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Theme Of Appearances In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, two children grow up facing issues of race, poverty, and identity in Mississippi during the 1930s. Their family bonds even as a trial for life continues to create discourse through the town’s normal dynamic. Throughout the novel, there are many opportunities where readers can learn life lessons alongside the characters which in turn allows for lessons then to be expanded on in their own lives after reading. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee uses her characters’ false pretenses to prove that appearances can be inaccurate. When withdrawn from society, false rumors spread which hide a person’s true self. The two main children in the story experience this with one of their neighbors, Mr. Arthur “Boo” Radley. …show more content…

Lee uses a somewhat background character to show this in her work. Mrs. Dubose, an elderly neighbor nearing the end of her life, “ was a morphine addict,” but always intended “ to break herself [free of it] before she died” (178). Often times Jem would receive her cold remarks while passing by her house, thinking her primitive and rude, never understanding her hidden constant battle. Upon her death however, he learned that behind all of her snarkiness she was a person with integrity who did not want to be tied down by a worldly substance, and began to see Mrs. Dubose as a person to be respected. Readers in today’s world know how widespread addiction is, and can now see the advantages to looking closer in order to find the true qualities that define the individual. Addictions are hard to overcome, but stripping away the inaccurate pretenses can aide in humanizing people once …show more content…

Lee uses Tom Robinson as her example of a criminal. After being brought into the court for a crime Tom did not commit, Link Deas jeopardizes his own standing to explicitly state he “ain’t had a speck of trouble out of [Tom],” in all the time he has employed Tom, “not a speck,” (261). Besides “trying to help” Mayella Ewell with her daily chores, Tom is religiously active at “Calpurnia’s church” (100) and has three small children at home, all of which support his innocent life style. Though there is not much information about Tom Robinson’s life provided by Lee save for during the trial, readers were certain of his true character when he felt “right sorry for [Mayella]” while watching her live the lifestyle of a poor white woman with no moral guidance. While it is understandable to believe in the pretense created by incorrect information, Lee tries to teach her readers to recognize how information can be warped when dealing with crimes that are circumstantial. Though we may hate the ones who provide false evidence towards incorrect ideas, the goal is to not make the same mistake the gossipers do by bearing false witness. Perhaps the town would not be able to look past Tom’s pretense of criminalistic behavior if there were none in the town who could model, but Lee has a few, including Atticus, that do. To Kill A Mockingbird is still read in today’s society to remind readers

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Every person on this planet has the ability to make choices. People have been created with minds to convince, control, and problem solve. Similarly, other people’s influence has great power to change, persuade, and spread rumors. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, portrays many examples of people who were persuaded and changed from his or her own mind and decisions, or the effect of someone else’s. Injustice is rampant throughout the book, in Tom Robinson’s verdict, Boo Radley’s precarious situation, and with Scout’s situation at school.

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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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Lee uses Miss Gates’s ironic views of Hitler and Tom’s trial to show how racial prejudice causes crimes against African Americans to be considered less than crimes committed against white people. A mockingbird is then used to symbolize Tom Robinson as an innocent person wrongly convicted of a crime because of his skin color. The misunderstood characterization of Arthur Radley shows how society will let prejudice guide their imaginated view on the lives of people they don't understand. All three characters provide examples of how a preconceived opinion of one person or a whole race can cause drastic misunderstandings and

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Perception defines the world around you. It affects every aspect of your being: your thoughts, actions, beliefs, etc… In the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch begins to understand just how impactful perception can be as she witnesses the deterioration of the dignity of Tom Robinson, a black man who is being tried for the rape of a white girl. In this intriguing read, Harper Lee demonstrates the theme of inaccurate allegations very effectively. More specifically, when inaccurate allegations that are solely based on perceptions are presented, the consequences can be significant, for others may suffer at great lengths.

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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.

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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.

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Finally, as the book comes to conclusion Tom Robinson, a black man, is pleaded quilty with the charge of raping a white women. Throughout the novel, it was proven all he was trying to do and aiming for was to help a young girl. People in society gain the evil assumption that all black men and women aren 't equal to those of a different race. A part in the novel that proves how intolerable the society is; on page 242, "A white man 's word, against a black man 's word, the white man always wins" (Lee). This quote shows how the main reason Tom was guilty was due to the color of his skin.

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Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.

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Essay 1 Date Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird “To kill a Mockingbird” is a novel in which Harper Lee, the author, presents forth various themes among them the unheard theme of social molarity. Harper dramatically uses a distinctive language through Scout, who is the narrator of the story to bring out the difficulties faced by children living in the southern Alabama town of Maycomb. Harper has dramatically displayed use of bildungsroman throughout the story; this helped to give the story a unique touch of a child’s view to bring out a different type of humor and wit. It has also used to develop and thrive the theme of morality in the society.

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Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com.proxy151.nclive.org/apps/doc/H1420096909/LitRC?u=ncliverockcc&sid=LitRC&xid=706af6fe. Accessed 11 Feb. 2018. Originally published in The Languages of Addiction, edited by Jane Lilienfeld and Jeffrey Oxford, St. Martin's Press, 1999, pp. 175-192. Tackach, James.

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In Maycomb, people fear what they do not know and what is unusual to them, hence shaping the rumours of Boo Radley to cope with the unknown. Considering he is unseen from the public eye, and has a messy past, many begin to fantasize what is happening with him currently by constructing stories. Anyone who claims that they know information on Boo, have no proof or firsthand experience to support it as the truth. Scout knows that Jem’s information source on Boo Radley is from another individual and their fantasies, “So Jem received most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighbourhood scold, who said she knew the whole thing.”

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The novel To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the segregated South of the 1930’s. The book is told in the eyes of an eight year old girl, Scout Finch. Her father, Atticus Finch, is an attorney who is struggling to prove the innocence of a black man incorrectly accused of rape. The historical context of the book lets one see the social status of different groups during the civil rights era. The story explores who fits into certain societies, who is respected in the community, written and unwritten rules concerning family, gender, age, and race, expectations of certain people, and what conflicts arise out of tension.

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When discovered she covers her guilt and shame by accusing him of rape. In this era and in this community, Mayella’s accusation is seen as reasonable and unfortunately believable, which leaves Tom beaten before he enters the trial. However, Atticus expresses a powerful message in his closing argument to create a move for change in his society. The argument is expressed subliminally, by communicating that in the 1930’s society disregarded that all were equal, and categorised men and women based on the colour of their skin.

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