More handpicked essays just for you.
Symbolism in to kill mockingbird
Symbolism essay to kill a mockingbird
Civil disobedience during the civil rights
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The act of civil disobedience existed for a long time, dating back to the Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and early Christians. The height of the civil rights movement was the 1950’s to 1960’s. During this time period, many activists fought for racial equality and rights. Civil disobedience was practiced by these people who fought for racial equality and rights. Martin Luther King Jr. and Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mocking Bird used civil disobedience as an act of fighting back against injustice in order for a better society. These two people, Martin Luther King Jr. and Atticus Finch, of the time of the 20th century practiced civil disobedience in the name of justice.
The first person, Martin Luther King Jr., wanted rights for the mistreated colored community. He protested and was placed into jailed due to his belief in racial equality. Marin Luther King Jr. describes the situation of a colored person as, “…never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments,
…show more content…
when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodyness’.” (King) This quote illustrates how the colored people feel due to mistreatment and the brutal behavior towards the colored community. Seeing this, King, non-violating the rules of the First Amendment, decided to protest and fight for the equal rights they deserved. By protesting, he in a way, practiced civil disobedience in the form of protesting. He was denied his right for a peaceful protest as stated in the First Amendment. He explains that, “nothing is wrong with an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust.” (King.) King, following all rules is arrested for practicing what the police claim, civil disobedience. Martin Luther King Jr., who tried to stop racial injustice, resorted to civil disobedience. In conclusion, Martin Luther King Jr. practice civil disobedience in the name of justice. Another person who acted in a familiar manner as Martin Luther King Jr.
was Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. In this novel Atticus is defending Tom Robinson in his case. He was called a, “Nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don't mean anything—like snot-nose. It's hard to explain—ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves…. I certainly am [a nigger-lover]. I do my best to love everybody” (Lee 144). This quote illustrate how Atticus has nothing against colored people and treats them as how he would treat his normal clients. During his court trial, the white people kept on questioning why he defends Tom Robinson. “’If you shouldn't be defendin' him, then why are you doin' it?’ ‘For a number of reasons,’ said Atticus” (Lee 100). Atticus knows that society wouldn’t accept his actions and thus, he is practicing civil disobedience. Like King, Finch also practice civil disobedience in the name of
justice. The two, Atticus Finch and Martin Luther King Jr. both practiced civil disobedience against racial injustice to make the world a home for multiple colors. Both helped the minority group who was being mistreated in many unfair ways. King protested for the African Americans while Finch defended them. They both practiced civil disobedience in the name of justice and made society fair.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is a lawyer who defends Tom Robinson, an African American man, against the Ewell family in court. Malcolm Gladwell is the writer of “The Courthouse Ring: Atticus Finch and the limits of Southern Liberalism”, where he discusses that Atticus Finch is an activist. Lance McMillian responds to Malcolm Gladwell’s critique of Atticus in “Atticus Finch as Racial Accommodator: Answering Gladwell’s Critique”, where overall he says that Atticus is not an accommodator but an activist. Lance McMillan's view of Atticus Finch is incorrect compared to Malcolm Gladwell because Atticus is an accommodator by not fighting against institutional racism.
“Atticus said that he was defending a Negro by the name of Tom Robinson.” This quote shows that Atticus is defending an African American. In that time period this was looked down a upon because racism toward African American was beyond common. Why Atticus being shunned for defending a black man shows the theme of racism in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is the way people treated Atticus and his family for doing this. “I was ready to punch Cecil Jacobs in the face.
The civil rights movement, by many people, is though to have happened during the 1950's and 1960's. The truth of the matter is that civil right has and always will be an ongoing issue for anyone who is not of color. The civil rights movement started when the black slave started arriving in America centuries ago. The civil rights movement is one of the most known about issues in American history. Everyone at some point in their life has studied this movement. This movement is particularly interesting due to the massive amounts of different stories and occurrences through the course of the movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a vital figurehead to this movement. He inspired many people who had lived their whole lives in the shadow of fear of change.
Atticus Finch is another victim of prejudice in the novel. After accepting to defend Tom Robinson, the town doesn't treat Atticus as an equal. The people of Maycomb believe that Atticus should not present a proper defense for a black person. Atticus doesn't care for this because he believes in equal rights. Atticus does not believe in racism or prejudice. Many people believe that Atticus should not defend a black person in court. This is because many people in Maycomb think a black person is guilty before anything is announced. While Atticus is defending Tom, Atticus makes the jury think differently about Bob Ewell. This makes Bob threaten and disrespect Atticus and his family. Atticus is not bothered by this because he knows he is doing the
The Finches are a well-known family in Maycomb, as well as very respected. However, they are still hounded by the people of Maycomb, including their own family because of their values, as well as their race. Many times, throughout the novel, Atticus is called a “nigger-lover”. Scout encounters this when her cousin, Francis, says, “I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family” (110). In this quote, Francis is insulting Atticus in front of Scout because of his choice to defend
The Civil Rights Movement symbolized the challenge and opposition to the racial injustices and segregation that had been engrained in American society for hundreds of years. Events that took place in the 1950s and 1960s, such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the March on Washington, sit-ins, speeches and numerous protests define this momentous time in United States history. Speeches during this period served as a means to inspire and assemble a specific group of people, for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X it was the black community that needed to rise up in hopes of achieving equal rights and voting rights for the blacks.
Atticus should not give up his character, parental authority, and position in town to please the racist beliefs of others in Maycomb. Atticus cannot stand racism and says, "As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash. " Atticus should take a stand and defend Tom Robinson, to treat his children with valuable lessons and to keep his conscience clean. For these reasons, it does make sense for Atticus Finch to defend Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Towards the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus decides to represent a colored man by the man of Tom Robinson, who is being accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewell’s daughter. Atticus believes that Tom is innocent, but he does not think that Tom will be found not guilty because of they way the townsfolk treat colored people. They treat them like dirt; like they are worth nothing. Atticus went ahead and represented Tom despite the fact that he knew the townsfolk would call himself and his children names and treat them disrespectfully. Even Scout’s relative Francis said rude things about them. “‘I guess it ain't your fault if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I'm here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family-...’ ‘Just what I said. Grandma says it's bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he's turned out a nigger-lover we'll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin. He's ruinin' the family, that's what he's doin'.’” Atticus set a good example for Scout and Jem. He had a difficult decision to make, but he chose what he thought was
Throughout the time approaching the trial, Atticus is commonly called a, “N****r Lover.” Mrs. Dubose even says, “Yes indeed, what has this world come to when a Finch goes against his raising? I'll tell you! Your father's no better than the n****rs and trash he works for” (Lee 135). This quote shows the strong hatred that the citizens have toward the Negroes and anyone who supports them. They have this strong hatred for the Negroes for no real reason other than their skin color. Scout realizes what is going on with the racist remarks and cruel comments, but can not understand how one human could be so mean to another. However, the evils related to race are not the only evils that Scout experiences during the
Needless to say, because Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, an african american, it gets his family criticized for defending “Negros”. Cecil Jacob tells Scout that her father “defends nigger” (Lee 74). Mr. Bob Ewell calls Atticus a “nigger lover” for defending Tom Robinson. Ever since Atticus took the case for Tom Robinson, The Finches became from being applauded to criticized for defending Robinson, and again applauded for trying his best to defend Tom
On The Duty of Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau, explains that civil disobedience is the act of standing for your beliefs even though they are against the law. Thoreau goes on to say that the government (because it is ruled by the majority) is not always right for everyone especially the individual and the minority. Over the course of American history, there have been many different groups formed for the purpose of civil disobedience. The two that I am going to focus on are the activists of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panthers of the Black Liberation Movement. The Civil Rights Movement began in 1954 with the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education. It was basically lead by Martin Luther King Jr. whose teachings were of peaceful protesting and boycotting in order to achieve the goals of integration and equality for Black Americans (Small). The Black Liberation Movement started a few years later in 1960 and was later taken over and popularized by the Black Panthers in 1966. The basis of this movement was not just black equality but also black independence by any and every means necessary. The Panthers wanted blacks to be in control of their own neighborhoods (Acoli). These two protest movements had similar but at the same time very different platforms. The difference their effectiveness was caused by the difference in the techniques.
Atticus Finch does not let anyone else's opinion affect what his beliefs are. In chapter eleven of "To Kill a Mockingbird," Atticus explains to Scout what a "nigger-lover" is. He tells Scout, "It's hard to explain-ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody's favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want to use a common, ugly term to label somebody" (Lee 113). Obviously, Atticus doesn't believe the term is funny or clever. The southern town of Maycomb, Alabama had adopted this term as a racial slur. All throughout the trial of Tom Robinson, racist white people judged Atticus for defending a black man. This racism has now been transferred into schools across the country.
(P.108), even when he was called "nigger lover" by so many. Above all, the events of Tom Robinson’s case clearly indicate Atticus and his strong compassion and understanding.
An example of civil disobedience would have to be the famous story of Rosa Parks in which she was arrested for Civil Disobedience on December 1, 1955. Rosa Parks stood up for what she had faith in. At about night fall of December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, being an African women, was burned out after an extensive day of working, predetermined to take a seat at the front of the bus for her ride home. She refused to give up her seat to a white commuter; she was then taken into custody for overstepping an Alabama law that required black people to give up their seats to white people when the bus was full. Blacks also had to sit at the back of the bus according to Alabama law. Rosa Parks arrest was successful by a one-day bus boycott on her court date. The NAACP knew it needed to carry forward with their action, to prosperously challenge segregated public transportation. The new pastor was Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in which he became the commander of the boycott. He demanded there be nonviolent actions to accomplish the objective of justice. Martin Luther King Jr. quoted, "We must use the weapon of love.” Rosa Parks being arrested flared a 381-d...
“You never really understood a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around it.” Atticus Finch is a man of extreme integrity. He, as both a lawyer and a human being, stands up for his democratic beliefs and encourages his children to stand up for their own, though they may stand alone. Harper Lee showed how far respect went in To Kill a Mockingbird when Atticus defended Tom Robinson in his rape trial. He did not think twice about being ridiculed by th...