ipl-logo

The Theme Of Isolation In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

413 Words2 Pages

Being an outsider has consequences in the Maycomb of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Every “outcast”, “different being”, disconnected person has a story not told(TheSilent Loudness 10&12). All stories have their outsiders, but what makes them who society thinks they are? Everyone has their place in the town of Maycomb except for two. The poem, “Being Different” by TheSilent Loudness analyzes the theme through powerful words and imagery. The image of one bird purched alone shows a powerful meaning, but the characterization of Mayella Ewell and Boo Radley is the most powerful picture of what an outsider truly is. TheSilent Loudness uses the same methods as Lee in their poem and is similar to those used to describe Mayella Ewell.(By this …show more content…

Isolation is shown through Boo Radley’s house, as “the shutters and doors of the Radley house were closed”(Lee 9). (By this I mean) The house was “darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it” and “rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda”(Lee 9). Maycomb is a place where everyone knows everyone, and those who are different are not accepted; though no one truely knows their story. It is a small town “with no hurry, for there was no where to go”.(Lee 9) However, one house is the outcast- Boo Radley’s House. Although he has not been seen, many “neighborhhod legends” have been told about tragic events Boo Radley has done(Lee 9). This powerful message shows that society explains why outsiders exist and why they are not accepted in the town. Harper Lee shows the great power of an outsider through his words more than the poem by TheSilent Loundness, as Lee shows us that society is the blame for the creation of outsiders. Although the outsiders of Maycomb have tried to join society, they will always be captive of the town who wants nothing to do with them. TheSilent Loudness gives hope for the outsiders, but Lee shows how society will not change the way they think and naming outsiders in the first

Show More
Related
564 Words | 3 Pages

We can say that the book the Outsiders is a book that is all about the will to belong in a society. they grew up on the outside of society. They weren’t looking for a fight. They were looking to belong.

Read More
620 Words | 3 Pages

The world is broken, and until the Lord returns, unfair situations will exist. In the award winning book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the theme of injustice is rampant in the lives of Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Calpurnia. The false judgment of Boo Radley illustrates injustice as a harmless, kind-hearted man is painted as a

Read More
643 Words | 3 Pages

Literature and cinema, which also include novels and films, use many conventions to depict its narratives. The film Cast Away directed by Robert Zemeckis, uses symbolism and some unusual themes to portray this story about a FedEx worker stranded on an island by himself in the middle of nowhere trying to survive and find his way back home. Whereas the book, "Lord of the Flies," written by William Goulding, is about a group of young children, all boys, stranded on an island together trying to survive. Time is a theme used in both "Lord of the Flies" and "Cast Away." The passing of time is very subtle in the book and it is showed by the growth of the children's hair and the fact that they are getter dirtier as time goes on, whereas in the film

Read More
629 Words | 3 Pages

In the story of To Kill a Mockingbird, there 's a town called Maycomb. This town is divided by many factors. Race was a big dividend but it wasn 't the only factor of division there was social status, power, and gender. These factors are what conduct the way relationships and personalities formed.

Read More
888 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

Children are very impressionable people. Almost everything around them changes them in some way. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main characters, Scout and Jem, start out as little kids who spend their days making up stories and playing sill games. Then their dad, who is a lawyer, takes on a case defending a black man who has been charged with rape. Since they live in Alabama, The whole family has to absorb some pretty ugly things, which forces Scout and Jem to grow up quickly, and it gives them a different and more mature view of the world.

Read More
1019 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
1914 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More
915 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
1099 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
626 Words | 3 Pages

Many people in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper lee, isolate themselves. Sometimes Isolation turns out fine for them, but other time is can hurt them in the inside and make them feel lonely and sad. Mr. Raymond is a huge outsider in town and almost everyone takes pity on him and say it’s not his fault he's a drunk. The whole town thinks he's evil because he has a mixed colored child, in Maycomb you can only be white and be accepted.

Read More
1244 Words | 5 Pages

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County during the late 1930s, where the characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will witness the prejudice that Maycomb produces during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin colour, and class, their whole lives. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and each contribute to how events play out in the small town of Maycomb. Consequently, socially disabling the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace. Boo Radley and his isolation from Maycomb County, the racial aspects of Tom Robinson, and the decision Atticus Finch makes as a lawyer, to defend a black man has all made them fall in the hands of Maycomb’s prejudice ways.

Read More
1169 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the small, imaginary town, the Maycomb County, as a place where racism and social inequality happens in the background of 1930s America. Not only the segregation between whites and blacks, but also the poor lived in a harsh state of living. As Scout, the young narrator, tells the story, Lee introduces and highlights the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb County by using various characters such as Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and Mayella Ewell. Firstly, Harper Lee portrays Boo Radley as a victim of social inequality through adjectives and metaphor in the phrase, “There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten;” ‘Long jagged scar that ran across his face’ tells us that Boo Radley has stereotype about his appearance, which forces to imagine Boo as a scary and threatening person. The phrase, ‘yellow and rotten’ make the readers think as if Boo Radley is poor and low in a social hierarchy, as he cannot afford to brush his teeth.

Read More
411 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
1395 Words | 6 Pages

In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee presents a large social atmosphere that includes many different cultures and extremes. The story takes place in the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. This novel illustrates how the southerners perceived different ideas about each other and social norms. It is told through the eyes of a young girl, Scout Finch, as she is growing up and becoming influenced by societal attitudes. Throughout the course of this book Scout learns many lessons including: how a society functions, why there is conflict between different cultures, and what makes cultures different from each other.

Read More

More about The Theme Of Isolation In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

Related Topics

Open Document