ipl-logo

Theme Of Understanding In To Kill A Mockingbird

746 Words3 Pages

Understanding in To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a timeless American Classic. The Novel takes place in Alabama during the 1930’s, and follows the adventures of Scout Finch as she grows up in a society torn by social evils like racism. There are many themes in To Kill A Mockingbird: friendship, compassion, and fairness. Harper Lee illustrates understanding in To Kill A Mockingbird through Jems realization about Mrs. Dubose, the children's change in perspective about Atticus, and the with the children's discovery of the truth about Arthur “Boo” Radley. The theme of understanding can be witnessed by looking at Jems realization about the seemingly wicked Mrs. Dubose. During this time in the novel, Lee creates a misunderstood and angry character that seems to only exists to make Jem and Scout’s life miserable. It is not until after she dies does their father, Atticus, tell Jem the truth about Mrs. Dubose. Unaware that Scout is listening to his conversation, …show more content…

Stories about his monster like appearance grabs hold of the young children's’ attention and they proceed to devise devious schemes to lure “Boo” Radley outside his home. At the beginning of the novel, Harper Lee gives “Boo” Radleys description through the eyes of Scout, “Boo was six feet tall, judging from his tracks: he dined on squirrels…” (13). This illustrates the misunderstanding Scout had about Arthur at the beginning of the novel. However by the end of To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem’s perception of Arthur changes. As quoted by Lee, “He almost whispered it, in the voice of a child that is afraid of the dark” (278). At this point in the novel, Arthur saved the children from an attack orchestrated by Bob Ewell. It is at this moment that Scout understands that “Boo” Radley is not a monster, but a normal human being that has been a victim of social isolation and

Show More
Related
635 Words | 3 Pages

Benjamin Banneker, son of former slaves, wrote to Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, in attempt to argue against slavery to achieve a solution. Jefferson and Washington were the secretary of state, and the President of the United States at the time, so in order to convince them Banneker has to be very persuasive so that they can even consider his proposition. Banneker uses three main tactics to try and persuade Jefferson and Washington, these tactics are: Comparing Jefferson’s and Washington’s experiences to his own and trying to find a common link for them to understand and identify themselves with, appealing to common sense, and he leaves room open to interpretation and lets Washington and Jefferson the ability to decide what to do about the problem. Banneker uses comparisons to find a common link with his audience, this tactic can be effective if used properly with relevant examples. What Banneker does is that he uses specific examples to compare, one of the examples he uses, is the American Revolution; He compares slavery to the lack of freedom that the U.S had when they were a British colony.

Read More
1621 Words | 7 Pages

By this revelation, all of Scout’s speculations regarding Mr. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley have come to an

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee uses Scout and Arthur Radley to show that “ To understand someone’s perspective, you need to know their point of view”, this reveals that to know someone’s way of doing and thinking you need to view things in their point of view. The author uses characterization to show the perspective of the kids towards Arthur Radley “Boo Radley...dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could find..what teeth he had were yellow and rotten…(16). This is how ARthur was introduced in the beginning of the book. This shows that Scout and Jem have these thoughts of Arthur as a mean guy, but have no actually seen him in person.

Read More
224 Words | 1 Pages

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.

Read More
674 Words | 3 Pages

Scout's growing understanding and acceptance of the people in her community, flaws and all, is one of the most significant ways she demonstrates tolerance. Scout, for example, is terrified of Arthur "Boo" Radley at first and believes the rumors that he is a "monster”. However, as she learns more about him and his situation, she starts to see him as a human being and develops empathy for him. This is demonstrated when Scout says "I was too old and too big for such childish things, but I knew that Jem's ideas about Arthur Radley were, to him, as real as the things he could see" (Chapter 6). This shows that Scout is growing in her understanding of people and her ability to empathize with them.

Read More
1258 Words | 6 Pages

When readers are first introduced to Boo Radley, Jem describes him by saying; “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, [...] There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 11). Although Boo Radley is considered strange to the kids, he ended up truly caring about Scout and Jem. Later in the novel, when Scout reminisces about what she and her brother found in the oak tree from Boo Radley, she says, “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between.

Read More
919 Words | 4 Pages

With Atticus’s unexpected acts of braveness, Boo Radley’s surprising changes in character, and Mrs. Dubose’s true intentions for her actions, Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird shows that things are not always as they seem as the theme

Read More
586 Words | 3 Pages

Rumors swept through the town, ruining a man’s reputation and giving him no reason to step outside of his own home. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Arthur “Boo” Radley is the most complex of Maycomb’s residents. Many say Boo is a killer that should not be trusted near children. However, Scout thinks otherwise as she tries to understand Boo herself. She learns more than she figured, as Boo teaches her numerous lessons without even meeting her.

Read More
1640 Words | 7 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Arthur aka Boo Radley is a mockingbird because he is a kind recluded person getting harassed by everyone because he’s different but he’s really just a nice person, shy and even protected Jem and Scout from their attacker showing his courage. To begin with, Boo is nice because he gave many things to Scout and Jem through the knothole till his brother Nathan clogged it up with cement because it was “dying” as Scout and Jem thought but really isn’t much proof. “We were walking past our tree. In its knot-hole rested a ball of gray twine”(59) after a bit of talking Jem convinced Scout not to take it yet and leave it waiting to see if someone like Walter Cunningham would take it back. “We went back home.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

Since Mr. Radley never came out of the house, frightening rumors spread about him and the children all knew them. They even played games where they reenacted the story that was spread around about him, not realizing how disgraceful it was to the Radleys. Towards the end the book, Scout finally get to meet Boo Radley after Bob Ewell attempted to kill her and Jem. Scout took Mr. Radley home and on the way back she thought, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.

Read More
1877 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More
591 Words | 3 Pages

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird is compiled of thirty captivating chapters. There are many events that occur throughout these thirty chapters, and many relationships between the characters change. One such relationship is the one between Arthur, or Boo, Radley and Jem and Scout Finch. Although Boo only came out of his house once in the novel, his relationship with the Finch children was seemingly the most dynamic one in this novel. Ten-year-old Jem and six-year-old Scout naturally believed almost everything they heard, which is why they believed the horror stories about Boo and the rest of the Radley family that they heard from Miss Stephanie Crawford, the town gossip.

Read More
915 Words | 4 Pages

Boo Radley taught them, in the sense, that you can’t Judge a book by its cover. At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout pictured Boo to be this “...malevolent Phantom (Lee 10).” that went out at night and looked through people’s windows. But after leaving them gifts in the tree and putting a blanket on Scout while she was standing out in the cold, Jem’s and Scout’s Perception of him began to evolve from a monster to a person.

Read More
714 Words | 3 Pages

Through To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us the righteousness of empathy. Harper Lee 's technique of writing and coinciding Christian beliefs weaved through emphasizes the importance of the story 's moral and themes. It is through Scout, the young dynamic and protagonist, that Lee opens the reader 's eyes to a realistic world of prejudice and inequality during the 1930s. Though introducing many characters throughout the novel, it is through Lee 's wise father character, Atticus Finch, that she further helps teach her readers life lessons, one being empathy. While narrating in first person, Lee further details her novel with the setting and use of style and diction.

Read More
531 Words | 3 Pages

At the start of the book, Jem, Dill, and she played ‘Boo Radley’ which was a game to torment Boo into coming out of his house and to test each other’s bravery. Scout slowly begins to realize that Boo is a human being just like her. By the end of the book she calls him by his real name, Arthur, instead of the nickname the townspeople give him. When she finally gets the chance to see Mr. Arthur in person after the attack, she acts mature and non-childlike. She respects that he likes the dark so she takes him to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate.

Read More

More about Theme Of Understanding In To Kill A Mockingbird

Related Topics

Open Document