To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee How does Harper lee use literary techniques, such as characterization, to express the theme of the novel: prejudice? "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird." This is a quotation from the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. It is spoken by Atticus Finch and it expresses one of the main themes of the novel. A mockingbird is a harmless bird that makes the world more pleasant. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird symbolizes both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, who were both peaceful people who never caused any harm to anyone. Scouts father tells her and her brother Jem, killing or harming them would be wrong. The mockingbird comes to represent the idea of innocence and in the novel there are many ways in which we see innocence destroyed by evil. The story is narrated by Jean Louise Finch (Scout), who is the daughter of Atticus Finch. The story is set in an Alabama town in the 1930's. The reader learns that when Jem, Scout's brother, was 13 when his arm was badly broken at the elbow. Jem was assured that he could still play football and so his arm did not really bother him. Year's later Jem and his sister still talk about the accident and the events leading up to it. They finally agree that it had all started the summer that they tried to get Arthur "Boo" Radley to come out of his house. He was a mysterious, reclusive neighbor and
To Kill a Mockingbird Themes
Ahmed El Wakeel 1/1/2012 To Kill a Mockingbird Final Essay There are many controversial novels that have been written and published throughout time; most of those were captivating, insightful and breathe-taking. Such novels always touch on significant and important controversial factors such as the portrayal of certain group, or hate crimes. But, the peculiar combination in a novel is when a family novel touches and illustrates a numerous amount of controversial factors in society. Such controversial factors may exist to this day and others were long dead. The novel that includes this very combination is the respectable Pulitzer Prize winner To Kill a Mockingbird by the magnificent and extremely talented author Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird does focus on symbolizing and illustrating many notorious things in society either contemporary or not. Disregarding the mesmerizing plot of the novel, we can state that the author, Harper Lee, mainly focuses on signifying culture and society at that time which explains the fact that the novel had been numerously challenged by organizations and others to be removed from libraries or other places where the novel is obtainable and available to the people. In my opinion, the elements of this very book that touch on
How do Tom Robinson and Boo Radley conform to the Mockingbird Type?
To kill a Mockingbird How do Tom Robinson and Boo Radley conform to the Mockingbird Type? Many themes run through out this book, such as Religion, courage, discrimination/prejudice, racism, innocence and most importantly the theme of the mockingbird, which represents in some way or another all of the former themes mentioned. Different people may have different perceptions to what a Mockingbird represents but in this book a mockingbird is a small innocent creature that, as Miss Maudie says: '...don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us to enjoy. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.' The killing of an innocent as a horrendous crime in any age and any time, so likewise, 'it is a sin to kill a mockingbird', which represents innocence, in this story of innocence destroyed by evil. As we read further into the book we are made more aware of the fact that the two characters Tom Robinson and Arthur (Boo) Radley possess the same traits as a mockingbird, but it is only towards the end of the novel when Jem starts to realise the injustice of racism and the cruelty of Tom being condemned guilty, and Scout who connects the idea of Boo Radley being Mockingbird 'Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird'. Starting with Tom Robinson, who maybe is
To Kill a Mockingbird Theme Analysis
Abhishek Gupta To Kill a Mockingbird Essay "To kill a mocking bird" is one of the few books that have the theme incorporated in its title. The obvious theme of the novel is "to kill a mockingbird". This theme is the most significant aspect of the novel. Throughout the book we get many indications and suggestions of its existence. The theme derives from the age-old idiom: "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird". Two characters of this book directly represent the 'mockingbirds' of this idiom. These two characters are none other than Arthur "Boo" Radley and Tom Robinson. They are mockingbirds because of very dissimilar reasons. The composition that follows seeks to analyze these two characters and describe their fates. Arthur (Boo) Radley was the first mockingbird that we came across in the book. The information that we receive about him is mainly through secondary resources. Therefore, it is very hard to distinguish between fact and fiction. In part one, the book contains vivid descriptions of Boo Radley. All of these descriptions are inaccurate and erroneous. In the first chapter he is called a "malevolent phantom" (Lee 8). He is also often described as a "ghost"; one example of this is on page 11. Such expressions are seldom used to portray human beings which indicate that there are a host of imaginary talks going on about him. We are also told he has a "head like a skull",
To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay. In the book, To kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee highlights the meaning of the narrative using novel standpoint, structure and irony. Harper Lee investigates the absurd attitudes of adults towards race and status
EN3UO Mr. Miller June 16, 2009 To Kill a Mockingbird An innocent child is unaware of the realities of the world until they witness through experiences and teachings, ethics and morals. A book, in the same way, consists of characters, whose experiences, feelings and thoughts convey a subtle theme or message that is usually ethically accurate. The theme represents the controlling idea of the book and the central purpose for which the author decided to write the novel. The theme of the book is usually what the author wants the reader to take away from the book. As a crucial element of a novel, the way in which the author generates the meaning of the book is significant. The author can express the theme effectively not only through the characters present in the novel but also through specific writing styles, the focus being form and text. In the book, "To kill a Mockingbird", Harper Lee highlights the meaning of the narrative using novel standpoint, structure and irony. Harper Lee investigates the absurd attitudes of adults towards race and status in the Deep South in the 1930s through the eyes of Scout Finch. The novel illustrates the conscience of a town that is suffused in prejudice, violence and hypocrisy, which is understood through a black man's struggle for justice. Harper Lee mainly emphasizes the irrationality of prejudice thoughts of a town, along with other themes
Social Classes in To Kill a Mockingbird
The foundation upon which a persons character is built is first and foremost their family line and upbringing. In the 1930's during the depression the size and quality of a family tree was the main determining factor for one's placement on the social ladder. Family is destiny in Maycomb County. While on the one hand this may be limiting, because there's no way for a person to be different from their parents, on the other, it allows people to indulge themselves without being judged because general opinion is that they can't help themselves. Scout narrates ...no Crawford Minds His Own Business, Every Third Merriweather Is Morbid, The Truth Is Not in the Delafields, All the Bufords Walk Like That, were simply guides to daily living: never take a check from a Delafield without a discreet call to the bank; Miss Maudie Atkinson's shoulder stoops because she was a Buford; if Mrs. Grace Merriweather sips gin out of Lydia E. Pinkham bottles it's nothing unusual - her mother did the same. (Lee 31). Generation after generation the families of Maycomb had gained reputations for themselves that future offspring would not be able to shake. The dictum had been imprinted into the genetically code of the different families becoming part of the upbringing of future generations. Every person in Maycomb had been classified and judged based on the actions of the past generations. In Maycomb
To kill a Mockingbird. Scout: A character study
What does it mean to be special? Does it mean to be unique? Does it mean to be intelligent? Or does it mean to be good and innocent? For Jean Louise Finch, all of them would apply. In "To kill a Mockingbird", Scout is a very unusual girl, both in her qualities and her looks. She is a tomboy, which is highly unusually in the proper society that she lives in. She is also exceptionally intelligent and a very good person, making her one of the most special characters within the story. Although most girls at Scouts age and situation should be wearing dresses being prim and proper, Scout wears overalls, pants, and persists to do so despite being reprimanded by Aunt Alexandra. "Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches." (pg 88) Scout's actions are also different to other girls at her age, while other girls would learn manners, Scout does not. Instead she learns to climb trees with Jem, plays with air rifles, and even begins swearing in the presence of adults. Anything that a normal boy would do, she would do. Scout does not feel ashamed, nor does she feel there is anything wrong in being a tomboy. An example of this is when she says to Alexandra "I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well." (pg 88) This tomboy attitude is developed through Atticus's hands off parenting style,
A Comparison of the portrayal of Boo Radley in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and Miss Havishamin 'great expectations'
Nirmal Sisodia A Comparison of the portrayal of Boo Radley in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and Miss Havisham in 'great expectations' In 'To Kill a Mockingbird' the author uses a retrospective narration, this means that we can see events through the eyes of a child, yet also has the intelligence of an adult to explain the events thouroghly. Because narrator has personal experience of what happened we have a closer insight into the details. This method of reflection means that we can understand other characters feelings more easily, and the settings and ways of Maycomb. 'Great Expectations' is similar to ' To Kill a Mockingbird' it also has shows the events of a person from childhood to becoming an adult. The story follows Pip, who is the main character in this novel; it shows him as a child, being introduced to Miss Havisham, then later on as a main person in Miss Havisham's life. Pip and Scout help us to understand the feelings of other characters. Boo Radley and Miss Havisham have many similarities and differences. Both Boo's and Miss Havisham's houses are dull, very dark creating a sort of eerie effect. They both have a type of mystery to them. Boo's house's "shutters and doors are always closed" shows how he is isolated not allowed to see anything. Miss Havisham's house "was of old brick, and dismal, and had a great many iron bars to it." This shows how she has isolated
"Remember, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird
"Remember, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." These words, spoken by Atticus are the central theme of the novel, and the source of the novel's title. Miss Maudie further elaborates these words, by saying; "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but sing out their hearts for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." It is a very cruel thing indeed to kill, or even harm something that does not harm us; rather is a source of benefit for us, like these mockingbirds, that don't 'eat up peoples gardens, don't nest in corncribs, but make music for us to enjoy." In the novel we can identify several people as mockingbirds: good, innocent people who have been punished due to no fault of their own. One of these is no doubt Boo Radley- just as mockingbirds do not harm people, but "only sing their hearts out for us," in the same way Boo Radley does not harm anyone, rather he leaves little presents for Jem and Scout in the knothole, covers Scout with a blanket when she is shivering with cold during the fire, and when the time comes, he even saves the children from Bob Ewell when he tries to kill them on the night of Halloween. But even though he has never tried to harm the children, even though he is causing no harm to anyone, he is not allowed to communicate with them in his own childlike fashion; the knothole in which he would leave the little presents is blocked up by his elder
How does the kids' notion of Boo Radley develop from the beginning of the novel to the end
How does the kids' notion of Boo Radley develop from the beginning of the novel to the end? "Boo was about six and a half feet tall ... there was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped and he drooled most of the time." At the beginning of the novel, Boo is to the children mainly what they have heard as neighborhood rumors and interpreted in their own imaginations. The Radley place is shrouded in an aura of mystery and creepiness for them; they are scared to even run past the house, nuts from the Radley trees are considered poison, and when Jem retrieves the tire from the Radley yard, it is considered an extremely brave feat. Thus at this stage, the only relationship the children have with Boo is that of fear and intrigue. But slowly, almost unconsciously, the children begin to want to know more about Boo Radley, and are not just satisfied by rumors and gossip, a sign of maturity. Initially, it is Dill who wants to lure Boo out of the house, so that he "can see what he looks like." This shows that the children are no longer willing to depend upon what they have heard, and want to find out for themselves what Boo is really like. They try sending notes to Boo, through a fishing pole, asking him to come out and have a talk; later they sneak into the Radleys' yard, hoping to look through a window and catch a glimpse