Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird and Eugenia Coolliers short story “Marigolds” evoke the most empathy by showing the growth of morals like empathy and compassion in the characters. The dynamic characters are used to emphasize how a person can change while symbolism is used to show a deeper meaning in an object both are used by the authors to evoke empathy. To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel published in 1960 about innocence, compassion and hatred. A story about children living in a racist time period trying to get through living there childhood without being influenced by the bad customs. “Marigolds” by Eugenia Cooliers is a short story also written in the 1960’s about a learning compassion and turning into a woman.
The theme of this novel is "Not everything is the way you predict it is". I believe this thematic statement suits the story because throughout the book there are lots of surprises, and most situations don't go the way people predict they will. For example, Aunt Alexandra was first seen as mean, according to her attitude towards Scout. At the end of the book Aunt Alexandra hands Scout her overalls, as mentioned in the story, "the garments she most despised." Because she always wanted Scout to be a lady and wear dresses.
In the short story, “Marigolds,” the author, Eugenia Collier, acknowledges the universal theme that people can create beauty in even the most dreariest of places. The story takes place in Maryland during the Great Depression. Lizabeth, the main character, is an adult looking back to the time when she had transitioned from childhood to womanhood. Miss Lottie, an old woman who lived in a shabby, broken down house, planted marigolds. As a child, Lizabeth had thought Miss Lottie to be a witch and despised the marigolds because it did not match the poverty and sadness that surrounded her.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scouts changing perspective of Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley represents a coming of age moment because it demonstrates a breaking away from the childlike imagination that had previously explained all of their questions and superstitions about the Radley’s. A coming-of-age moment is the transition of thinking that occurs when someone learns empathy. At the start of the novel, in many situations, Scout and Jem demonstrate childish behavior and thinking when Jem is taunted into touching the side of the Radley home by Scout and Dill. The book reads, “Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with his palm and ran back past us” (18). From this portion of the novel we can tell that Jem and Scout clearly regarded the Radley home and its occupants with novelty and even fear.
Maturing is something everyone goes through in life whether you go through it early or a little later in life. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows a lot about maturing. Growing up in a small town in Maycomb, Alabama where life was a lot more different from today, you mature much different and in different ways. Jem is one person who matures through the whole story and makes realizations about people around him, including his dad, Tom Robinson, and Mrs. Dubose. Jem goes into the story thinking his dad is just some old man but as he gets older, he realizes there is more to his dad.
“In the corner of the room was a brass bed, and in the bed was Mrs. Dubose. I wondered if Jems activities had put her there and for a moment I felt sorry for her.” The reason why Jem and Scout were at Mrs. Dubose’s house, was because Jem and Scout were walking by her house when Dubose started yelling at the kids saying that Atticus is not any better than the “niggers and trash he works for.” Jem lost his temper and takes Scouts baton he bought for her and snaps it in half. Jem destroys all of
This is when he went out of control and lost all of the maturity he had. He could no longer take Mrs.Dubose’s insulting comments. This was a terrible decision yet others would have been tempted to do the same thing. As a punishment, Jem is forced to read to
As verbalized by the diarist Anne Frank herself, “‘Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands’” (Goodreads 1). Coming of age is a process depicted through movies and novels through the Bildungsroman plot line. The protagonist, in this form of a plot line, has to face society and its difficulties. The protagonist inclines to have an emotional loss, which triggers the commencement of the journey itself.
Love in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, is demonstrated through esteem and fairness which is connected by family and friends. The author, Harper Lee, indicates this love through Atticus, who reveals his love by they way he treats Mr. Cunningham and Tom Robinson. As well as, the unbreakable bond between Dill, Scout, and Jem is a lifelong friendship, and Atticus's fatherly love towards Scout and Jem. Throughout the novel love is shown in numerous ways. One example of the way Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is considered a love story is through the way Atticus treats Mr. Cunningham and Tom Robinson.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a book mainly about the coexistence of good and evil. The book stresses and emphasizes on the exploration of moral nature in humans. There are many themes in this novel including courage, innocence, racism, femininity, etc. However the most prevalent theme in the book is innocence. Not just innocence in itself but the danger and harm evil poses to the innocent.
Calpurnia is seen both by Atticus and the reader as more than just a housekeeper and a cook; she is a part of the family and fills in the role of a mother to Jem and Scout by helping raise them alongside Atticus. Atticus deeply cherishes Calpurnia’s efforts of taking care of the children. With her doting attitude, yet, strict disciplinary, Calpurnia treats both Scout and Jem as she would her own children. Furthermore, this following quote proves that fatherhood is indeed an arduous and burdensome role as Atticus says these following words. Without Calpurnia by his side, Atticus would have found fatherhood even more of a demanding role without a wife by his side to help support and take care of the family, as well as raise his children to grow
Innocence is a word used to describe someone 's purity. Children are prime examples of innocence, as they don’t have judgments and don’t understand mature topics. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the reader can interpret innocence as the growing up of the children. Specifically, Jem Finch showed a loss of innocence as he grew up. He showed his loss of innocence by not playing games, his more mature use of words and body language, and his different view of the world around him.
“To Kill a Mockingbird “is a coming of age novel. Discuss this statement, with reference to at least two characters. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” there is evidence of a coming of age story or lesson. Scout learns not to judge people and try and understand where they are coming from and to view a situation from their point of view.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose has a bush of camellias in her yard. These flowers represent racism and prejudice towards black people in Macomb County. She refers to her flowers as “Snow-on-the-Mountain” that have white petals. The white petals show favoritism towards the white people in Maycomb County. In Chapter 11, Jem cuts down all the flowers with Scout’s baton.
The Mockingbird Spirit of Innocence How do you define innocence? Is there someone out in the world who is purely innocent? To understand innocence you should look at what a mockingbird does, because all they do is sing. In Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus and Miss Maudie teach Scout and Jem that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.
