In this essay I will be exploring Jem and Scout's journey to maturity throughout the novel; To Kill a Mockingbird
How effectively does Harper Lee present the children and growing up in To Kill A Mockingbird? In this essay I will be exploring Jem and Scout's journey to maturity throughout the novel; To Kill a Mockingbird. I will look at the techniques Harper Lee use and how well they work in portraying their growth to maturity. I will also explore influences on the children and the tree main themes in this novel: education, bravery and prejudice. The main them is prejudice which will be looked at in more detail. Jem and Scout represent a typical youth, naivety and innocence. In the first chapter, page 8, Scout says: 'Thereafter the summer passed in routine contentment. Routine contentment was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin chinaberry trees in the backyard, fussing, running through our list of dramas based on the works of Oliver Optic, Victor Appleton and Edgar Rice Burroughs' They have no worries through the summer and have fun. The phrase 'routine contentment' is repeated in the passage which gives the effect that this is what they usually do in the summer and were satisfied with the events they do. These are all things people generally do in their childhood and in summer. Some of the things they do seem to be menial such as 'fussing' which also seems quite childish. The atmosphere of summer is created by what they do. In summer it is a time for relaxing; with
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
Discuss Harper Lee's portrayal of the black community in To Kill A Mockingbird
Discuss Harper Lee's portrayal of the black community in To Kill A Mockingbird To Kill A Mockingbird is set in the nineteen thirties, a time when racism was very common and, in America, the Ku Klux Klan were operating, having been reactivated in nineteen fifteen. At that time, despite their loss of the civil war and acceptance (though unwilling) of the Thirteenth Amendment, the Southern states were continuing to practice racism. Many Southern landowners were determined to keep cheap black labour. However, they were not the worst off, as the Southern whites, who were at the bottom of the heap, were threatened by the rising place of black people and became the least respected of people. In the novel, the black community is portrayed very positively, as they are shown as reacting in an absolutely non-violent way to the racist abuse that they suffer, behaving passively and even still helping white people. In this way, they are portrayed as 'heroes'. Despite some dispute over just how realistic this view was, this was undoubtedly Harper Lee's intention as to what we are meant to think of the black community. The novel is about a white man defending a black man in court, something considered "wrong" at the time and something that would have made the lawyer a public enemy. It is narrated by a little girl and this gives the novel an interesting take on racism, as she does not
To Kill a Mocking Bird. In this essay, I will explore the ways in which family relationships are presented, specifically within the Cunningham, the Radley and Ewell families and will refer to the language devices and techniques used to explore theses rela
Set in the 1930's, Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" features four main families that are text book examples of the adversities within the moral and social ladder in the "tired old town" of Maycomb Alabama. These differences within their backgrounds has an effect on their use of language and the ways in which they interact with one another and their surrounding society. Harper Lee's clever use of language serves as a means of revealing the differences between families, creating atmosphere giving the reader a sense of authenticity and a way of enhancing and supporting key themes such as racial injustice and inequality. In this essay, I will explore the ways in which family relationships are presented, specifically within the Cunningham, the Radley and Ewell families and will refer to the language devices and techniques used to explore theses relationships. The evidently troubled Ewell family "lived as guests of the county in prosperity as well as in the depths of a depression" as a result of the Wall Street crash in 1929. They are illustrated to be severely disadvantaged - mentally and physically- by their "congenital defects" and suffer at the hands of "the diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings" as established by Scout's humorous and ironic first person narrative. This morbid description of the Ewells allows the reader to sympathise with the family as they must
To Kill a Mockingbird: How Harper Lee presents the character of Atticus Finch
To Kill a Mockingbird was a book written in 1960 to portray the corruption in the USA's southern states specifically the state of Alabama. The book is a microcosm reflecting a wider range of thought in America in the 1960's. The book is a 'Bildungsroman', it follows a girl called Scout Finch who tells us about growing up in Maycomb county, a fictional county in Alabama. A 'Bildungsroman' is usually a book written in an autobiographical style and follows a specific characters rite of passage. The book is told in circular narrative the author Lee uses this to emphasise certain themes throughout the book. The book is told from a mature Scout's perspective describing her life's events. In this essay I will further discuss how Lee represents Maycomb County and discuss the methods and techniques used by Harper Lee to present the character of Atticus Finch. Arguably the most important aspect of Atticus is his maxim. His maxim is that if you attempt to stand in another's shoes you will be able to understand their point of view, this eventually leads on to appreciation and tolerance rather than prejudice and discrimination. "Atticus, when they finally saw him... he was real nice."This quote shows that Scout realises when you get to know people without judging them beforehand they are nice people. This is also shown when the children discover Arthur Radley is a normal person the
To what extent is Rambo: First Blood Part 2 typical of Hollywood main stream cinema's treatment of gender in the 1980's?
MAC 120 To what extent is Rambo: First Blood Part 2 typical of Hollywood mainstream cinema's treatment of gender in the 1980's? Action films in the 1980's reflected the changes and insecurity's within American society. There had been a rise in feminism meaning that the masculine form and dominance was being undermined and white working class males did not know where their place was in society. It was also in the immediate time after the Vietnam War and confusion and anger still lingered. The Vietnam War divided the American nation as a whole because, as it has been in recent times with the war in Iraq, people didn't fully understand why America needed to impose their presence in a country where they felt they had nothing to gain. The action film in the 1980's introduced a hero that differentiated masculinity and femininity using the form of the body as a way of ensuring power, dominance and self-respect. Rambo: First Blood Part 2 is a typical film of this era in terms of masculinity and the ways in which men and women are portrayed. In the film Rambo: First Blood Part 2 Sylvester Stallone portrays a typical action hero of the 'war film' genre in the 1980's but also an outcast of society after the Vietnam War. He is a veteran of Vietnam and came home to find that
Describe physical, intellectual, emotional and social development through the life stages
P1: Describe physical, intellectual, emotional and social development through the life stages The life stages we are going to be discussing are: * Conception (Fertilisation) * Pregnancy (Before birth, which can take up to 9 months) * Birth and infancy (0-3 years) * Childhood (4-9 years) * Adolescence (10-18 years) * Adulthood (19-65 years) * Older adulthood (65+) * The final stages of life (death) The physical, intellectual, emotional and social development of a child is known as P.I.E.S P-Physical development is the process of becoming mature biologically I-Intellectual development is the development of thinking language skills E-Emotional development if the development of feeling towards other people and ourselves S-Social development is developing relationships with people Conception The male sex cell (gamete it also called) is the sperm and the female sex cell (which is also called a gamete) is known as the ovum. Fertilisation occurs when the sperm enters an ovum, however every single ovum may not be fertilised. The female's sex cell is bigger than the male's sex cell, with a tail for the male sex cell so that it can move. The front of the sperm is called the acrosome, which contains enzymes which digests the ovum's coating. The large amount of cytoplasm in the ovum contains yolk droplets which had protein in them along with lipids; all of this helps
What Does 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Reveal About the 1930s American Society?
What Does 'To Kill a Mockingbird' Reveal About the 1930s American Society? To Kill a Mockingbird reveals much about the American society in the 1930s which are the main themes that are brought up in the book. The book was written in the 1960s, it was Harper Lee's first book. It is based on the 1930s in the deep south of North America about a small Alabama town named Maycomb. After the civil war in the 1861-1865, former slaves suffered widespread racial discrimination, especially in the South. This discrimination led to other later effects the Jimmy Crow laws, first developed in a few states later spreading. A major theme is prejudice against certain groups of people like the lower white class and the black community. The segregation between the different communities is caused by ignorance about the unknown and differences between communities which can cause racism. One of the strongest themes of the book is prejudice because there are many strong examples throughout the whole book. Prejudice, strictly defined, a learned, preformed, and unsubstantiated judgment or opinion about an individual or a group, either favorable or unfavorable in nature. However, nowadays the word means a dislike to a group of people because they belong to different group or category of people. Prejudice is based on racism or generalization about a group of people; the best examples of these are ones
How Does Harper Lee Present Jem As Developing And Changing Over The Course Of The Novel?
How Does Harper Lee Present Jem As Developing And Changing Over The Course Of The Novel? Harper Lee's character Jem Finch from her famous novel, 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is very significant because during the course of the novel he undergoes a great maturation process. As he matures a great deal mentally he sees the evil in society and understands the social and emotional issues as an adult would, which helps him come to understand all the events which are occurring around him. At the beginning of the story Harper Lee illustrates examples of Jem's child-like immaturity. You are told Jem's age by Scout "When I was almost six and Jem was almost ten" (p.6) early on in the novel to help show he is still a child. Harper Lee then goes on to give more early signs in the novel of Jem's naivety when he gives a description of Boo Radley "Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch" (p.13) as you can see the description of Boo it is one of an imaginative child. I think Harper Lee has chosen to include this portrayal of Boo from Jem to help show he is still very much a child, this therefore helps set up the aging process that is to follow. There are many small incidents that show signs of Jem maturing such as Jem eventually stopping all games involving Boo. This is because he matures enough to see Atticus' point
To Kill A Mockingbird Essay: Powerful and Powerless
The concept of Powerful and Powerless is an integral part of our society, this idea is vividly explored in Harper Lee's 1960 novel, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' (Arrow Books 1997). Set in the fictitious town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's, Harper is able to explore intimately themes of prejudice, courage, community and innocence to perfectly embody the idea of powerfulness and in contrast powerlessness. This essay will further expand on these themes in their relation to characters such as Atticus, Mrs Dubose, Miss Gates and Boo Radley, and the way in which Lee is able to convey her assumptions in this engaging novel. Courage is clearly elucidated in the characters of both Atticus and Mrs Dubose to be a quality that empowers the individual. Atticus puts himself in the middle of a conflict between Tom Robinson and the Ewells, an act so courageous that his brother compares him to Christ. Harper Lee utilises the technique of allusion in the quote "let this cup pass from you, eh?" alluding to the night before Christs crucifixion where he prayed that he might avoid his fate. Uncle Jacks comment to Atticus calls upon this reference because he is aware that his brother was not looking forward to what was to become of him during his case defending Tom Robinson. This technique of allusion allows the audience to truly comprehend how courageous Atticus really was, by drawing a parallel to
