To Kill or Not to Kill a Mockingbird
Reading old books is boring and not fun because mainly everything in the book is outdated. However, sometimes you come across a book that is like wine; the older it is the better it is. This books are typically considered to be classics and their themes usually hit many generations of readers. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is one of those classics that brings out many themes such as horrible effects of prejudice and the pursuit of surviving which are still relevant in today’s world.
Prejudice is often associated with racism, however, prejudice is more than judging people by their skin color. Prejudice is judging people by anything different from you or by stereotypes. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird,
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She has to deal with people being prejudice about her father and calling him a “nigger lover.” The reader can observe that Scout follows her father’s advice of “keeping your head” about what other people say. Scout also has to deal with people being prejudice against her because she wore overalls. Aunt Alexandra and Mrs. Dubose were prejudice to Scout because they thought she was not a lady if she wore overall. Despite that Scout kept her fists down and her head up through most of the story despite all the prejudices held against her and her family.
Unlike Scout, who is just a kid, Atticus experiences a lot of serious prejudice that heavily affects him in his life. Atticus is trying to defend a black man which makes him an outcast in the town’s principles of Jim Crow laws. Atticus has to go against a group of people who think different than him. Not only that, Atticus puts himself in mortal danger as he confronts a mob of people that could have hurt him or killed him. As a result the horrible effects of prejudice has affected Atticus as
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When most people think of survival they think of basic survival such as getting water and food and making a shelter. However, according to Dictionary.com survival is “to get along or remain healthy, happy, and unaffected in spite of some occurrence.” To Kill a Mockingbird was set during the Great Depression and it was very difficult for people to remain happy and unaffected during that time period. Among many people in Maycomb, the Finch family, the Cunninghams, and the Ewells were a few of the many families who tried to survive.
The Finch family were poor despite Atticus being a lawyer. As Atticus himself explains “professional people were poor because the farmers were poor. As Maycomb County was farm country, nickels and dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers.” On another occasion, Scout asked Atticus, “Are we poor, Atticus?” and Atticus replied to her, “We are indeed.” The Finch family, despite Atticus being a lawyer, were still poor and couldn’t afford some of the things that would make them
Even though, this novel was set in the depression era, Scout goes through times in her life when she learns moral lessons through the education taught by Atticus, this results in empathy being shown and Scout also learns to fight with her head rather than her fist. However, as she faces hardship and goes through difficult times, seeing as her father is defending Tom Robinson (who is a black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell), she is forced to grow up and enter the adult world. As this is the case, Scout finds herself helping Atticus and this increases the relationship between father and daughter since Scout sees her father as a good role model. Even though Atticus isn’t seen as an ordinary father he is still seen as role model by his children, this implies that he must have done something right to make them approve of him. In comparison to Mr Ewell, Atticus is seen as a role model as he doesn’t smoke or drink. These bad habits that Atticus has refrained from have had an impact on the way his children have been brought up. Unlike Bob, Atticus cares for his children and tries to help the...
Three students kicked out of a high school for threatening to bring a gun to school. Why would they? Because people were prejudice against them because other students thought they were “losers”. Moral: You shouldn’t not like a person because they aren’t like you. Prejudice was far much worse in the time period of To Kill A Mockingbird. But, Prejudice is the reason for much social injustice. Three characters named Nathan Radley, Atticus Finch, and Aunt Alexandria show us this in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird.
Atticus Finch is a well-rounded and respected resident of Maycomb County, Alabama. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus takes on the duty of being an attorney and a single father of two adventurous children. He believes in equality among races, although a lot of Maycomb County’s white community thinks they are high and mighty compared to the black folk. In a time of injustice, Atticus represents an innocent black man accused of rape, making him respected among the black community. At home, Atticus taught his children important life lessons about equality and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Prejudice is arguably the most prominent theme of the novel. It is directed towards groups and individuals in the Maycomb community. Prejudice is linked with ideas of fear superstition and injustice.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about equality. In the setting of this book (Maycomb, Alabama) the inequality of races is completely normal to people’s everyday lives. The disrespect of African-Americans in this book is an ordinary occurrence that most people have grown up accustomed to, but there are some who don’t wish to be a part of this discrimination. One of these people being Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and Scout. Atticus uses the world around him to teach his children how to give all people respect no matter what their race or social class is. Atticus Finch is a good-hearted, moral lawyer in the discriminatory town of Maycomb Alabama. Amongst the blabbermouths and discriminatory townspeople of Maycomb, Atticus wants his children to be different from them, and to learn how to respect the dignity of everyone using the changes in their lives to teach them.
As Aunt Alexandra has been living with the family she has started judging Scout's clothes, "I could not, possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could so nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants" (Lee 108). As Scout grows, up she faces the force of adulthood, which involves her becoming more lady like. Once Scout realizes that she has to give up part of her past, she feel reluctant to do so. Aunt Alexandra tries to push Scout into the family legacy, but instead Scout feels the need to hide from the reality of moving on which means growing up. Scout wants to be herself and not forced to be a "Finch". She doesn't want to be molded into something or someone that she's not. Scout escapes the pressures of being a "lady" by hanging out with her brother and Father, where she was more at "home" and not surrounded by "hypocrites"- fragrant ladies. Scout's need and desires to be herself are not acceptable within her community and it pains her to convert to becoming a "Finch", a stereotypical Southern
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many different themes come into view. One major theme that played a big role in the character’s lives is racial prejudice. Racism is an unending problem throughout the book. The song “Message from a Black Man” by The Temptations has many similarities to the theme of racial discrimination. Therefore, both the novel and the song prove that racism was a great obstacle for some people at a point.
Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird In To Kill a Mockingbird, by author Harper Lee, several of the characters in the book share a similar character trait. Atticus Finch, Mrs. Dubose and Boo Radley all show courage throughout the book in their own individual ways. In different events, all three characters were faced with a challenge that they could either turn away from and accept or try to defeat. In Lee’s novel, a few of the main events that occur in the book include Atticus Finch defending a black man, Mrs. Dubose is challenged with overcoming an addiction, and Boo Radley must brave the outdoors to save the Radley children. Throughout the book, the characters change and one begins to understand what life in the small town of Maycomb is like, as the Finch family and friends grow and mature throughout the events happening while encountering social prejudice, courage, and the mockingbirds of life.
Atticus Finch is a very essential character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. He is not only the father on Jem and Scout, but he is also defending Tom Robinson. Along with all of the obstacles and challenges that Atticus faces he is still an exceptional role model for the children. He also overcomes the diversity of Negroes and whites that is displayed during his time by standing up and fighting for Tom Robinson and his triumph in court against Bob Ewell. Lee presents Atticus Finch as understanding of Tom Robinson, caring with the children, and calm throughout the Tom Robinson trial.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main character, “Scout” learns that there are two types of underprivileged people in this world. The first type of poor people are those such as the Cunningham’s, who are so humble, that they manage live with the very little that they have. The next types of poor people are those such as the Ewells, who are a load of filthy, drunkyards. This family takes everything for granted, without the least bit of appreciation. These two families are examples of the poor people in this world.
How would you like it if someone walked up to you and berated you based on the color of your skin? A characteristic like that isn’t even something you can control, so an insult of that nature can leave one furious and oppressed. Discrimination is inevitable in any culture, throughout history, in modern times, and even in ancient times. For example, the oppression and murder of 6 million Jewish people during the Holocaust, the African Slave Trade which occurred for multiple centuries, and more recently, the “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar, brought on by the government of the Asian nation, all of which are tragedies doomed to happen when history repeats itself and people do not learn
Whether it be about her gender, her age or even school classmates, she learns and develops maturity while being compassionate towards others. The conflict in the story greatly presents readers with the extensive character development of Scout, just by writing about conflict in her everyday life. After Atticus had chosen to support s colored man in his defense in a rape trial, not only did Atticus receive backlash, Scout had came across the backlash as well. During school Cecil Jacobs tells Scouts classmates that “her father defends niggers.” (Lee Chapter 9) Harper
Scout learns that by resisting prejudice, we often help others. For example, Scout sees Atticus defend Tom Robinson, despite the white people of the town’s disapproval. By defending Tom, Atticus paves a small pathway in Maycomb for black people to follow to attempt to raise their social status.
To Kill a Mockingbird as a coming of age novel Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird predominant theme portrays the difficult circumstances that some families had to deal with while growing up in the 1930s in the Southern United States. In addition, Harper Lee's novel is also a coming-of-age story that represents the innocence of the central character Scout, evolving into maturity as the result of sorrow and enduring many misfortunes. Scout is Jem’s sister and the young daughter of Atticus. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch is an extraordinary father and human being. Atticus teaches his kids and others about important life lessons such as principles, courage, and sacrifice.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about the coming of age by Harper Lee, in which she narrates the story through Scout Finch who describes her childhood. The novel begins with Scout living with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus, in Alabama’s town of Maycomb during the time of the Great Depression, Atticus is a lawyer and the Finch family are rich in comparison to others. Jem and Scout befriend Dill, who came to Maycomb for multiple summers. They become fascinated with a house on their street called the Radley Place and the mysterious and spooky character of Boo Radley. Scout goes to school for the first time and hates it. Scout