

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Social prejudice is shown throughout Harper Lee’s award winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee powerfully analyses the theme social prejudice, and its effect on people. Such as how the Social prejudice is discrimination based on your status in society. An example of social prejudice would be the Radley family, which consists of Boo Radley, Nathan Radley and Arthur Radley. As they haven’t been out of their house in years people are lead to believe the rumours.

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A behavior, of which, presents itself heavily while either talking, and or mentioning, the topics of religions, racism and classism. Given the time period is during the 1930’s, and that Maycomb County is located in the deep south, it is no wonder of why prejudice appears as a cultural norm. The Great Depression was going on at the time, and so, everyone is taking the chance in trying to look better off, in the terms of finance and living standards. In looking at the main family of the book, the Finches, they are part of the high standing class. And, as according to Aunt Alexandra, they, as a family, are above everyone.

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Humans live in a world where moral values are very clearly set determining what is good and what is bad. We know what scares us and how racism should be treated. Nevertheless, this was not the case back in Alabama during the 1950s. In the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee narrates the lives of the people of Maycomb, Alabama, focusing on the story of Scout and Jem Finch, and the case of a said to be rape. In this emotion filled narrative, readers learn how life was back then not only in general, but for the separate social statuses that there was.

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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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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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In the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, the author writes about what happens in the small southern town of Maycomb, in Alabama. Lee uses the influence of belief in traditions such as roles and family bonds to show that they are causes of conflict. Throughout the book, roles such as gender, age, race, and family confines characters to act, look, and even speak certain ways, causing internal, external, and family conflicts. This theme that different types of roles and family bonds are the root of conflict is developed through the use of physical setting, anti stereotype, and historical setting The author shows that Scout faces external conflicts caused by the pressure to fit into the stereotypical gender roles accustomed to girls at this time in history.

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Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.

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The book "To Kill a Mockingbird" describes different classes of people as been rich and poor. People classify themselves differently because some people are in poverty, while some are wealthy. Most wealthy people help the poor, but the main people they help are the Cunningham 's family. They help the Cunningham 's family because they are willing to work and they are hard working. People never help the Ewell 's family because they are rude, lazy, and they waste their money on alcohol.

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Harper Lee and Tate Taylor contend that those who do not fit into society are misunderstood and often have different realities. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in 1935 in Maycomb, a Southern American town where everyone attends church and socialises with people within their social hierarchy. However, the Radleys isolate themselves from Maycomb by not going to church and worshipping at home. Furthermore, the Radley’s house doors and shutters are always closed, which is “another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways.” As a result, the Radley’s do not fit into Maycomb societal standards.

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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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