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Harper Lee's writings and influences
To kill a mockingbird perception essay
Harper Lee's writings and influences
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To Kill a Mockingbird Essay
“Maturity is when your world opens up and you realize that you are not the center of it.” –M.J. Croan. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the path to maturity through the character Scout who exhibits the journey it takes to accept one’s responsibility and limitations. Shaping the mockingbird as a representation of innocence, it is stated “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird”, symbolizing Scout as she gradually becomes more mature throughout the novel, consequently leaving behind her innocence while also reconstructing her empathy and tolerance for others. Similarly Scout and I were both naïve to the world around us, but because of witnessing first-hand the inhumanity around us blatantly displayed a lack of empathy people contain within them. This was a learning experience for myself because it brought home racial discrimination in an event that will
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Scout`s mindset shifted for the better, now that she perceives people for whom they truly are, while further comprehending that not everyone deserves empathy, but rather pain. Tom`s trial was an unexpected event that left her impacted for the rest of her life. The repercussions of the event left Scout vulnerable to the unknown, consequently leading her to adapt to Maycomb`s idea of tolerance and empathy.
We as a human race are born with no idea about intolerance or prejudice; it is something that is developed over-time through our environment. I learned to not pre-judge people in a negative way like others might do in an attempt to hide their own flaws. I thought I was mature before I witnessed an act of prejudice which opened my world up to the unknown. Now understanding from the perspective of the maligned party, maturity is not something that happens instantaneously, but a process that will keep progressing throughout my
Each and every person will go through a coming of age experience sometime in their life. Those experiences can come in different forms. But, each coming of age experience ends up shaping us to become a mature adult. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a coming of age story through Scout Finch, an aging girl’s point of view. Her brother, Jem Finch who experiences coming of age before Scout, realizes that being an adult was not what he hoped. Jem recognizes a different perspective of bravery from Mrs.Dubose, a vile, elderly woman’s perspective. In chapter 11, Harper Lee uses literary elements such as character, conflict, and setting to establish Jem’s new outlook on life.
The quote by Zora Neale Hurston, “There are years that ask questions and years that answer,” shows that coming of age is a tricky project that takes time and effort. In Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird, she writes about Scout Finch, the narrator, reflecting on her past and the challenges she went through in her hometown, Maycomb, with her brother Jem and childhood friend Dill.. Harper Lee uses the young characters in the novel to show experiences, their role models, and conflict help shape a person from child to adult.
One of the most important characters read during this semester was Scout Finch. Compared to other characters in To Kill a Mockingbird who were not of the Finch family, Scout was different. She was mature, for equality, and noble. These are all attributes, none of which could be found in most characters of the book. This is especially significant considering the early age of Scout. With her age with her level of nobility, maturity, and her strong sense of racial equality, Scout is not only years ahead of her age, but also above the rest of Maycomb County.
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses character development to coin social commentary at times concerning bravery. Bravery is a primary topic within the novel., as it is an expressed trait in main characters such as Atticus, Scout and Jem. Whether it may be brave enough to defend a colored man on an all white jury, or enough to wander onto Boo Radley’s property, bravery is the pinnacle to the novel. Also bravery of the characters is accounted into character development, in which each main character has their flash with bravery, and perseveres through times of social commentary within the town of Maycomb Alabama. However, what is an example of one character developing throughout the novel to provide the character 's own commentary during times of bravery?
Everyone goes through different changes as they grow up. Maturing, coming of age, and doing the right thing are important themes in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. This theme is most often seen in the character Jeremy “Jem” Finch. He portrays this theme when he begins to enter puberty and becomes a young man. Jeremy starts to become more independent, wiser and more able to comprehend adult situations; Jem begins to get a better grasp on things. Other characters that demonstrate this theme are Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Arthur “Boo” Radley. Harper Lee shows how Scout comes of age in similar ways to Jem. Scout begins to grow up and become more tolerant of others by “putting herself in another person’s skin”. Boo displays his “coming of age” in a somewhat different way than Jem and Scout. There’s a scene in To Kill A Mockingbird where Boo has the chance to do the right thing by putting himself in harm’s way in order to save lives, and he takes the chance. To Kill A Mockingbird is a book that is overflowing with the theme “coming of age” (whether it is shown through the main character or others). This theme is important to the story because these characters are a small example of the changes that Maycomb needs to undergo. Jeremy Finch is the character in which this theme is most represented in.
Children may start out simple-minded but shift into maturing young adults. Jem is proof of this in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird since he has many life experiences with the people who influence him most. Through this novel, Jem matures from an ignorant boy to a young and more to respectful young man due to learning loyalty and valor.
Ageism is shown in both novel by Harper Lee and the article by Scott Wooldridge about millennial’s by stating that because of how young you’re more likely to be less intelligent and have almost to no experience compared to older people therefore making them seem more superior.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, childhood is presented as an interval in life which is dangerously exposed to corruption from the preconceived ideas of Maycomb county. Harper Lee has shown that children could be easily influenced and altered by the biased comments originating from adults. On the other hand, childhood could also be seen as an location where innocence resides.
Tracy McMillian, a author who is a relationship expert once said, “Caring - about people, about things, about life - is an act of maturity.” In the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch matures throughout the story. In the begging Scout seems to be on stage one in Kohlberg’s moral development. Kohlberg’s moral development is a theory made by a psychologist named Lawrence Kohlberg. Compared to the end of the book level six seems to best describe Scout’s current level of moral development. Throughout the book Scout learns many lesson’s about life, and realizes the world is not always how it seems, and sometimes Scout has to put herself in someone else’s shoes to understand them, and the choice’s they make.
As a child grows, many people influence their development as a person. Some people impact more than others, and a select few really leave their mark. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” several characters play this role. Among them, Miss Maudie Atkinson, a woman who proves herself a strong character, prevails as the one who has the greatest impact on Scout Finch, the protagonist of this novel. As Scout matures and grows up, her views on the world around her change. Through subtle yet effective ways, Miss Maudie teaches Scout many life lessons about being humble, judging, and attitude, all of which ultimately have a great effect on the kind of person Scout develops into and her outlook on the world.
Maturity is a coming of age when a person is growing emotionally and mentally. Maturity is gained by experiences and decision-making, thus learning from mistakes. This is evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Through characterization and symbolism Lee displays maturity. Jem Finch demonstrates growing maturity throughout the novel.
“Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations.” is a quote from Samuel Ullman. This describes the struggles that Jem went through by taking part in the community and trial and by also taking the risk of losing some of his friends and family in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. Through Jem’s interaction with the racism of Maycomb, he became aware of the things around him. We all learn that it takes a strong person to overcome the barriers of society.
As people grow in life, they mature and change. In the novel , To Kill a Mockingbird ,by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, matures as the book continues. Slowly but surely, Scout learns to control her explosive temper, to refrain from fistfights, and to respect Calpurnia, their maid, and to really learn her value to the family. Scout simply changes because she matures, and she also changes because Atticus, her father, asks her to.
The illusion of innocence is deeply instilled in the outlook of children. Reality soon takes its grip as kids begin to grow and mature, and they lose their pure qualities that they have once possessed. Their father Atticus shelters Jem and Scout from the town’s disease, teaching them the act of sympathy and how to distinguish the good aspects over glaring at the imperfections of people. The loss of innocence portrayed in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is exposed as the lives of Jem, Scout, and Dill go through their racist and prejudice society, learning how the worlds dreamlike qualities is nothing more than just a childhood fable. The children’s judgment of people and society quickly sheds as Lee displays the harsh realities to Jem, Dill,
No matter where or who a person is, they are always learning something, either about themselves or about the environment around them. In Harper Lee's heartwarming novel titled To Kill A Mockingbird, the main characters Jem and Scout grow and mature throughout the story as they learn both more about themselves and the world around them. As the story progresses, they learn many life lessons including those about prejudice, people and how they have been categorized and judged, and, last but not least, gender issues.