On July 11, 1960 Harper Lee published her first novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To date over 40 million copies of this chart topper have been sold to the public. The story is told from a child’s point of view and how she survives the challenges of racism and growing up. To Kill a Mockingbird also illustrates that challenging the opinions of others can aid in one’s moral improvement; Jem Finch experiences the most developmental progress through expanding his moral ideas and beliefs. Coming from a strong moral figure like Atticus, Jem is expected to become a respectable young adult.
To Kill a Mockingbird is about Atticus Finch, an attorney who fearlessly defends a black man accused of raping a white woman. Through the novel, we are introduced to a character named Jeremy Finch, oftenly called Jem. He is a brave, responsible, and protective, young man. Jem touches Boo Radley’s house in the first few chapters. Boo Radley is a mysterious man, he’s never stepped foot out of his house.
To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee in 1962 during the Civil Rights movement, but was set in Alabama in the 1930s. Lee’ father, who was a lawyer in the South during a time of racial prejudice paralleling Atticus, defended an innocent Black men in a case he later lost. Similar to Atticus, Lee’s father lost the case because his client was Black. Having experienced this racial prejudice first hand, Lee chose to write this novel to highlight the racial injustice that took place during the 1930s and the many effects that occured from the racism. Lee uses ethos and logos in Atticus’s speech to the jury, to inform the reader of the injustices of racism.
Father, lawyer, and friend, the gentlemanly Atticus Finch hopes to shape the character of his children. The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is the story of the childhood of a young girl named Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Throughout the book, Scout’s father, Atticus, tries his best to raise her and her brother, Jem, the right way as a single parent. To Kill a Mockingbird exemplifies the way the character of Atticus Finch either uses ritual or abandons it in order to develop certain character qualities within his children. He specifically focuses on the development of honesty, courage, and humility.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (Harper Lee). Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful book that is enjoyed by many people. The book was published in 1960 but is set in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Lee shows many different ways of what was wrong with society during that time.
The book follows her perspective throughout her next few years and the people she encounters during this time. One of these characters that Scout meets is Boo Radley. Boo is an interesting local who throughout the book is seen to fit the theme very well, by showing new sides of him that would not be expected because of his appearance. Another character that is meet along the way is Tom
Ellen DeGeneres once stated, “here are the values that I stand for: honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating others the way they want to be treated and helping those in need” (brainyquotes.com 7). This quote elucidates how one should treat others equally no matter who they are. In To Kill a Mockingbird, honesty is symbolized by Harper Lee’s novel by using flashbacks, the characterization of Atticus Finch, and foreshadowing the future, which all prove the innocents of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. The Narrator, named Scout, and her older brother, Jem, both live in a home with their old fashioned father Atticus Finch. Mr. Finch, a respectable lawyer, took on a case of a black man, Tom Robinson.
Scout Finch is the main character. The entirety of the book is from her perspective and because of this we get lots of her inner thoughts and feelings; we understand her as
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is a story about inequality, injustice and racism seen through the eyes of two innocent children, Jem and Scout. Jem and Scout live in Maycomb, Alabama and learn these sad lessons through their relationships with their father Atticus, their maid Calpurnia, their mysterious neighbor Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of a terrible crime. Through their relationship with Boo and Tom, Jem and Scout learn about racism and inequality that changes how they see the world. Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are two different people who share similar struggles with inequality throughout this story. Boo and Tom experience a form of racism and discrimination.
Scout, the novels main character, is a smart and inquisitive girl, she often speaks bluntly, and is shamelessly child-like and tomboy-ish. Spanning the time of about three years, the novel watched the Finch girl change and mature, making the book much like a bildungsroman. As the book progresses, Scout finds herself confused and questioning why the world is such a wicked place; her main experience being the injustice of Maycomb court’s final ruling of the Tom Robinson trial. Mr. Robinson, a chivalrous, black man, and accused of raping a young, white lady, was given a death sentence, riding only on the word of the young lady and her white, drunkard father, Bob Ewell. No clear evidence was given.
Scout around this age is influenced easily by her older brother, as she has really no one else to turn to since her mother died when she was young, and their father had them at an old age. Their neighbors, the Radleys, are mysterious to Scout and her brother as there were multiple story’s of the Radleys, especially Boo Radley, or Arthur Radley. “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands are blood stained—if you ate an animal
Scout and Jem’s father, “Atticus Finch”(4) teaches them about the rights and the wrongs of living during The Great Depression. Lee plants different details in their adventures and learning experiences
Jem gets knocked out cold and Scout is unable to see anything. But Boo Radley, a mystery man that Jem and
After Jem was scolded for pointing his gun at Miss Maudie’s rear while bending over to tend to her flowers, Jem, Scout and their friend Dill’s love of mystery and adventure stories took over their natural curiosity and they became fascinated with myths and rumors about the neighborhood legend named, Boo Radley. Their imagination sparked visions of Boo as a tall, ugly monster who eats cats and roams the neighborhood at night. The children make plans to get Boo to come out of his house and the brave one, Jem, accepts a dare from Dill to touch Boo’s house. As time goes on Boo befriends the children in his own way by leaving presents in the knothole of an oak tree for them, and untangles Jem’s pants he got caught in the fence while running from the Radley’s house and
To Kill a Mockingbird is a story that takes place during the Great Depression in a small town located in southern Georgia in the 1930s. The book focuses on Jean Louise “Scout” and Jeremy Atticus “Jem” and their coming of age and the major events that made the two grow up. One of the events was the trial of the Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, in which their father, Atticus Finch, was defending Tom, a man of color. Mockingbirds are used throughout the book to represent people that were harmed by the society even though they were innocent. There is a common misinterpretation of the meaning behind the Mockingbird leading many to believe that Scout is the Mockingbird in the story.
