To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
"There's four kinds of folks in the world. There's the ordinary kind
like us and the neighbors, there's the kind like the Cunninghams out
in the woods, the kind like the
Ewells down at the damp and the Negroes". Jemchapter 23
What do we learn about the Maycomb society in "To Kill A Mocking
Bird"?
'To Kill a Mockingbird' is set out in Maycomb, a town Harper Lee has
narrated the story from Scout's standpoint. However she incessantly
replaces her approach in order to give a more adult opinion about the
events and experiences that happen in the book. She has interconnected
Maycomb with her home town Monroeville, Alabamaand Scout being
herself. Harper Lee has used colloquial language to add a twist of
central realism and true characterization in the novel.Harper Lee
hasreportedly has also used a sharp tongue, swears liberally and has
taken a keen sense of humour.
"Maycomb was an old town but it was a tired old town when I first knew
it…" As Scout has said Maycomb was an old town. It inter connects the
negative things that we can find in the novel made Maycomb. Maycomb
with old beliefs, old customs and old racist views about everyone,
even themselves, had developed racist subdivisions in their quiet
community as it says in the beginning of chapter one that 'It was a
quiet town' with 'nowhere to go, no one to go with'. The quote give us
an overall introduction as to what Haprper Lee has introduced as
Maycomb instead of Monroeville
The book is set in the 1930's but was originally written in the
1950's. Referring to the main context of the book, there is certain
real-life relevance...
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...d by factors like racism,
prejudice, educational system and the strong discrimination against
the Black community. The society is resistant to change, even after
the abolishment of slavery. Another factor that joins the list is
Hypocrisy, the white feeling superior to the Black people. Figures
like Mrs. Perkins represent Hypocrisy in the missionary circle .
However broad minded people like Atticus Finch have strong disbelief
in these Hypo critic factors. Reputation of the different categories
was taken very seriously in the society. Negroes who belonged at the
bottom of the triangle were neglected strongly by most of the white
community. In the end I would like to comment that the three basic
morals for the novel represent, not to be prejudice, not to kill
innocence and finally to achieve morals education is important.
Scout learned a number of things in the book, but most of them all refer back to a statement that Atticus and Calpurnia said, which goes, “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do is sing their hearts our for us.” (Lee, pg. 90). Scout learned that about people, too. She learned that some people don’t do anything to you, so it would be a sin to do something mean in return. Over the course of the story Scout becomes more mature and learns the most important facts of life. She was living through a very difficult time and most of that helped her get through.
Maycomb is seen as old, tires, and a sleepy town where nothing happens. The time period is in the early 1930’s during the Great Depression. Most people were poor and farm owners were short on money. In Maycomb there was not much around. In the text it says, “People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuffled in and out of the stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb
The theme of these two chapters is that Dill, and Jem wanted to go to the Radely house to get a peep at Boo Radely through the blinds. Scout feels uneasy about it but despite Jem’s wishes refuses to go home. He gets shot at with a gun while trying to escape. He lost his pants while escaping and when he went back to get them they where laid out on the fence like they where expecting Jem to come back. The next day every body was talking about it, they all thought Mr. Radely shot at a black man but missed. It seemed like Mr. Radely knew it was Jem though. Jem and Nathan Radley each said hi and Mr. Radely was talking about filling his tree with cement even though it was perfectly healthy. Jem found this strange.
Irony is the opposite of what is and what seems to be. Harper Lee uses irony in
Harper Lee’s timeless novel To Kill a Mockingbird is told by Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, a fiery young girl from the quiet town of Maycomb, Alabama. In defiance of the traditionally passive role of Southern women, Scout grew up as a tomboy and, like her older brother Jem, was unafraid to engage other children in physical confrontations. At the onset of the novel, Scout displayed these aggressive tendencies, fighting classmates whom she believed had wronged her or her family. However, Scout developed as a character in the first half of To Kill a Mockingbird to the extent that she was willing to walk away from fights that weren’t worth fighting. Scout’s willingness to engage in combat with other children early on in the novel was evident in the description of her treatment of Walter Cunningham after being punished for explaining his financial situation to her teacher. Scout described this fight, saying, “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop...Jem said, ‘…Scout here…she won’t fight you anymore.’ ‘I wouldn’t be too certain of that,’ I said” (Lee 30-31). As evidenced by this description, Scout had a quick temper and was just as willing as many of her male classmates to fight others, reflecting the combative sense of justice common to the children of her day. A key tenant of her aggressive morality was an unwillingness to turn away from a fight for fear of being called a coward. Scout held these beliefs throughout the beginning of the novel and fought many other children to defend her reputation. However, through moral instruction from her father, Atticus Finch, Scout was able to abandon much of her aggression. She grew to recognize...
group in his society. In the quote ." . . If I didn't take this case
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which is one of the best books, is filled with incredible connections and fantastic foreshadowing. Once you pick up this book, you will need the key of being able to dissect the book in order to unlock its full potential. Through the three-and-a-half year-long journey that is To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee takes Jeremy Atticus Finch and Jean Louise Finch through a never-ending pile of events. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about Jem and Scout Finch and their childhood in Maycomb, Alabama. Their lives consist of a never-ending-chain-of-events, many interesting and unique people, and life’s lessons that give Jem, Scout, and Atticus a fresh view of the world. Not many people have actually seen and experienced Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley, and this leads to incorrect thoughts about each character. Tom and Boo have a lot of good in them. They are both like Mockingbirds because they are both innocent humans harmed by the evil of mankind. In Harper Lee’s novel, both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are innocent characters, but Boo’s kindness is hidden by rumors and Tom’s generosity is hidden by stereotypes.
The actions the black characters in the novel To kill a Mockingbird perfectly demonstrates how to act justly. Calpurnia was one of the characters who acted justly. When Calpurnia brings Jem Finch and Scout Finch to her church, Lula, another member of the First Purchase Church congregation tells Calpurnia, the housekeeper of Atticus Finch that she "ain’t got not business bringin’ white chillum here… it’s our church ain’t it Miss Cal?" (Lee,) Lula is saying that the First Purchase Church is a church for black people only, meaning the white people are not allowed. When Calpurnia brings Jem and Scout to "their" church, Lula is upset because Jem and Scout are white, so she was not pleased to see them there. However, when Calpurnia hears her prejudice comment against her kids, she defends herself by saying "It's the same God, ain't it?" (Lee,) Calpurnia is acting justly because she is defending white folks.
Scout Finch is not the stereotypical girl from the 1930’s. Agents the wishes of everyone around her, she grows up in overalls instead of dresses. Scout plays in the dirt and sand, instead of in the kitchen. In the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee, Scout is the wild spirited narrator, growing up in the small town of Maycomb. As she gets older, she learns mostly from her father Atticus how to interact with people. Scout learns to show dignity and respect to everyone, under any circumstances.
Mood helps in creating an atmosphere in a literary work by means of setting, theme, diction and tone. Throughout the book To kill a mockingbird the author wanted the mood to be sorrowful or vexed or just fret about how the people are acting because seeing how things were being treated or how people acted would be enough to make you feel angry or sad or worried for the people who were in the book. You always wanted to know what was going to come next or how something would end. Vex was a very prominent mood in this story and is definitely the most relevant.
In the opening chapters of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Harper Lee introduces several subtle instances of racism. However, when Jem and Scout are welcomed into Cal’s Church in chapter 12, the reader really gets to travel behind the false disguise of Maycomb County’s white society to see the harsh realities of the injustices suffered by the blacks. The black community is completely separate from the whites -- in fact, Cal lives in a totally different part of town!
Nelle Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird has been considered one of the classic works of American literature. To Kill A Mockingbird is the work ever published by Nelle Harper Lee, and it brought her great fame. However, Nelle Harper Lee has published several other articles in popular magazines. Nelle Harper Lee is not an individual who desires to be in the light and little is known about her personal life. At the time it is believed she is possible working on her memoirs. The fictional work of To Kill A Mockingbird plots many elements close to real events in America’s struggle over civil rights.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee seems like a complete replica of the lives of people living in a small Southern U.S. town. The themes expressed in this novel are as relevant today as when this novel was written, and also the most significant literary devices used by Lee. The novel brings forward many important themes, such as the importance of education, recognition of inner courage, and the misfortunes of prejudice. This novel was written in the 1930s. This was the period of the “Great Depression” when it was very common to see people without jobs, homes and food. In those days, the rivalry between the whites and the blacks deepened even more due to the competition for the few available jobs. A very famous court case at that time was the Scottsboro trials. These trials were based on the accusation against nine black men for raping two white women. These trials began on March 25, 1931. The Scottsboro trials were very similar to Tom Robinson’s trial. The similarities include the time factor and also the fact that in both cases, white women accused black men.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee contain a very engaging family who are the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams are very poor; they are people who live in the woods. They are a family who depend highly on crops. Walter Cunningham, the 'father' of the family has to work hard on the cultivation of crops because crops is the only form of wages for them. The Cunninghams have no money. Their only way to survive is through paying others with their crops. The Cunninghams are not main characters in the book, but they are characters who 'brought out' other characters' personality. Harper Lee displays that there is a lot of prejudice going on in Maycomb by putting the Cunninghams in the book. "The Cunninghams [were] country folks, farmers"(21) who are very honest people in Maycomb, they "never took anything they [could not] pay back"(23), but they are unfairly mistreated by part of the society in Maycomb.
Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She is the youngest of four children, which is why she says she has a knack for writing. She devoted her life to writing and even gave up other jobs that she loved like working for the airline company and going to college. Her first attempt at writing “To Kill a Mocking Bird” was declined by every publisher, because she only wrote a series of short stories. Upon revising the book, she made it into one of the best selling novels around. She was even congratulated by those publishers that said she would never be able to write books well enough. That was all the motivation that she needed.