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Who Is Jem Finch's Influence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In the Book, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee Says That Parents’ Point of View Influences Prejudice. Jem Finch learns best by his father words and actions more than anyone else because he looks up to him as a role model. When Atticus Finch told Mrs. Dubose that “I do my best to love everybody… it’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name,” (Lee 144) Jem realized he had the same opinion as his father. Atticus sees no difference between the African American race or Caucasians because he thinks labels do not describe an individual. As he is expressing his feelings and thoughts to Mrs. Dubose, he makes her realize that there are other ways to look at it even though she has a strong opinion towards black. As the decision was made for Tom Robinson, Jem Finch was devastated, “as his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them.” (282). It hurt him emotionally because he saw his father work hard towards this case to set Tom free and it did not happen. To see Tom charged with something that he clearly did not do affected him but yet the white supremacy takes over which also bothered him. The white superiority is what made innocent African Americans be responsible towards …show more content…

After hearing things about Tom’s case, Scout Finch asked Atticus one night, “ ‘What’s rape?’ … He sighed, and said rape was carnal knowledge of a female force and without consent.” (180). Even though her question was not appropriate for a girl her age it did not matter to Atticus because he knew she would have to know this information sooner than later. Scout was a curious girl who was fascinated with everything yet her viewpoint towards Tom didn’t change and the color of his race did not affect her decision on if he was guilty or not. As the environment in the courtroom became more tense, Reverend Sykes told

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To Kill A Mockingbird Society Quotes

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“The world is full of people who think different is synonymous with wrong” - David Levithan. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, she writes about a county named Maycomb that is fearful of anyone that is different from them. Jean Louise Finch, often called scout in the book, grows up in a xenophobic society. Scout grows up alongside her older brother Jem, her father, Atticus and their family’s mother-figure caretaker named Calpurnia. When Scout’s father is asked by Judge Taylor to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, he faces harmful backlash from the community.

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The main character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch, a middle aged man living in Maycomb Alabama. Even though he is a southerner he isn’t racist and he believes that everyone should be treated equal, Atticus teaches his children empathy and not to discriminate against other people, he does his by telling them “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Even though Atticus treats everyone as equals he gets affected by the town and their prejudice way of thinking. Because Atticus accepts Tom Robinsons case he gets called a “nigger lover” and him and his children get treated differently by the town.

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762 Words | 4 Pages

In society today there are those that are pushed out of the crowd because of what they look like, how they act, and what others say to be true about them. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that unselfish, kind hearted people can experience prejudice from others. Always wanting to be the better person, Atticus Finch is like the mockingbird when taking the responsibility of defending Tom Robinson, who is a black man. Once Atticus gets the news that he will be defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape, he is very stressed until the end of the trial. Harper Lee shows this when she says, “It’s this Tom Robinson case that’s worrying him to death...”

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How Does Jem Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Throughout the book, Jem learns about prejudice and not to judge because no one is just like him and people are different. He learns most about this from Atticus. For example, when Scout comes home from school and gets angry because her teacher, Miss Caroline, doesn’t want her to read at home. Atticus responds by telling her that she shouldn’t say anything about Miss Caroline because Scout doesn’t

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To Kill A Mockingbird How Has Jem Changed

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The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about two kids, Jem and Scout, and their childhood in their small town Maycomb, Alabama. In the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout were two innocent kids playing in the summer sun, until school came along. Jem was about twelve throughout the novel and Scout was eight, and considering that Jem was twelve in the novel, he was changing. During the middle of the novel a rape trial occurred, which included a black man being accused by a white woman of first-degree rape. Atticus, the kid’s father was defending the african american man; Tom Robinson.

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To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee about the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of rape as seen through the eye of a young girl, Scout Finch. The story follows her, her older brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus, the lawyer appointed to Tom’s case. The novel contains many instances of symbolism. One of the most important symbols as the title suggests, is the mockingbird. The mockingbird symbolizes innocence, so to kill a mockingbird would be synonymous with destroying innocence.

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To Kill A Mockingbird is about racism and diversity, Atticus doesn't care about the color of a mans skin and took on a colored mans case and defended him against rape charges. Harper Lee offers several examples of symbolism to explain the themes diversity, racism, and courage. Smykowski explains “ First of all, the creation of the snowman by Jem can be seen as being symbolic of Jem trying to cover up the black man and Showing that he is the same as a white man, that all of mankind is virtually the same.” Jem believes everybody is the same no matter the skin color. If you’re in the right and you’re telling the truth then you're free and innocent.

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Moreover, the author introduces mature ideas into the story, such as Boo Radley and his ill treatment. The author also emphasizes the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. Through these ideas, the author’s message is to inform the reader of the ill treatment and discrimination against others, which still continue to this day. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird emphasizes Scout losing her innocence due to the series of events occurring in her life, primarily those that have great significance.

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Tom is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, believes that he is innocent and he is only being accused because of his color. Stereotypes of blacks such as the assumption that they lie and are bad people cause others to not give someone a chance to be proven innocent, not unlike Tom. In the book, the characters refer to a black person as a “nigger” which is a very offencive and negative term which shows how people in the early 1930’s viewed people of dark

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In the book and movie, we watch as Atticus Finch, Scout’s more liberal father has to come to the defense for Tom Robinson, a handicapped African American man who has been wrongfully accused of raping a 19-year-old white girl. Although all the evidence points otherwise the town is convinced that Tom did it, making Attics come forward as his only voice of defense, and because of these Attics is shunned by

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1604 Words | 7 Pages

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830 Words | 4 Pages

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