ipl-logo

To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

765 Words4 Pages

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel that reveals the hardship of growing up in the 1930s and the dangers of social injustice and segregation. The novel takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, a society that is segregated. There is a white community and a black community. Depending on how and where one is raised, their views and opinions vary. In Maycomb and present day society, people are assimilated into one crowd where their views are shaped to match one idea and one view. In other words, people’s opinions are indoctrinated into the opinion society demands. The white community clumps towards the view that: “all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women” and thus …show more content…

Lee shows how education impacts the way children in Maycomb’s society perceive each other. The Cunningham family is an example of this, they are “country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them hardest” which means that economically they’re poor and in poverty (21). When Walter Cunningham attends the first grade it is immediately shown that his family is stereotyped. Walter is always going to be known as a Cunningham, he’ll be grouped as a whole instead of an individual. “‘What is it, Jean Louise?’ ‘Miss Caroline, he’s a Cunningham’ [...] ‘What, Jean Louise?’ I thought I made things sufficiently clear. It was clear to the rest of us” although it wasn’t clear to us readers (20). Who was Walter? In the children’s eyes he was a Cunningham, someone who “didn’t have much, but they [got] along” (20). They didn’t see that he is different from his family, he is an individual with diverse traits. Nonetheless, he won’t be recognized as Walter he’ll always be known as poor, a Cunningham. The school system circulates this type of discrimination through Maycomb’s society. Lee escorts the reader on a path towards a new perspective, one that is free from what Maycomb perceives Walter as. Jem invites Walter to dinner at their house but continues to see him as just another Cunningham: “‘He ain’t company, Cal he’s just a Cunningham--’ ‘Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’

Show More
Related

To Kill A Mockingbird Quotes Analysis

897 Words | 4 Pages

In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee talks about discrimination based on gender role, age, and skin color. The characters in this book all have different personalities that influences others. Maycomb, Alabama in 1930’s is where everything happened with slavery and struggling with being poor. The characters Scout, Jem, and Dill had a strong bond and had lots of courage. Shows that justice means other things to other people.

Read More

How Does Lee Show Acceptance In To Kill A Mockingbird

631 Words | 3 Pages

Walter Cunningham is poor and he is judged because he can’t afford to buy lunch at school and Jem first showed acceptance of him by inviting him to dinner. Scout said,“he didn’t have any lunch"(Lee 30). When Jem asked why Scout was picking on Walter. Calpurnia says, “hush your mouth! Don’t matter

Read More

How Does Harper Lee Use Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

436 Words | 2 Pages

Walter Cunningham has been to school around maybe 3 times, each time only lasted a day because he had to stay home to work on the farm. Harper Lee uses the Cunninghams to represent the classes of society who were the lowest amongst whites, but were still above colored

Read More

Family In To Kill A Mockingbird

914 Words | 4 Pages

Unlike Atticus the well-off lawyer, Walter Cunningham is a poor farmer who struggles to make ends meet. Walter Cunningham needs his son to help him run the farm, which makes Walter Jr. not focus on his studies. Although Walter Jr. is not “book smart,” he is a good worker, which he most likely learned from his father. Walter Jr. tells Atticus, "Reason I can't pass the first grade, Mr. Finch, is I've had to stay out ever' spring an' help Papa with the choppin’" (Lee

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

682 Words | 3 Pages

William Waters ELA Mead 3-12-24. Life Lessons In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee shows important life lessons through fictional characters such as Atticus Finch, Jem Finch, and Scout Finch. Harper Lee explores ideas that include bravery, the ability to do the right thing, and most importantly, empathy. Harper Lee teaches all these lessons in the book, not for the characters to learn them, but for the readers to learn them and to better themselves.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

1182 Words | 5 Pages

HOOK.At the beginning of the Civil Rights movement, Harper Lee wrote a book during a very racist period, The Great Depression. This novel is about Scout Finch, a six year old young girl who lived in the South during the 1930s. She and her ten year old brother, Jem, are being raised by their father Atticus, who is a lawyer and puts his all into defending a black man, Tom Robinson. The “Mockingbird” in this story symbolizes a bird on which the children shouldn’t kill because it represents innocence. If you were to kill a “Mockingbird” it would be considered a “sin”.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

558 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Depression, a severe economic downturn in the 1930s, deeply impacted the lives of Americans, especially in the South. Many lost their jobs and homes, leading to widespread poverty and desperation. This economic hardship is reflected in the novel, as many characters, including the protagonist Atticus Finch, struggle to make ends meet. The Depression serves as a backdrop for the racial tensions and injustices depicted in the story, highlighting the inequalities and struggles faced by African Americans in the South.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

860 Words | 4 Pages

The Life of a Mockingbird Mockingbirds are a symbol of peace and innocence, yet they are treated unfairly. This is unjust and that is why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. However, in a symbolic sense, this essay will explain how characters in the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, have similar traits as mockingbirds. These characters are, Atticus, Tom Robinson, and Arthur Radley (Boo Radley).

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

628 Words | 3 Pages

Adam Mack Mrs. Swafford English 10 Silver 2 2 April 2024 TKAM Essay Harper Lee teaches many life lessons life lessons can teach you lots of things that impact you for the rest of your life and change your moral values and how you look at life. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, set in a small rural town called Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Throughout the book, the kids see lots of things that teach them lessons later on. These lessons to the kids are not apparent to them at the start, but they realize them later on. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates many life lessons to the characters that ultimately change them for the rest of their lives.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

1296 Words | 6 Pages

Mockingbirds are often described as some of the most peaceful birds in existence. Frequently, they are referred to as the embodiment of innocence. Or at least that is how they are described in To Kill A Mockingbird. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, we read the story of a young girl named Jean Louise, referred to as Scout, as she spends her childhood in the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The novel manages to also shine a light on two side characters through Scout’s words, who are known as Tom Robinson and Arthur Radley.

Read More

Examples Of Controversy In To Kill A Mockingbird

1354 Words | 6 Pages

This would teach young American teens the discriminatory history of their country towards African Americans and why it should never be repeated. Not only did the town of Maycomb show racial inequality but also gender inequality. During the summer, Dill, a friend of Scout and Jem would come around and like the other kids would hear stories about Boo Radley, the mysterious horrifying neighborhood legend. One night Dill and Jem decided to peek in the window of Boo Radley’s house, but Scout is concerned about what could happen, so Jem tells her to “‘shut your trap or go home- I declare to the lord you’re gettin more like a girl every day.’”

Read More

Pride In A Raisin In The Sun

1487 Words | 6 Pages

Walter further shows his false pride when he flaunts his newfound sense of power when Mr.Lindner, one of the Younger’s soon-to-be neighbors, offers him an unjust deal. Now that Walter has control over the family 's money, he considers himself the head of the family and decision maker; this plays an important role towards how Walter treats others now that he holds himself to a higher standard. This theme applies to Walter when the chairman of the “welcoming committee” (115) named Mr.Lindner pays a visit to the family a couple weeks before they 're supposed to move into their new home in Clybourne Park. During this visit, Mr.Lindner makes the offer of the Clybourne Park community “buy[ing] the house from [them] at a financial gain to [the] family” (118). Mr.Lindner’s offer represents the racial oppression and how the white community looks down upon and doesn’t want African american people dirtying their communities.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Acceptance Analysis

986 Words | 4 Pages

To elaborate, social classes separate people even if they are from the same place; the poor people would stick with the poor, middle class with middle and upper class with upper. When Walter Jr is invited to the Finches’ house for dinner, two different responses were made; Jem who welcomed him and Scout who did not. In the beginning, Scout does not accept Walter, as “he ain’t company” and “just a Cunningham.” Later on, Calpurnia explains to Scout that “no matter who they are” she cannot act “so high and mighty” even though “[she] might be better’n the Cunninghams.” Walter helps shine a spotlight onto the complex world of white class relations and class superiority in Maycomb.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Fairness And Justice Analysis

912 Words | 4 Pages

Jem said that “there’s four kinds of folks in the world. The ordinary kind like us and the neighbors… the Cunninghams… the Ewells… and the negroes.” This statement exemplifies the social stratification in the small town of Maycomb. Even very young children are able to distinguish and differentiate between classes. The book depicts “the negroes” as the very worst of the classes, and people like the Cunninghams, as among the highest class, the “whites.”

Read More

The American Dream In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

1664 Words | 7 Pages

Walter often storms off after an argument or a conversation that did not go this way, and it is in this time that he hurts the most over the family’s financial situation and over the way that nobody else understands his position and his reasoning behind his actions. The segregation during the 1950s

Read More

More about To Kill A Mockingbird Research Paper

Related Topics

Open Document