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To Kill A Mockingbird Adversity Analysis

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“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny” -C.S. Lewis Harper Lee’s “To kill a mockingbird” is an excellent piece of fiction written about the 1960’s, more specifically, the racism and bigotry towards others. The book calls to attention many themes and topics that brought forward many topics that were tossed under the rug. One of the most interesting of the topics however, is how Jem and Scout react to adversity and how it shapes them. Adversity shapes us by preparing ourselves for the world, changing who we are and most importantly, changes our view of the world and those around us. Scout and jem are raised by Atticus to think that everyone is equal which was an uncommon belief for that time. Scout learns in …show more content…

Following the verdict, we see jem change from thinking that everything was fine in Maycomb and being happy to crying and yelling about the hypocrisy of Maycomb “Jem, how can you hate hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home”. Jem, immediately following the verdict, challenged the court system as a whole, saying that they make unjust decisions “No sir, they oughta do away with juries. He wasn’t guilty in the first place and they said he was”. Jem, from this experience truly understand the need of respecting and treating everyone equally. Scout on the other hand, didn’t display any emotions on the outside, She also learns about treating everyone equally. Scout’s most prominent change is her acceptance of others, when Atticus tells Scout that Boo was the one who killed Bob Ewell and not to tell anyone, she said “well, it’d sorta be like shootin’ a mockingbird wouldn’t it?” meaning that she wouldn’t want to put Boo in the spotlight when that exactly what he’s trying to avoid. Scout says one specific sentence that, on its own means nothing but in this context carries a huge weight to it. Scout, after walking Boo home, says “I turned to go home, street lights winked all the way to town. I had never seen the neighbourhood from this angle.” This ties into the theme of never truly understanding someone until you walk in their shoes, earlier

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The big lesson that Atticus teaches her is that you need to always think of something from the others point of view. When he was describing this he said to scout ¨You can't really know a person until you climb into their skin and walk around in it.¨ This quote represents a metaphor that means before you just go right to conclusion saying that you are right. You have to think about it in their point of view and in the end you could both be right. This shows that Scout is coming of age because learning this when you are young and using this concept is amazing for kids her age.

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1505 Words | 7 Pages

The Impact of a Lack of Adversity A lack of adversity can be problem larger than one could ever expect. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the detrimental effect of this lack of calamity is evident through the diminishing of Dill Harris, Alexandra Hancock, and Maudie Atkinson’s characters, especially regarding their value to the plot of the novel. These 3 characters had the potential to be great, strong leads, but, because of their lack of influential adversity, they are pushed to the margins of the novel’s plot and forgotten. When people are faced with a lack of impactful adversity, it causes their identities to become bleak and marginalized, even if their inner opinions and beliefs are powerful and cognate, because experiencing adversity

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531 Words | 3 Pages

Scout learns to not judge people by the things they do. Scout most clearly learns this when she realizes how Boo Radley secretly helps her. For example, when Miss. Maudie’s house catches on fire, Boo came up behind her and put a blanket around her when she was outside, cold. Also, at the end Boo saved Scout from being hurt by Bob Ewell.

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129 Words | 1 Pages

Throughout the Book To Kill A Mockingbird the author, Harper Lee explores the topic of Adversity through the eyes of many different characters which later helps shape their identity. Adversity is a thing that one encounters at least once in their life, despite it causing them hardships while completing a task they are able to gain knowledge through the experience. By using the perspectives of different characters, especially through the protagonist Scout. Lee explores how individuals overcome hardships in their life such as being judged by others based on societal perspective, as well as how guardians influence children's perspectives on the world, and lastly gender discrimination.

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1064 Words | 5 Pages

They will learn from these difficult experiences and use this knowledge to better themselves. It’s time to begin to appreciate the challenges, for they will promote growth in the long run. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the protagonist, Scout Finch, initially is exposed to adversity at an exceedingly young age. In her mind, she is living in an intricate world, until she stumbles upon grievous scenarios.

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1058 Words | 5 Pages

The trial of Tom Robinson and the racial injustices in Maycomb deeply impacted Scout and Jem, shaping their views on morality and justice. The unfair conviction of Tom Robinson shocks Jem, who cries, “It ain't right, Atticus” (Lee #). Jem’s emotional reaction signifies his loss of innocence and discouragement with the justice system. This moment is important in shaping his understanding of the harsh realities of racism and injustice. Scouts are also affected by the trial, although in different ways.

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1473 Words | 6 Pages

There’s a quote from the book, when Scout’s dad, Atticus Finch, says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (page 30) This quote highlights the significance of empathy and understanding and how important it is to see

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589 Words | 3 Pages

Adversity is looked upon as something everyone wants to avoid, but without hardship there is no hope of learning, growth or discovery. In the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Harper Lee demonstrates the way adversity can shape our individuality through the many experiences and challenges each character faces. Through adversity, we can only become stronger and better ourselves. It creates courage inside all of us, determines our personal values and through every experience we are taught self discipline. Harper Lee demonstrates the effects adversity has on our personal values through Atticus and his personal beliefs of courage, justice and truth.

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794 Words | 4 Pages

One may say adversity is a misfortune, tragedy or disaster. But adversity is no more than just a hard time or rough patch, it is something that someone experiences and deals with throughout their everyday lives not realizing it. Without adversity, a person would not be who they are today. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee and explains how the effects and consequences of racism and how adversity affects the ways of life in the early nineteen thirties in the southern states. Atticus Finch is a character that is an example of adversity and how it shaped him as a person.

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1449 Words | 6 Pages

Greta Thunberg once said, “Being young is a great advantage since we see the world from a new perspective and we are not afraid to make radical changes.” The open-mindedness of young individuals helps them to see the world and accept new ideas and social changes when an adult may not due to their previous experiences and biases. Unfortunately, younger people do not have as much knowledge or experience in the world, so they may not understand the importance or significance of some events. Throughout the events of the Historical Fiction novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the narrator Scout is a young, white girl living in Alabama with her family during the Great Depression and Jim Crow era. Harper Lee paints the picture of a typical southern town during this time, full of racial tension that was heightened due to the Great Depression and rigid social norms.

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960 Words | 4 Pages

He can’t help himself, that’s why he lives the way he does” (Lee 213). This shows Scout and Jem’s loss of innocence as part of growing up because they learn about one of the horrible issues that is happening in the United States, how Maycomb is being racist and having prejudice against black people. Jem especially doesn’t take this well since he believed that Maycomb had citizens who behaved like this and gets disturbed and traumatized from this

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465 Words | 2 Pages

First, Scout has changed most in the novel from her innocence. For example, Scout claims, “I asked Atticus why, and he said it was because the national Recovery Act was dead. I asked who killed it, he said nine old men” (pg 251). Thus, this shows how Scout began to mature by the way she talks to Atticus.

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210 Words | 1 Pages

Here’s what I think: College should be free for everyone. More people would be able to attend college if it was free. Here is why. Not all people come from circumstances to pay for a good education such as college resulting in people’s situations to not change. This destroys the American dream of anyone being what they want to be.

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1016 Words | 5 Pages

Scout and Jem both learn most of their knowledge from, their father Atticus, their maid Calpurnia, and their neighbors. The people that are present in their lives shape Jem and Scout into the people they are becoming. Education from school helps Jem and Scout advance, but the information they learn from life allows them to mature. Scout learns a major lesson about empathy towards others when she invites Walter Cunningham, a boy she goes to school with, over to her house. Scout does not realize that she is disrespectful to him when she makes mean comments.

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The relationship between Hamlet and his father is one of the main foundations for the play. It is the one of the biggest driving forces behind Hamlet’s actions and decisions, and thus brings up the theme of parental expectations. The vision of King Hamlet’s ghost shows up very early on in the story and kind of paves the way for the rest of the plot. By telling Hamlet to revenge his death, King Hamlet ends up undeniably changing his son’s fate, and perhaps even led him to his ultimate demise. Hamlet’s dedication to his father is one that he follows through with until the very end, even though it results in his death.

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