ipl-logo

Widespread Motifs In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

928 Words4 Pages

Widespread motifs in Maycomb “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” exclaims Scout Finch the narrator of To Kill A Mockingbird (Lee 317). Harper Lee is a white author who grew up in Alabama herself; Likewise living a similar life to Jean Louis Finch. To Kill A Mockingbird is widely banned for racial misunderstandings. The award winning, top selling book has never been out of print since it was published. The setting falls throughout the 1930’s in southern Alabama when there are many struggling at this time and segregation is very common; Furthermore, through the story, it includes many different characters and character types. The narrator Jean Louis has a brother Jem Finch who she looks up to all the time. Dill is …show more content…

Making judgment of themes regarding bravery matters because there are many instances of bravery throughout with different characters. Atticus defended Tom Robinson through a long and rough court case (Lee 223-266). Determination when defending Tom for so long shows much gallantry to Atticus, as there was a lot of risk behind defending a black man during the time. Secondly Boo Radley saves Jem and Scout from the attack with Bob Ewell (Lee 299-310). Boo illustrates courage and bravery as he had to come out of his house and put himself into danger for the kids. Furthermore Dill ran all the way from his hometown Mississippi, by himself to be with Jem and Scout (Lee 187). Traveling across states as a young boy symbolizes Dill’s spirit by taking that risk. There are many situations throughout, that show fearlessness that matters to the development of themes shown in the …show more content…

The theme of racial prejudice is to great importance because it is shown very often in Maycomb and is recurring. Miss Gates calls African Americans, “em” and that they need to learn their boundaries and lessons the hard way (Lee 331). Here hate by skin color is shown by Miss Gates, as she is calling all blacks by “em” to define them as one group. Following, Jem tells Scout that the Ewells hate the colored folks in town (Lee 303). The poor Ewells demonstrate prejudice to others as they express feelings of their color being superior. In addition, the court for Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell, sat African Americans in different seats than whites (Lee 210). The court expresses bias in the case when whites have superior seats when watching the outcome. In Maycomb there are lingering themes of racial enmity that are shown over and over to develop a strong main

Show More
Related

Is Atticus Finch Told In Chapter 1-3 Answers For To Kill A Mockingbird

956 Words | 4 Pages

The story takes place in a small county in Alabama called Maycomb during the Great Depression. In Maycomb, everyone knows everyone else in the county, and the county is full of its own quirky rumors and traditions such as the Radley house and the Cunningham family. The county is predominantly filled with white people, many of whom consider themselves to be above black people in the social class. 4. Dill Harris is a boy who is Scout’s age from Mississippi.

Read More

Dill's Equality

702 Words | 3 Pages

Although this occupied his seven year old imagination, he still held strong to his mind 's pledge to be needed and appreciated. Although this is a highly strong and unlikely inference this could be debated, by the textual evidence of Dill going back to mississippi because through his experiences in Maycomb and through Jem he begins to think and act more like this ten year old boy. As the saying goes’ “Respect your elders.” Although this refers to obeying them Dill kicks it up a notch and follows in Jem’s footsteps through “peer pressure” and social class. Dill feels unwanted as his biological father isn’t in the picture but in the middle of the novel he regains his idea of a family unit when he gets a new dad.

Read More

Theme Of Allusions In To Kill A Mockingbird

466 Words | 2 Pages

Allusions Music is very important in the world and not only can it be listened to for enjoyment, but also created by one as a hobby. Mockingbirds make beautiful music to listen to and a Jew’s harp is an instrument that one can use to play songs. Harper Lee uses both of these musical components in To Kill A Mockingbird with a deeper meaning to give the reader more of an understanding to what is happening. Harper Lee uses the many allusions in her novel including mockingbirds and Jew’s Harp.

Read More

Influences In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

685 Words | 3 Pages

In The book To kill a Mockingbird I think Atticus is Scouts biggest influence. Atticus has the best beliefs in May comb in my opinion and Atticus tells his children Scout and Jem his beliefs about racial things with complete honesty. Atticus doesn't lie or sugar coat anything to neither of his children. A brief example of this is when Atticus tells Scout " That you can't judge someone until you crawl into their skin Atticus is Scout biggest role model but what makes him her role model is not him specifically trying he tries for everyone for instance taking the case he is trying to prove a point, but he also did it for himself. Chapter 9 pg 77-78 “If you should not be defending him, then why are you doing it?

Read More

Scout Finch Coming Of Age Essay

2010 Words | 9 Pages

A young girl who realizes the truth of society. A mature father who fixes the wrongs of society. A misjudged man who doesn’t realize how society has judged him. Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, prejudice and discrimination occurs in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As social injustice continues to spread during the civil rights movement, the main character, Jean Louise Finch also known as Scout, is exposed to racism as she sees multiple unjust situations happen right before her eyes -- causing her to mature and come of age.

Read More

Examples Of Blindness In To Kill A Mockingbird

683 Words | 3 Pages

Social class and sexism take a major part in the lives of the people of Maycomb and affect the way they treat each other. Tom Robinson, a young man accused of a crime because of his race, is a main example of the blindness to prejudice in this novel. Throughout the novel the author discusses the issue of racism and its effects on people. When Atticus Finch took on defending Tom in court, people told him that he would lose the case because of Tom's race. Atticus was upset over the fact that the courts were biased, no matter how much evidence shows that they were innocent.

Read More

Theme Of Diction In To Kill A Mockingbird

743 Words | 3 Pages

In Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, two children live in a chaotic world of racial injustice and poverty. In this book, two siblings named Jem and Scout Finch grow and mature in a mysterious area of people battling and supporting racism. Throughout this book, Harper Lee uses symbolism to provide the view of racism. While doing this, she also uses selective choices of diction to shape the story. Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird with a purpose, to bring awareness to racial injustice through hidden symbols and diction.

Read More

How Does Harper Lee Use Social Order In To Kill A Mockingbird

689 Words | 3 Pages

(170). The Ewells, a white family, were one of the poorest, if not the poorest family in Maycomb, but still held some power due to their status as "white trash. " Even though the rest of the community does not like the Ewells, they are still privileged and get rights that people of color do not get in Maycomb. This was evident in the trial of Tom Robinson.

Read More

Tom Robinson's Innocence

1442 Words | 6 Pages

Maycomb refuses to accept Tom Robinson’s innocence and instead uses him as a scapegoat to protect the Ewell’s pride and to justify blaming him for Mayella’s circumstances which preserves Maycomb’s power over the African American community. Maycomb’s inability to believe Tom’s innocence is because his case is a “black man’s word against the Ewells” and “the jury [can’t] possibly be expected to take Tom Robinson’s word” because Maycomb deems ignorant, uneducated white people, like the Ewells, as more respectable, valuable, and trustworthy than black people (88, 108). Tom’s case demonstrates how Maycomb sees African Americans as expendable because of deep-rooted prejudices. Maycomb chooses to condemn a black man to death over damaging Mr. Ewell’s pride. Maycomb attempts to rationalize this verdict with stigmas about black people, falling back on their ingrained prejudices.

Read More

Literary Elements In To Kill A Mockingbird

448 Words | 2 Pages

In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, literary elements in this passage help develop a theme of the novel using conflict, characterization, dialogue, diction, and imagery. One key coming to age scene was when Scout felt left out of Dill and Jem’s friendship. In chapter 5, Scout states how she felt excluded from Jem and Dill as if they neglected her. “...then he neglected me. I beat him up twice but it did no good, he only grew closer to Jim” (Lee 46).

Read More

Common Themes In To Kill A Mockingbird

763 Words | 4 Pages

Payton Hawkins-Rowland Pre-AP English Coach Hamlin 4th Period Second Selection Themes Shown in To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that is full of themes to be learned as well as lessons to be taught for readers of any age. The characters in this book experience a multitude of things that allow the reader to reflect and relate, allowing them to learn from the book and take a closer look at the events that took place within the story. Some lessons or themes that can be taught in the story include, “don't judge a book by its cover”, “perspective is key”, and “be your true self” . To begin with, the first theme that can be taught in To Kill a Mockingbird is “never judge a book by its cover”.

Read More

Development Of Theme Through Characters In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

727 Words | 3 Pages

Miley Schill Mrs.Milano English 9 - period 4 14 April 2023 Development of Theme Through Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay??? “For me the idea of losing one’s innocence has no sexual connotations. It’s more about how our outlook changes” (https://moonwalkingtojoy.com). This shows how many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird lose their innocence as they experience things that change their future. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about racial inequality and how people lose their innocence too early.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Courage Outline Essay

924 Words | 4 Pages

The author Harper Lee also chooses to include the tragic trail of a colored man and the story of an unknown neighbor. 4. The characters Scout and Jem Finch, Atticus Finch, Arthur Radley, and so many more exemplify courage in this novel. Harper Lee uses these acts of courage in order to get a point

Read More

Conformity In To Kill A Mockingbird

1136 Words | 5 Pages

“First of all…if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all types of folks. 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,” says Atticus the narrator's father in To Kill a Mockingbird (39). The author of this novel, Harper Lee was an uncommon white female who grew up in Alabama during segregation and the great depression, she didn't always think the same way others did in the old days. When Lee decided to make a narrative about segregation by telling a story about Scout Finch who was just like Lee when she was young. To Kill a Mockingbird was a worldwide book taught in high schools.

Read More

Theme Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird

858 Words | 4 Pages

Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.

Read More

More about Widespread Motifs In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Related Topics

Open Document