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To kill a mockingbird an the help essay on theme
To kill a mockingbird theme analysis essay
To kill a mockingbird theme analysis essay
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Tom Robinson was a black man who was being accused of raping a young girl named Mayella Ewell (Lee). Before Tom Robinson ever goes to trial, the legal system and
He puts his leadership efforts on display to make a change in his community by defending a black man in court, which was often frowned upon in the 1900s: “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to win” (Lee 87). With this in mind, defending an African-American man in court shows that he does not care much for the ‘normal’ in society. As a result, an angry mob attempts to lynch Tom at the jailhouse, but Atticus stays put, sticking to his beliefs about a fair trial. Atticus’s defense of Tom Robinson represents his leadership and perseverance; most people disagreed with him and even knew the verdict before it was announced, but Atticus kept fighting diligently. An angry mob attempts to lynch Tom, but Atticus stays put, sticking to his beliefs about a fair trial.
In both the article and the novel, power and control are major issues that shape the narrative. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the white majority thought they had control over the black people. The character of Atticus Finch represents a similar struggle for justice and fairness, just as the government attorney David Boies in the Microsoft case wanted to destroy Bill Gates credibility by presenting evidence of his wrongdoing. Atticus Finch, similarly, fights against the racist people to defend Tom Robinson, an innocent black man accused of rape. As Atticus says it, "The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience" (Lee, 1960, p. 105), Ultimately, both the novel and the article present a clash between those who seek to maintain their power and those who seek to promote justice and fairness.
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper E. Lee, the story of protagonist Scout and her older brother Jem unfolds in the small but talkative town of Maycomb, Alabama, where they are raised by their insightful, loving father Atticus. Over the span of a short three years with their sidekick Dill, they spend their childhood days tormenting and daydreaming about town legend Boo Radley, causing shenanigans all over town and not wasting a moment of their care-free, young lives. However, the friends’ summer fun ceases when Scout and Jem especially are faced with traumatic and influential experiences like the renowned Tom Robinson case that send them quickly down the path into young adulthood. The corruption and people of Maycomb send Jem blindly spiraling
In society today there are those that are pushed out of the crowd because of what they look like, how they act, and what others say to be true about them. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that unselfish, kind hearted people can experience prejudice from others. Always wanting to be the better person, Atticus Finch is like the mockingbird when taking the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson, who is a black man. Once Atticus gets the news that he will be defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape, he is very stressed until the end of the trial. Harper Lee shows this when she says, “It’s this Tom Robinson case that’s worrying him to death...”
Creative Title Many people believe integrity is one of the most important traits to have. Nowhere is this concept more prevalent than in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the town of Maycomb, racism and prejudice are so deeply ingrained in society, they impact every aspect of daily life, including the justice system and one’s right to a fair and equal trial.
“I do my best to love everyone” are the wise words from Atticus Finch, one of literature’s most beloved upstanders. In Harper Lee’s famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, set in the 1930s in a small town in Alabama, there was a lot of racism. Atticus Finch was a white lawyer who stepped up and defended a black in a time when a black man would not get a fair trial based on the color of his skin. In the segregated South, it was commonplace for blacks not to receive justice in the legal system, and this fact was not only accepted but encouraged in society. It was clear that a fair trial was only for those with fair skin.
Due to this, he is being falsely accused of raping a white woman and is automatically set to be found guilty due to the colour of his skin. “ ‘It couldn’t be worse, Jack. The only thing we’ve got is a black man’s word against the Ewells’. The evidence boils down to you-did-I-didn’t. The jury couldn’t possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word against the Ewells’...”
We all use persuasion in our daily lives, whether it be to convince our friends or for Atticus he has to persuade a jury and a room full racist people. He does this by using ethos and pathos. There is also persuasion in the book itself, convincing the reader that racism is wrong and we need to treat everyone equality no matter of their culture or race. Atticus uses ethos in his speech when he tries to relate to the jurors on a more personal level by declaring he believes in god. "
Through the trial she shows how the caste system impacts the outcome of trial. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee argues that a caste system corrupts the justice system because a caste system generates a blurred image of the truth that creates inequality. This caste system can be seen during Tom Robinson’s trial. Tom Robinson trial is about Tom a black man allegedly rapeing a white girl named Mayella Ewell.
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
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.
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.
This behaviour is deemed as natural, and few people question the roles put in place, this is truly terrifying so we are lead to wonder if what we accept as normal is perhaps corrupt instead. Race is the dominant cause of inequality in To Kill A Mockingbird, thus Maycomb’s views on race heavily influence every aspect of life. Although racial inequality is clearly illustrated in the in the injustice, prejudice, discrimination and antagonism surrounding the Tom Robinson trial, it is also shown more subtly throughout the novel. In Chapter 25 Atticus Finch is quoted disclosing that the corrupt justice system is a direct cause of a racist society. “In our courts, when it 's a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (Lee, 295).
The theme of marginalization in society and how it has impacted on people’s lives is a significant theme for all. Marginalization is where a certain group of people are treated differently than others due to their race, gender or beliefs. The marginalized are not usually considered “main stream”, which means to have the power in society, and thus have no say in how you are treated. We see this theme in four texts, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, To Kill a Mockingbird directed by Robert Mulligan (1962), The Test by Angelica Gibbs and The Worn Path by Eudora Welty. Each of my selected texts has a character who is marginalized (Crooks & Tom Robinson & Marian & Phoenix Jackson) and is considered not part of the mainstream of society, consequently
