To Kill A Mockingbird Through out the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, there are many different powerful moments. Lee portrays the moment when Atticus is going to shoot Tim Johnson as a powerful moment as well as in chapter 15 when Scout is trying to talk to Mr. Cunningham but he does not respond. In the beginning of the moment Lee portrays the moment to be powerful by slowing down time and advancing pace towards the end of the moment. Tim Johnson is a sick dog that was walking along the Finches street and stopped by the Radleys house. He was walking at a “snails pace” (126) and “dedicated to one course” (126). He was “inching him towards” (126) Atticus and Mr. Tate where they were standing there with a gun. Here, Lee shows that Tim …show more content…
Mr. Cunningham has mob mentality, he is with a mob and they are all “sullen-looking, sleepy eyed men who seemed unused to late hours.” (204). In chapter 15 Scout is trying to talk to Mr. Cunningham but he does not pay a slight bit of attention to her and she keeps attempting to get him to notice her. When Scout first tried to talk, the men “seemed uncomfortable; he cleared his throat and looked away” (204). Here, you can see that the tension started when Scout first speaks and they decide to ignore her. She “began to sense the futility when one feels when unacknowledged” (205). Scout is only trying to be friendly “Hes a good boy” (205) when she is talking to Mr. Cunningham; she is unaware that the moment that she is in is very serious. She talks to him about his son, Walter “a real nice boy” (205). He still disregards her. Next, Scout took one more attempt to get Mr. Cunninghams attention, “Entailments are bad,” (205). Here, Scout received full attention from everyone. Lee shows the truth about the Cunninghams, pointing them out in front of the mob. Scout breaks the mob mentality. As a result, Lee creates tension throughout this moment and makes this powerful to the
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. You know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was misperceived at first. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names, but after he led Santa’s sleigh, they loved him. Misperceptions like this happen all throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As you read the novel you see original judgments made about characters transform into new conceptions and new understandings. Some characters twist your views of them on purpose, others do it involuntarily. To Kill a Mockingbird shows this happening over and over again. All you have to do is look for it.
Then you can understand better why a person acts or believes what he does. Only at the end of the novel does Scout finally learn to respect this saying. Until then, she remains curious and confused as to why Boo never came out of his house. In the meantime, she goes through a series of maturing experiences. She learns how to see her from the teachers point of view; she tries to judge the Cunninghams and the Ewells from their side; she bears the insults of the town and particularly the apparent viciousness of Mrs. Duboes.
Before the statement, she liked to assume information and had little understanding of others. During her first day of school, Scout spoke to Miss Caroline and Scout stated,”Walter’s one of the Cunninghams” (26). She just assumed that Miss Caroline understood these things about Maycomb. However, after Atticus makes the statement about understanding from another’s point of view, Scout turns into a new woman. She even finds herself understanding Boo Radley when she recalled,”Atticus was right… just standing on the Radley porch was enough” (374). Scout has started to gain the quality of understanding people from their points of
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, Harper Lee's, To Kill a Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior, to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, and the struggle between blacks and whites. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and single parent in a small southern town in the 1930's, is appointed by the local judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, who is accused of raping a white woman. Friends and neighbors object when Atticus puts up a strong and spirited defense on behalf of the accused black man. Atticus renounces violence but stands up for what he believes in. He decides to defend Tom Robinson because if he did not, he would not only lose the respect of his children and the townspeople, but himself as well.
It all took place in the quiet Alabama town of Maycomb, which was also during the Great Depression. Scout Finch lives with her brother, Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus. Atticus is an honest lawyer, so they are doing quite well compared to everyone else during those tough times. Jem and Scout befriended a boy named Dill one summer who came to live in the neighborhood close to them. Later on, Dill become curious about a weird yet spooky house in their street called the Radley place. Mr. Nathan Radley is the owner of the house, whose brother, Arthur (nicknamed Boo), has lived there for years without adventuring outside. That fall, Scout goes to school for the first time and ended up loathing it. In the knothole of a tree on the Radley property, Scout and her brother find gifts. That summer, Dill is back and the three of them try to figure out Boo Radleys story. But their father puts a stop to it, trying to explain to them to try to see life from another person’s perspective before judging or thinking anything bad about them. The three sneak onto t...
Courage is valued in many ways. It is measured by bravery, heroism, physical strength, and morally correct behavior. The world mostly defines courage as having physical strength and being brave. Atticus, Scout, and Jem show many acts of courage through the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. They all have different views and opinions on courage. The novel is told from the point of view of Scout. She, and her brother Jem, live with their widowed father in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Their father, Atticus, is also a lawyer who defends his black client, Tom Robinson, who is innocent of rape. The title To Kill A Mockingbird explains that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” because they “make music for us to enjoy” (Lee 119). In other words, the mockingbirds are harmless and have never done anything wrong. It would be considered a sin to kill a harmless and peaceful mockingbird. Similarly, accusing an innocent and
Courage can be revealed in numerous ways, but it isn’t until one stands by their morals that true courage is expressed. Throughout “To Kill a Mockingbird,” many acts of true courage have been conveyed through the characters’ thoughts and actions of sticking by their morals. Harper Lee suggests that standing by one’s own morals is the truest form of courage.
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, there were many lessons that were taught. Atticus was a lawyer who taught his son Jem and daughter Scout many different values. Atticus felt that one of the most important values was to put yourself in someone else's shoes before you judge them. He also taught them to respect others. Scout was a wild girl and always got into fights with other guys; Atticus showed her that fighting doesn't solve anything.
The most essential responsibility of a parent is to keep their children safe; most will not intentionally but their children in harm’s way. Harper Lee writes about a parent whose children are endangered and altered because of a decision that he makes. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch chooses to represent Tom Robinson in court, putting his children in potential danger, earning respect from numerous people surrounding him, and teaching his kids valuable life lessons; if individuals always chose to do what is right, instead of settling for the easy solution, difficulties could be often eliminated.
In the early twentieth century, the United States was undergoing a dramatic social change. Slavery had been abolished decades before, but the southern states were still attempting to restrict social interaction among people of different races. In particular, blacks were subject to special Jim Crow laws which restricted their rights and attempted to keep the race inferior to whites. Even beyond these laws, however, blacks were feeling the pressure of prejudice. In the legal system, blacks were not judged by a group of their peers; rather, they were judged by a group of twelve white men. In serious court cases involving capital offenses, the outcome always proved to be a guilty verdict. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the plot revolves around a Depression-era court case of a black man accused of raping a white woman. The defendant Tom Robinson is presumed guilty because of one thing alone: the color of his skin.
To Kill A Mockingbird takes place during the 1930’s, a time of economic slump and despair. During this time, especially in Alabama, racism was copious. Naturally, Maycomb landed into the racist manifest. The town abhorred Atticus Finch for his acts of defending Tom Robinson. The immensity of the prejudice is so abundant, no one would dare go against what is politically correct. Unless, of course, equipped with enough moral courage. Harper Lee illustrates that Atticus is a man with an immense amount of courage and sense of justice. Atticus Finch proves to us how the defeat of prejudice is possible with moral courage. Atticus is very aware “[Tom Robinson] [will] face the chair, but not until the truth’s told” (195). Atticus refuses to allow a man, so clearly innocent, to face the chair without the unpardonable truth being told. It is prominent that black people face extreme prejudice and racism, and due to this are convicted much faster. Atticus’ moral courage to defend Tom Robinson made the decision last so long, that Judge Taylor fell “sound asleep” (280). The jury took roughly 6 hours to inescapably convict Tom guilty. The tremendous amount of time it took to convict Tom Robinson made Atticus think “ this may be the shadow of a beginning. That jury took a few hours. An inevitable verdict, maybe, but usually it takes ‘em just a few minutes” (297). Atticus states that maybe things are different, now. Maybe all the evidence against Tom being able to commit the crime was taken into consideration rather than solely the fact that he is black. Atticus’ moral courage defeated the prejudice for a short period of tim , but a period of time nonetheless. If perhaps, the jury had as much moral courage as Atticus, then they would speak up for what is true. Another instance where moral courage oversteps prejudice is when Boo Radley, the Finch’s
Atticus Finch, was an important figure in the novel. Not just as a character, but also as a major influence for other characters. He himself though, may be one of the, if not the person who shows the most amount of courage in the story. He exemplifies courage in many situations, the most major ones being tom Robinson’s trial, the killing of Tim Johnson, and his desire to teach that courage to his children, all symbolizing him being the catalyst to eradicating racism in that town. Tom Robinson’s trial is the biggest example of such courage as he is protecting a man whom is wrongf...
Atticus is a major influence on Scout’s identity. He tells Scout, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (33). Atticus’s counsel teaches Scout to never judge someone until she is aware of their reasoning. This guidance helps Scout to interact with the people around her. One example of when she used Atticus’s advice is against the lynch mob. She convinces Mr. Cunningham to leave by talking to him about what he cared about. This interaction shows how an individual’s connection to family members affects his judgement and, therefore, his character. In addition, Atticus expands on this advice later in the novel, stating, “The one thing that...
The themes of racism and innocence are explicit in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. There are many examples of discrimination in the story where one’s innocence is lost. Arthur Radley is isolated in his own home because of the spread of false rumors. Racism causes Tom Robinson, a black man to lose his life, even though he is innocent. Those who support blacks are judged, like Atticus, Jem and Scout. How does discrimination affect those who are innocent? In the novel, a mockingbird represents innocence; it represents Atticus, Tom Robinson, and Arthur Radley. These characters are always criticised because of some kind of discrimination, whether it be rumors, their skin colour or their character, even though they are innocent. Through the characters of Atticus, Tom Robinson, and Arthur Radley, Harper Lee demonstrates that discrimination destroys those who are innocent, which leads to character judgement, loss of life and isolation.
This is the sense of courage he tries to instill in his son, Jem. Atticus defines courage in Jem. "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (112). A man with a gun, in his eyes, is not a man, but a coward.