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123 essays on character analysis
123 essays on character analysis
123 essays on character analysis
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A mockingbird is a unique type of bird that should never be harmed because all it does is make beautiful music. This special bird is the very symbol of innocence. Throughout Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many important individuals that represent a mockingbird. From the beginning to the end of the narrative we have characters that are the embodiment of the mockingbird because all they do is help others and they themselves get harmed in some way. However, there are some characters that epitomize the qualities of the bird more than others. These three particular people are Tom Robinson, Boo (Arthur) Radley and Jeremy Atticus Finch.
Tom Robinson is generally one of the first characters in the story that people think of as a prominent mockingbird. As a hardworking and honest man, he tried to do a kindly act
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His intention was to help Mayella and he did, by doing some of the chores that she could not do herself. Tom recognized Mayella as a person who needed someone to help her. He realized that she had nobody around the house to aid her and he felt sorry for her. He never asks for anything in return and he refuses payment. We hear this when Mr. Gilmer asks,"You're a mighty good fellow, it seems—did all this for not one penny?" and he responds "Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more than the rest of ‘em.” Tom helps Mayella out of the goodness of his heart, which Bob Ewell took advantage of. He was arrested for a crime he didn’t do, not for his personality, but for his skin color. When Mayella makes tries to kiss him, he immediately realizes that he is in danger, but he refuses to even harm her. In his court statement he says, “I didn’t wanta harm her, Mr. Finch, an’ I say lemme pass, but just when I say it Mr. Ewell yonder hollered through th’ window.” “Mr. Finch, I tried. I tried to ‘thout
Tom Robinson is a kind black man whom Atticus is defending against the charge that he raped Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows that he will lose because Tom is black, but he also knows that Tom is innocent and that he has to defend him. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a hard-working father and husband in the novel and he was only attempting to help Mayella since no one else would, but she made advances that he refused and her father saw them. On the witness stand, he testifies that he helped her because, "'Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun.'" (256). Even though Tom helps Mayella out of kindness and pity, Mayella is trapped and must accuse him of raping her to save her own life. Shortly after being wrongfully convicted
Mockingbirds symbolically represent innocent, defenceless individuals, who bring nothing but joy to the world. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Arthur Radley, Tom Robinson and Dolphus Raymond are all symbols of the mockingbird. Many people in Maycomb see these people as mean and cruel but in reality they “don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.”
Innocence is defined as the state of being not guilty of a crime or other wrong act. The definition does not have any exceptions depending on race, age, gender or other physical characteristics. Yet in the south, the innocence of a guilty white man, is more important than the innocence of an innocent black man. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is about a young girl named Scout who lives in Maycomb County, Alabama. The novel is separated into two parts, the first part is about the adventures of Boo Radley. While the second part is about the trial of Tom Robinson. In the first part of the novel, Scout along with her brother Jem and her friend Dill investigate the mysterious life of their neighbor, Boo Radley. Boo has not left
In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells the story of coming-of-age and the loss of innocence through the character Jem. Through recurring events, Jem is faced with the realization of society’s injustice, and is left questioning the world he lives in. During a time of rampant racial discrimination and prejudice in the south, Jem transforms from naivety to maturity.
Protecting the innocent is a major theme in To Kill a Mockingbird. It is shown in many ways. Some ways include how Atticus tries to protect Tom Robinson, how Boo Radley saves Jem and Scout, and how Heck Tate tries to protect Boo. Harper Lee may be trying to show how society should protect the innocent through her characters and their actions.
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: The Significance of a Mockingbird In a society surrounded by corruption, racism, and cruelty it is rare to find purity. Innocence is constantly being destroyed. For this reason, the harmless citizens need to be treasured and protected. Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird portrays the injustices of the 1930’s that expose the innocent to the malice of the society’s intentions. Some characters in the novel are characterized as harmless and pure and are symbolized by mockingbirds.
...birds are one of the main symbols. Mockingbirds are innocent they do not harm anyone but makes beautiful music. However, they get killed by people every day. There are many innocent person present in this novel; three main characters that are Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Mr. Dolphus Raymond, and they symbolize the Mockingbirds. Tom was a wrongly accused of rape, and he was brutally killed because he was black. Boo Radley did not do any harm to anyone, he was innocent, but people in the Maycomb County were thinking him as a monster which hurt him mentally. Lastly, Mr. Raymond symbolized the Mockingbird because he was innocent, however only because he thought different than others, he was looked down by the people in Maycomb County. Mockingbirds in this novel symbolized the innocent people who are getting wrongly accused and their innocence getting destroyed by evil.
Tom Robinson fits the definition of an honorable man. He is honorable, and he shows human decency. First of all, Tom is a black man who is discriminated against. He has no reason to care so much and be so nice to a white person, when so many whites think and treat African Americans so poorly. So to even be willingly respectful to her, and be genuine about it is something I believe shows honorability, shows he has a good heart. Second, he helps someone he doesn’t know well and someone who is of a kind that treats his kind poorly. Despite all the reasons he has to not care about white people, he helps Mayella. What takes his actions a step further, is his refusal to accept money for his work. Tom says, “No, suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first time. I was glad to do it, Mr. Ewell didn’t seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun, and I knowed she didn’t have no nickels to spare”(Lee 256). Finally, Tom did not want Mayella to get in trouble. Mayella and her father, Bob Ewell, are accusing Tom of a crime that he did not do, but he is almost sure to be ruled guilty of. If he is ruled guilty, this would have serious consequences for Tom. Nevertheless, when Tom is giving his Testimony, Atticus asks him what really happened. Tom is hesitant to reveal the full extent of what actually occurred, because the truth would give a bad
Guilty, those were the only words that came Out of Judge Taylor’s mouth that night. Everyone in the court room knew who had committed the crime, and it wasn’t Tom. All that he could do now was let it sink in. The fact that he had just been convicted for a crime he never did was unthinkable. The thought of that happening to someone would nearly drive a man mad, but not Tom. The only thing Tom did was sit in his chair, and learned to live with reality. The fact that Tom didn’t react with violence is astonishing. Not only does he not make a fit when he gets convicted, but he also has the patience to listen to Mayella’s made up story. He knew that her whole story is one big scam but didn’t even react with violence and frustration. Listening to someone trying to accuse you of crime that never happened would turn a normal person crazy. Tom used to act very nice towards Mayella. Before the trial he would walk past her house every day to and from work. Time to time Mayella would ask Tom if he could help her with simple chores to do around the house. For example, he helped her chop up an old chiffarobe. Being the gentlemen Tom was, he never charged her a
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are many representations of mockingbirds. A mockingbird in the novel, is an innocent soul. One of the most famous quotes from the novel is “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”( Pg. 103) The reason it’s considered a sin to kill a mockingbird is because they are innocent and do no harm. In the novel there are three main mockingbirds. Boo Radley, Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson
Tom Robinson was one of the most talked about characters in the novel ¨To KIll a Mockingbird¨ He was known as any other black man pretty much. He was very discriminated, but he was also very innocent. The reason many people were familiar with Tom is from his court case. He was accused by Mayella Ewell and her father for beating her and raping her. This drew many people to the courtroom to see what would go down, and as expected he
A child’s journey to adulthood will corrupt their innocence. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the two main characters Jem and Scout are forced to grow up and face the realities of their world as their father prepared for one of the most controversial cases in his career. As the trial date gets closer and closer, Jem and Scout witnessed negative and positive things caused by the folks of Maycomb, they were not prepared for. Through all the commotion Jem and Scout learned the importance of benevolence and courage as it influenced their changing perspective on the world. The qualities Jem and Scout learn from benevolence and courage change how they see their world by showing them fairness, kindness and bravery.
Loss of Innocence in Killing a Mockingbird Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather, the streets turned red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. " (Lee 9). This environment, as Scout Finch accurately describes, is not conducive to young children, loud noises, and games. But, the Finch children and Dill must occupy themselves in order to avoid boredom.
To Kill a Mockingbird is very focused on the theme of innocence. We see this theme repeated many times in the book. There are many ways to define the word innocence. One definition of innocence is “The state, quality, or fact of being innocent of a crime or offense.”
The main symbols discussed and portrayed in the book were Tim Johnson, the Mockingbirds and Boo Radley. Tim Johnson was a neighbourhood dog who appeared down the Finch’s street one day, but looked very ill and was rabid. Calpurnia the black maid working at the Finch’s rang Atticus and he shot it. Tim Johnson could symbolize the prejudice and mob mentality of Maycomb at the time and because Atticus shot Tim this represents Atticus’s morals beliefs about stopping racism and creating equality. The Mockingbird used in the title of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is the most important symbol depicted in this novel. One day Atticus told Jem that he’d rather Jem shoot at tin cans, but he knew Jem would go after birds. He gave Jem permission to shoot all the blue jays he felt like, but it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. Jem then went to Miss Maudie to ask about what Atticus had just said, "Your father’s right," she said. "Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corn cribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” This conveys the loss of innocence in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and thus killing a Mockingbird is to destroy innocence. A number of characters (Jem, Tom Robinson, Dill, Boo Radley, Mr. Raymond) can be identified as Mockingbirds who have been injured or destroyed through their contact with evil. As the novel progresses, the children’s perspective towards Boo Radley matures and this replicates the development of the children. Boo Radley was once an intelligent child, only to be ruined by his cruel father is one of the most important mockingbirds as his innocence was destroyed. Luckily for Jem and Scout, Boo was merely a source of childhood superstition often leaving presents for them. Despite the pain that Boo