Major Themes in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Introduction

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in 1903. This novel is basically a coming of age story for a young girl named Scout and her older brother named Jem. Who grows up in a time where racism is normal. They soon learn to stand up for what is right, just like their dad, Atticus.

The Coexistence of Good and Evil

The most important theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is the Coexistence of good and evil. The novel approaches this theme in many ways throughout the book. An example is Mrs.Dubose in general. She was a rude old women who was hated by the neighbourhood for her attitude. “Neighbourhood opinion was unanimous that Mrs. Dubose was the meanest old woman who ever lived”(Lee 35). She never was pleased with anything anyone did for her.

Anyway, even though she hated everyone she made her hatred for African American people very evident when the topic of atticus and his decision to defend Tom Robinson came up, she clearly shows her disagreement towards that as well. She was outraged so much that she would take time out of her day by directly insulting Scout and Jem every time they would pass by her house. “Your father’s no better than the african americans he works for!”(Lee 102). She believed it was very bad for a white man to help a African American man or any African American person for that matter.

Regardless of her bad qualities, she has some good qualities such as her heroism. Later in the story we find out that Mrs.Dubose was a drug addict who eventually decides to quit before she dies. The only thing that got her through the day was listening to Jem read. Mrs.Dubose’s meaness and heroism shows that good qualities do co-exist with bad qualities in a character.

In comparison to th...

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...elped Mrs.Dubose get through her sickness. She wanted Jem to know that she appreciated his help. "It was her way of tellin’ you everything is all right now, Jem, everything's alright"(Lee Chapter 11).

In comparison to the World War ll in A Spearate Peace, The war affected Genes characteristics and his attitude causing him to change and create a sort of defense net against finny. In contrast World War II is actually happening in the background of a separate peace while in to kill a mockingbird Mrs.Dubose’s war is overcoming her addiction to morphine.

Conclusion

To summaries to kill a mockingbird shows a realistic view of how thing used to be in the 1930's. The book basically reminds the reader how important it is to stand up for what is right, even if nobody else thinks so and not to judge people. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys realistic books.