Childhood in To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

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The Theme of Childhood in To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

'To Kill A Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee and 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Brontë are two very different books written in different periods of history. There are, however, similarities in the themes and background. For example, both books were written during times of great social upheaval and strife.

In 'To Kill A Mocking Bird', the world was still very racist and it was not until some twenty years after the book was written that men like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X started to bring about real reforms. 'Jane Eyre' was slightly different as this was set during a time when the masses of overworked and underpaid Victorians were being given greater freedoms and more time in which to have these freedoms. Both books are written from a first person point of view, with a narrative voice. In 'To Kill A Mocking Bird', the narrative voice is the voice of 'Scout', a small girl and in 'Jane Eyre', Jane herself takes the role of narrator. Both books are also Fictional Autobiographies. This means that they chronicle, if not directly, the lives of the authors. The two books (in the first chapters) revolve strongly around the themes of childhood. The way that these themes are introduced affects the whole book and the way that characters react to one another.

'To Kill A Mocking Bird' starts with two paragraphs that summarize the entire book. It tells the reader of the beginning, middle and end of the book. It also introduces the way in which the story will be told and five of the most important characters. For eight paragraphs, there is nothing but description of the Finch family. It is here that childhood really starts to be introduced. The language used is almost entirely superfluous, very descriptive uses many effective, if childish, techniques such as "There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with" (repetition) and very descriptive phrases such as "A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer".

Description of characters is done in two highly differing ways in 'To Kill A Mocking Bird', the first being the adult and formal manner: "Jem and I found our Father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment.

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