Mockingbird in Everyday Lives “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. ”(119) In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Atticus uses this quote to teach that it is wrong to harm innocent creatures.
Boo Radley is a very quiet man who got into trouble with the law at a young age and has stayed inside his house since. Around town, he is seen as a bad man who is very weird for staying inside his house, and rumors about him are everywhere. Scout and Jem hear about this and are very interested about this, so they go and mess around at his house. Even with all these people thinking he is a weird, crazy person, Boo Radley is still a great person. When there was a fire, the kids were outside when it was cold, and Boo Radley was nice enough to wrap a blanket around Scout.
10. Ms Maudy is a courageous character in the novel. She seems to get along well with everyone in town, especially the children. She is very respectful towards Jem and Scout. Second, Atticus keeps his mind open and is loyal to what is right.
Miss Maudie also teaches Scout that it is important to not let anyone bring her down. Another example of Miss Maudie standing up to others is when she is at the Missionary Circle meeting. Miss Merriweather, a neighbor, was talking bad about Atticus, and how he defended the black Tom Robinson. Miss Maudie contradicts Miss Merriweather and becomes angry. The chameleon lady stood up for Atticus and all of the others who believe in racial equality, including herself.
In the book To Kill A Mockingbird and Of Mice And Men, almost most of the characters lie about something. People lie even if they’re innocent because they want to protect themselves from being an outcast. Calpurnia lies about being able to read, Dolphus Raymond lies about being an alcoholic, and even worse, Mayella lies about Tom Robinson raping her. All of these false accusations lead to consequences and the only reason these people did this is because they’re too worried about their social standing in their community and they don’t want to be looked at any differently than anybody else.
Abusing the innocence of a person goes against virtuous morals. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the demonstration of the harsh reality of human behavior are revealed through the prejudicing of Tom Robinson and Arthur Radley throughout the novel, but the truth of their character later gets revealed with the guidance of Miss Maudie. Through the characterization of Miss Maudie, Lee reveals that an exemplary and sympathetic person can influence the way another individual thinks, which can lead to a positive impact on people who are prejudiced. The act of sympathizing with a person is the first step to understanding their true character.
She teaches her to live life to the fullest and the ways of Maycomb. There are many interactions between Scout and Miss Maudie and all of them are positive. Scout is guided by Miss Maudie’s manner and looks up to her. When she is first introduced, Miss Maudie is described as, “a widow, a chameleon lady who worked in her flower beds in an old straw hat and men’s coveralls, but after her five o 'clock bath she would appear on the porch and reign over the street in magisterial beauty,”(Lee 56). Scout loves that Maudie is able to get her hands dirty during the day and become ladylike at night, and nobody judges her for it.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem grow up and learn, over a couple years, that the world is not as forgiving as it once seemed. Men are condemned based on the color of their skin and children are attacked in means of revenge. Bob Ewell accuses Tom Robinson of raping his daughter, when Mayella Ewell was actually beaten by her father. Lies build up and stereotypes grow.
In Modern day society racism isn’t as common as it was in the 1900’s. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Mockingbird is a symbol for an a character who brings nothing but peace to the world. Atticus Finch is an harmless and innocent mockingbird, whose image is ruined by trying to step aside the racial barrier in and defend Tom Robinson. Atticus is a mockingbird in this book because of his exceptional behavior he provides to the community around him.
Have you ever thought what would happen if one person started to believe in something that’s others didn’t. Then what if everybody else started to follow along. That reminds me of this game called Fortnite. One person started playing it then everybody followed along.
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates the characters by pulling traits of people in her daily life. Atticus, Scout’s dad in the book, is a perfect example of one of these characters because he relates to Harper Lee’s father, Amasa Coleman(A.C.) Lee. In chapter 1 of the book, it says, “… yet the tradition of living in the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to read law… ”(page 4-5). This quotation connects to Harper Lee’s father because he was also a lawyer, according to Scott Stabler.
Miss Maudie is responsible for affecting the actions and development of other characters. Miss Maudie teaches Jem and Scout how to be courageous and be bold when needing to defend friends and family. She also helps put things going on in perspective and helps them put their father into perspective. After Miss Maudie’s house burns down, Scout asks her if she is sadden at the fact that her house just burned down. Miss Maudie’s response was, “Why, I hated that old cow barn.
Miss Maudie and Scout sit on her porch because Jem is off doing something else so they talk about life and look at the sky. “Our tacit treaty with Miss Maudie was that we could play on her lawn, eat her scuppernongs if we didn’t jump on the arbor, and explore her vast back lot…” (42). Miss Maudie lets Scout spend time with her so that she does not get sad that Jem and Dill went to play without her. A neighbour, Mrs. Dubose insulted the Finch Family all the time and yet Atticus is still kind to her because “she is sick and old”. Atticus tells Jem “Son, I have no doubt that you’ve been annoyed by your contemporaries about me lawing for niggers, as you say, but to do something like this to a sick old lady is inexcusable” (103-104).
What causes Miss Maudie to say that they have a least made a “baby step” in the right direction is the trial of Tom Robinson and the fact that Atticus was defending him. For a very long time, the African American community was being treated/defended poorly so the fact that someone like Atticus is defending Tom (even if he might lose) is a step forward from the years before. Chapter 23 After Bob Ewell makes threats at Atticus, he makes no reaction out of the situation and continues on with his day as if it had not happened. He knows that Bob still holds a grudge against humiliating the Ewell name in court, and this is how he expresses it. Atticus also does not react because he knows that this may save Mayella from another beating, which he will happily try and stop from occurring.
Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, the readers can see how Scout changes her view about Boo Radley. Because of their nosiness, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to drag Boo out his house and to the outside world. Their innocent actions combined with Boo’s actions changed the image of Boo, in their minds, from “a malevolent phantom” (10), a person who kills cats and eats squirrels to a neighbor they can trust, who saves them from Bob Ewell. Scout says at the end, “Boo was our neighbor” (373). The readers can see a great change in their relationship.
