To Kill A Mockingbird Quotes Analysis

Bear Srisongkham

Benshoff

LA

1 August 2023

To Kill A Mockingbird Themes and Messages The story To kill a Mockingbird discusses numerous themes and ideas throughout its story. The story follows Scout Finch and her experiences of growing up in maycomb and dealing with issues that involve her family, neighbors, and the overall culture of Maycomb, Alabama. And it’s through these experiences that the concepts of Racism, Sexism, and the judgment of others is explored. One of the most prominent ideas explored in the story of To Kill A Mockingbird is the idea of racism and its effects it can have on society and communities as a whole. There are numerous events in the story that I can pull from to explain how this idea is created in the story but

Two quotes that I feel really explain the impact of the situation is this quote on page 85 “This order, given by me to Cecil Jacobs was the beginning of a rather thin time for Jem and me. My fists were clenched and I was ready to let fly. Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting any more; I was far too old and too big for such childish things, and the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be. I soon forgot.” and this quote on page 87 “It’s different this time,’ he said. ‘This time we aren’t fighting the Yankees, we’re fighting our friends.”. These two quotes explain the situation well because it shows the effects racism can have on a community and how it can cause families and friends to become divided and the impact it can have on a person. In the first quote it shows the impact that a situation can have on a person. This is shown with Scout’s response to Cecil Jacob’s remark with Scout almost starting a fight, something Atticus said he would punish her for if he ever found out and Scout values Atticus and doesn't want to let him down, but with Cecil’s comment she

The concept of sexism is a more obscure and hidden idea in the story. This topic is developed and is typically caused by Aunt Alexandra with her making negative comments about Scout saying things similar to what she says in this quote on pages 92 and 93 “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea-sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year.” This quote shows how Aunt Alexandra tries to make Scout feel bad about herself and how she believes Scout should behave more “lady-like” as some would put it. Similar to the first subject, sexism was a big issue and led to the rize of the women’s civil rights act in the 60's, the time period of the book's publishing and while this movement was going there were women who opposed the ideas of the movement, similar to how Aunt alexandra criticizes and is against Scout