Whether the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" is depressing or optimistic

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Hamza Anwar                        To Kill A Mockingbird                                                              

                        Optimistic or Depressing? Discuss

        In this essay, I shall be discussing whether the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" is

depressing or optimistic. I will also be considering four themes from the novel being

courage, growing up, prejudice and symbolism. I shall do this essay in two parts;

negative and then positive. Firstly, I shall talk about the pessimistic aspect of the novel.

        Harper Lee was born Monroeville, Alabama on April 28, 1926. She received her

early education in the Monroeville public schools. Following this, she entered the

University of Alabama to study law. She left there to spend a year in England as an

exchange student. Returning to the university, she continued her studies, but left in 1950

without having completed the requirements for her law degree. She moved to New York

and worked as an airline reservation clerk.

        Prejudice is the main theme in the play. The dictionary defines prejudice being a

strong opinion on an individual who possess for or against someone without knowing all

the facts about them. It can be passed down from generation to generation. In the novel

"To Kill A Mockingbird" there are numerous accounts of racism and prejudice. The

novel is set in a time when racism was very prevalent. Anyone that is out of the ordinary

from society is treated differently because of their dissimilarities. The most obvious

example in the novel would be Tom Robinson. An innocent, hard working, warm-hearted

black man who went out of his way to help Mayella only to end up with bullet holes in his

body. Tom was charged with rape and death penalty based on the colour of his skin. This

shows the racial intolerance the white people in Maycomb have towards African-

Americans.

        During this period the white people wanted to stay as far away from the blacks.

This is a major part of why there was such a big gap between the two races. An example

of this is when Atticus' sister Alexandra talks him about getting rid of Calpurnia, the

black maid, because Alexandra thinks she is showing a bad influence on the children and

she does not want Calpurnia around her. Even though Calpurnia is a good maid,

Alexandra does not care. When Alexandra stated "… you've got to do something about

her. You've let things go on too long". This goes to prove that not only does she not want

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to be around blacks or show any compassion for them; she doesn't want other people

around them either. Even though Alexandra does not call blacks by the same words other

townspeople call them, she still doesn't want to associate with them. Another instance is

when Calpurnia takes the kids to her church. Alexandra gets very angry with Calpurnia

because she took them to be around so many blacks. Most of them were good people and

the kids weren't being bad. Another example would be in the the court where the white

people were to ...

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