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To kill a mockingbird literary analysis
Analysis to kill a mockingbird
To kill a mockingbird analysis
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This section from the book To Kill a Mockingbird explains the title. Throughout the entire book Harper Lee talks about Boo and mentions that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird since they don't harm anyone. Boo Radley is just like the mockingbird. He is innocent and even saves them from Mr. Ewell. When Boo saves their lives by killing Mr. Ewell he shows that goodness does exist in him but it was corrupted by the evil of the outside world.
When you kill a mockingbird you are killing an innocent creature and in the passage it shows Boo was once innocent. He only killed Mr. Ewell to help Scout and doesn’t deserve the torment of the public. Scout realizes that Boo cannot handle the messiness of the world. She compares it to killing a mockingbird because she knows the more Boo experiences the world the more corrupt he will become so he doesn't need the attention. The title To Kill a Mockingbird really means to destroy innocence.
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Tom Robinson was found guilty and the children realize the evils of human nature. Jem loses faith in humanity and justice when he discovers the racism in the trail. Atticus teaches Jem that he needs to understand that people can be evil but to never lose faith in humanity. The children learn this moral through the trial and through
It teaches them to not be prejudice and get to know a person before making a judgement. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley, was frowned upon by many people in the Maycomb community. He was rumoured to have been locked in the basement by his father and older brother after an incident involving scissors. Though never seen stepping outside his house, he intrigues yet also frightens Scout, Jem and their friend Dill. After different events in the novel, the children come to find that Boo Radley is not intimidating, but a man who due to his father, is emotionally damaged. Miss Maudie, a neighbour of the Finch’s, explains to Scout that "Mockingbirds don 't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don 't eat up people 's gardens, don 't nest in corncribs, they don 't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That 's why it 's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The mockingbird is a symbol for innocent people, who are judged for no reason. Like the mockingbird, Boo Radley has people prejudiced against him when he is an innocent man. By using this metaphor, the reader is able to understand the link between Boo Radley and the innocence and morality. As well as the mockingbird, he also symbolises goodness. By secretly watching over Scout and Jem, he protects them from later being attacked by Bob Ewell, a symbol of evil. When Jem and Scout begin to trust Boo, they are paying the highest tribute they could pay him.
He is a mockingbird because he does no harm to anybody except for Bob Ewell. Mockingbirds don't do harm, rather they bring pleasure and comfort to people. Atticus even says "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 90). He says this because Mockingbirds are so innocent just like Boo. Miss Maudie even adds to Atticus saying "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 90). This quote relates to Boo because instead of singing, Boo was like a mockingbird in his house leaving gifts and helping the children. For example, he leaves gum and coins for the children and when Jem was running and got his pants hooked on the fence, Boo folded it nicely and left it there for him. This represents how Boo is a very innocent and loving
A symbol in literature is an object that stands for a word, cause, belief, or another object. A metaphor is a figure of speech where a word of phrase is applied to something but it should not be taken literally. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird symbolizes innocence. The mockingbird is innocent, singing for people to hear its music. In the book Atticus says to Scout, “Remember it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.” When Scout asked Miss Maudie about it, Miss Maudie tells her, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… but they sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Killing something so innocent would be a sin because it had never done anything to hurt you.
Normally children do not attend court cases, especially since they are difficult to understand and follow. However, Scout and Jem are eager to see their father in court because it has been the topic of the neighborhood for weeks and countless people have been speaking poorly of him. While they are watching the trial, they learn many new things that cause them to grow up faster than they would have. They are exposed to several injustices in the world, such as racism, and they begin to understand how judgemental people are and how it affects their views on others. At first Scout and Jem do not know why people are critical towards their father, but as the trial proceeds they soon realize that their father is defending an African American, for which he has earned everyone’s hate. They begin to understand how judgemental people are and how it affects their views on others. With this information, Scout and Jem learn to decide what they believe according to evidence and facts. For example, while they are are watching the case, Jem thinks that Atticus is winning, however from Scout’s point of view it
In the courtroom that night it is revealed that the alleged crimes of Tom Robinson, a decent Negro man, most likely did not happen. As Atticus says in his closing argument, "The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is” (Lee 271). Showing the clear innocence of Tom Robinson due to lack of evidence, Scout thinks that the white jury will do the right thing only to find out that they still, unfairly, accuse him of being guilty. Scout and her brother, Jem, get very upset when they hear the verdict, however, it allows them both to learn the lesson that the county is unfair towards anyone who is not white. The county demonstrates this evil racism due to the social divisions in Maycomb between the whites and the blacks and because the whites see the blacks as unworthy of rights and freedoms. It was not just the trial itself that displayed evil in the world, but the comments and arguments surrounding the case did
Boo Radley is the next door neighbor of the Finch’s. He is an outsider of the community, because he does not leave the house. He got in some trouble as a teenager, so his father locked him up inside the house. After his father died, his brother moved in with him. While Boo was locked up inside is house, the people of Maycomb County made up stories about him. The legend of Boo Radley was well-known to the people of Maycomb. Jem describes Boo, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (Lee ). Boo is an innocent character because all he does stay inside his own house, and does not bother anybody. Yet the entire town believes that he could be a murderer. Harper Lee is showing that if you do not fit into southern society, they will make you into an outsider and a bad legend. Another example of Boo Radley being an innocent character is when he gives a blanket to Scout. Miss Maudie Atkinson, one of the Finch’s neighbors, had a house fire. Atticus (Scout and Jem’s father) woke up the kids and made them go outside, in case the fire spread to their house. While Scout was not looking someone gave her a blanket, “‘Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.’ ‘Thank who?’ I asked. ‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.’”(Lee ). Boo Radley is an innocent character because he helped warm up Scout in the cold, yet Scout was still scared that Boo had been near here. Harper Lee is showing us that Boo could do a nice thing, and yet Scout would still be scared because of his reputation. Finally, another
o begin, it’s amiss to be vile towards the innocent. Tom robinson had just been convicted guilty of rape, mainly due to his skin tone, since there was good evidence proving his innocence, and questionable evidence saying otherwise. In chapter 22, Lee writes, “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears. . . . ‘It ain’t right, Atticus,’ said Jem. ‘No son, it’s not right.’” (Lee 284). This quote is saying how it was wrong to convict Tom, guilty of rape. Events like these can ruin innocence, just like it did to the children opening the door to adultery, exposing them to all the racism and prejudice in the world. The children learn that Maycomb is not as great as they had thought, many people are racist and make prejudice
The Significance of the Title To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee In this novel, the most significant symbol is the mocking bird. A mocking bird is a type of Finch: a small, discrete bird with a. beautiful song, which mocks or imitates the other birds' song. One of the most explicit references made about mocking birds is that in chapter 10. Atticus is telling Scout and Jem how to use their shotguns for the first time, he says, 'Shoot all the bluejays you.
This excerpt depicts that Scout understands how turning in Boo for doing a good deed would be comparable to that of killing a mockingbird. Killing a mockingbird in these times was considered a sin due to the fact that they were completely harmless. This relates to the topic sentence because Scout compares Boo to a mockingbird, more specifically she compares the innocence of the two. She sees that a mockingbird does nothing except make music, similarly to Boo who does nothing except mind his own business and in the end save the Finch kids and the town from the burden of Mr.Ewell. Neither of the creatures cause any harm to anyone, so they should not be punished for their simple ways.
In conclusion, in the journey for Scout and Jem to become good people, the children have experienced important life lessons. The kids learned not judge a person from rumors heard with the help of Boo Radley. The also learned what true bravery is since it was demonstrated by Mrs. Dubose and Atticus Finch. The last lesson they learned was that the world is unfair by the Tom Robinson case. When you experience life lessons rather than being taught them, you learn them more effectively and understand how apply the lessons in real life to become a good person.
In addition, Scout learns about morality from Atticus after she is taunted at school. Cecil Jacobs begins giving Scout trouble at school because Atticus is defending a black man. Scout isn’t sure what he means by that or why it is such a bad thing, so she consults Atticus to learn more about the matter. Atticus explains to Scout that he is defending Tom Robinson, a black man, in a trial. Atticus says he has to do it although he knows he isn’t going to win, he says “‘ If I didn’t I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t this county in the state legislature. I couldn't even tell you and Jem not to do something again’’’ (100). Atticus wants to fight for what he believes is right, even if there is almost no chance of him winning. In addition, Atticus asks Scout not to fight when someone makes comments about him or this case. Through Atticus actions, Scout learns to have integrity, even if it means making tough decisions. For example, Scout walks away from a
One of which is 'Atticus Finch' as he is shown as one of the main
Tom Robinson’s trial, and in fact his entire life, was badly affected by racism. It is truly a testament to the corruption of society when a person who has earned a bad reputation is held in higher esteem than a person who was born with it, as is the case with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Even though Tom was obviously honest in his testament, the jury sided with Bob Ewell because he was white. They made this decision despite the fact that the Ewell family was widely known to be a worthless part of society. Jem, not being racially prejudiced, could not understand this mentality. As Atticus pointed out, “If you (Jem) had been on the jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man.”
The story is called “to Kill a Mockingbird”. In the story there’s one reference to killing mockingbirds which also has a reason why not to kill them: Atticus says to his children to never kill a mockingbird because its a sin. He says its a sin because the mockingbird makes music for everyone. On the other hand he says its okay to kill blue jays because they hurt society by eating from peoples yards and living in corn cribs. Atticus knows how to shoot better than anyone else, but he doesn’t keep a shotgun. This shows he’s a noble man who doesn’t believe killing a solution to anything. Atticus is a lawyer, and he was chosen to represent Tom, because he’s the only one who might be
Atticus learns what had really happened from Scout?s explanation of what she had seen, and heard when Bob Ewell attacked them while walking back from the school play. He understood that Bob Radley killed Bob Ewell in order to save Jem?s life. Atticus does not want to send Boo to court for the fact that Boo saved his children?s life. When Scout and Jem got their BB guns they wanted to shoot the mockingbird, when Atticus said, ??Well, It?d be sort of like shootin? a mockingbird, wouldn?t it??? He explains that it is a sin to shoot mockingbirds because they do not harm us. Boo Radley is just like the mockingbird he stays inside and does not harm others, instead he saves Atticus children. Sending Boo to court would be like shooting a mockingbird. ??That is a sad house? he always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did.?? Miss Maudie Said. When Jem and Scout talks about the reasons Boo is...