To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Analysis

In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the lives of Scout Finch, her brother Jem, and her father Atticus, and the neighborhood of Maycomb County, are truly revealed during the Great Depression in Alabama. They experience an unjustly and controversial trial when Atticus, the novel’s protagonist, has to defend Tom Robinson against the ignorant antagonist Bob Ewell as one of the story’s main conflict. Throughout this time period, America was in a critical economic struggle. In relation to the book, the Cunningham’s had numerous difficulties finding ways to recover, as it says, “The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them the hardest (Lee 25).” On page 23, Walter Cunningham wasn’t able to have any lunch for school because

Later on, one day Atticus was talking to Jem saying he’d rather he shoot at blue jays than mockingbirds, because it was a sin to kill mockingbirds. Then Jem went ahead and asked Miss Maudie about it and she proceeded to say “Your father’s right, mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird (Lee 90).” Then in Chapter 31, after Jem and Scout were attacked by Mr. Ewell, Mr. Tate said to Atticus, “To my way of thinkin’…taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight—to me, that’s a sin (Lee 279).” Atticus didn’t say anything for a while but then asked Scout if she understood that Mr. Ewell fell on his knife, Scout replied by saying “Yes” and that “Mr. Tate was right…It’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” After Atticus heard that, he wrapped up Scout in his arms. This was by far was my favorite passage; it was well constructed and easy to understand. I chose this passage because it seemed to reveal the whole point of why this book was called To Kill a Mockingbird. I was wondering if Jem or Scout were going to kill a mockingbird or what the

One of the author’s major arguments include racism. On page 207, Lee presented her dispute about racism and tied it in with false accusations when Atticus is at his closing argument to save Tom Robinson from being accused of rape in the trial. He started by saying how all of the witnesses told the jury their perspective, “confident that their testimony would not be doubted” and they “would go along with them on the assumption.” He paused for a quick second and then proceeded to say, “...the evil assumption--that all Negroes lie, that all /negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women...” Lee uses this text to show that the jury is going to convict Robinson of rape, because he is a Negro, regardless of guilt or innocence. Another problem Lee brings up is sexism; after the jury convicts Tom of being guilty, Jem thinks that it isn’t right that Tom received the death sentence. Then he goes on wondering why there is only men serving the jury and “why don’t people like us and Miss Maudie ever sit on juries?” Atticus explained that “for one thing, Miss Maudie can’t serve on a jury because she’s woman (Lee