To Kill a Mockingbird.
To Kill A Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird The American Classic, To Kill a Mockingbird, first began as two separate short stories. Harper Lee needed a way to transform these stories into one compelling novel of human injustice. ***Throughout the novel, many themes/motifs are explored. The title of To Kill a Mockingbird carries a great deal of symbolic value. It provides a necessary function to unify the two major plot elements. In this story of innocence destroyed by evil, the mockingbird represents the idea of innocence. "I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Atticus is referring to the idea that a mockingbird is a harmless creature and does nothing but sing and bring happiness to the world. Miss Maudie explains to Jem: "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but ... sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." The mockingbird is a symbol for two of the characters in the novel: Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. In the novel, the people of Maycomb only know Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by what others say about them. These two characters are harmless songbirds that are sinfully destroyed. In the beginning of the story, Boo represents the unknown. The children of Maycomb believe that anything that comes from
To Kill A Mockingbird
"TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD" -Harper Lee Portfolio by Philipp C. Protschka Grade 9 Table of Contents .) Why the book is called "To Kill A Mockingbird"? 2.) Compare and contrast the book and the film. 3.) "To Kill A Mockingbird" takes readers to the roots of human behaviour -to innocence and experience kindness and cruelty. Love and hatred, humour and pathos." What is your view? 4.) "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Place this extract in context and discuss which characters in the book you consider to be blue jays and which characters you consider to be mockingbirds. 5.) Discuss Harper Lee's presentation of the theme of family life in To Kill A Mockingbird. You should concentrate on the Radley, Harris and Ewell families in your discussion. 6.) Discuss, using examples from the book, how Atticus raises his children. What does he teach them and what lessons do they learn in the process? 7.) Compare and contrast the characters of Scout and Jem. 8.) Write a letter from Mrs Merriweather to J. Grimes Everett. In it, ask him about his work and praise him and encourage him. The main purpose of the letter is to tell him of Tom Robinson's trial and any events (especially the reaction of the Negroes) which take place afterwards. Bear in mind that Mrs Merriweather holds strong opinions about everything and will
To Kill A Mockingbird - Film Version
To Kill A Mockingbird, a 1962 film adapted from the novel by Harper Lee, is a timeless classic about racial injustice, moral tolerance, and the portrayal of childhood innocence in the 1930's. The story is set in the small town of Maycomb County, Alabama. Here, narrator Scout Finch lives with her older brother Jem and her attorney father Atticus. Scout, Jem, and their newfound friend Dill spend their days telling stories, playing games, and fantasizing about their reclusive neighbour, Boo Radley. As she grows up in this old fashioned, racist town, Scout begins to realize how the world around her really works, and just how shallow some people can be. When her father is forced to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman, the whole family has a very difficult time maintaining a normal life. During this time however, not only does Scout begin to see that her father is more than just an old man, but she begins to see how the world really works. She begins to see that not everyone is like her father, and that not everyone shares the same views on racism as he does. She sees things differently than other people in town do, and enlightens viewers with her knowledge, understanding of the world around her, and with her colourblind attitude towards man. First time actress Mary Badham does a wonderful job of portraying Scout, the young tomboy trapped in a time where
To Kill a mockingbird
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird portrays the life of its narrator, Jean Louise Finch "Scout", in the small town of Maycomb. Scout describes the novel as a grown lady reflecting back, thinking about and narrating her childhood. She lives with her father, Atticus, an old widowed lawyer, and her elder brother, Jem. She is not a convincing portrait of a child because she knows much more than is expected of her. She is too intelligent for her age. This proves Harper Lee has been biased in explaining the story making Scout seem like a 12 year old girl Scout is very bright girl who does not like going to school. She is also very clever and she has an advanced vocabulary. Her father is a lawyer and he has taught her big words. She bosses over in school. She puts on a boyish feeling and acts like a tomboy. She even gets a scolding from her teacher as she knows how to read and write at such a time when reading was taught to grade three or grade 4 students and she is only in grade one. As she knows how to read she hates going to school because her teacher scolds her for learning that. She tries to make Atticus think she was learning the wrong kind of words in school by using slang words. She is more intelligent than the other children in her class. This is because her cook Calpurnia taught her to read at a very young age to stop her from getting bored when her brother went to
To Kill a Mockingbird
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a book written by the author Harper Lee and these past few weeks my classmates and I have been reading the play version of this book, which has been dramatized by Christopher Sergel. Even though we have read the play of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and not the book I still feel that it covers all the themes, characters and issues that Harper Lee included in her book. A Mockingbird doesn't eat up people's gardens or nest in corncribs, all they do is sing their hearts out for all to hear and enjoy. They are harmless. At the beginning of the play Jean, who plays older Scout, tells us of how her father Atticus asked Scout and her brother never to kill a mockingbird. Even though there are no actual mockingbirds included in the play there are many characters who I feel Harper Lee uses to symbolize the inner mockingbird in people. "To Kill a Mockingbird" tells the story of the citizens of Maycomb, Alabama from the eyes of a young girl named Scout who is the daughter of the local lawyer Atticus Finch. Lately the Finch family have had their named slandered about the community as Atticus has taken on the case of a negro man named Tom Robinson and is actually trying to win his case. Even though slavery had been abolished in the southern states for many years many people still act as though negro people and their associates were of a lower standard and class than
To Kill a Mockingbird Essay
To Kill a Mockingbird Essay- Question 1- Examine the effectiveness of Harper Lee's use of minor characters in To Kill a Mockingbird to explore some of the main concerns in the novel The focus of this essay is to examine the effectiveness of Harper Lee's use of minor characters in To Kill a Mockingbird to enable her to explore some of the main concerns in the novel. In the novel Harper Lee uses most of the minor characters to display the concerns in this text, for example courage, racism and prejudice. These matters are the main points of this essay. For each of these concerns there are a number of characters and events that show them. When Boo Radley came out of hiding after fifteen years of being locked up is an example which illustrates courage. He did not just only come out of hiding he came to rescue and protect Jem and Scout when they were attacked by Mr. Bob Ewell. Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, a town similar to Maycomb which is the setting of the novel. During her childhood, when she was about the same age as Scout, there was trial similar to the one in the novel. Harper Lee used this as her inspiration for her novel To Kill Mockingbird. This novel is told by a young girl called Jean Louise Finch, more commonly known as Scout. She explains what she sees from her point of view and how she learns form Atticus, Calpurnia and other people in the neighbourhood. Jem
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird Examine miss Maudie's relationship to the Finches and to the rest of Maycomb. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout learn about and experience both the goodness of human nature as well as its corruption. One of the characters that is essential to this novel is Miss Maudie. Miss Maudie is Scout's next door neighbor. She loves being outdoors and is one of the few people in town who feels that Tom Robinson deserves a fair trial, and that he most likely did not do what Mayella Ewell is accusing him of. Miss Maudie shares Atticus' same passion for justice, and is one os Scout's and Jem's favorite adults within Maycomb. She offers Jem and Scout many insights into their father's character, and helps them understand why he does what he does. Overall, Miss Maudie's point of view is different from the typical civilian of Maycomb, which is why she is able to provide Scout and Jem with important lessons and experiences. Miss Maudie Atkinson lives across the street from the Finch family; she had known the Finches for many years, having been brought up on the Buford place, which Choi 2 was near the Finch's ancestral home, Finch Landing. She is described as a woman of about fifty who enjoys baking and gardening. Miss Maudie befriends Scout and Jem and tells them about Atticus as a boy. During the course of the novel, her house burns
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill A Mockingbird is an award-winning novel written by Harper Lee. The novel was published in 1960 and the movie was filmed in 1961. A six-year-old girl by the name of Scout is the main character and narrates the story line in the movie. The movie takes place in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is portrayed as a small, sleepy, depression-era town during the 1930's depression era. The plot of the movie revolves around the arrest and trial of an unjustly accused black man named Tom Robinson. Robinson, accused of raping a white girl, is defended by Scout's attorney father, Atticus Finch. Finch is known in the community as an extremely kind person and respected lawyer. To Kill A Mockingbird illustrates to the audience the true attitude of small-town life in the 1930s South. The story reflects the unjust consequences of ignorance, prejudice, and hate as well as the values of courage, honor, fairness and decency. One of the main topics of To Kill A Mockingbird is "racism". Maycomb, Alabama is mixed community composed of both black and white residents. The blacks and the whites have extreme racial views towards one another. During the movie Tom is accused of a crime he did not commit. He is judged and found guilty basically due only to the color of his skin. Much of the white community in Maycomb agreed with the court decision because of
To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is a novel, which deals with many social issues. The most prominent of these is prejudice. The main incident in the novel, which focuses on prejudice, is the trial in which a black man is wrongly accused, charged and convicted. Other themes, which are identified, are, class division in society, which is shown both with the black community and also by the way the Ewells are treated. Poverty is also shown, with the Ewells as well as the Cunninghams, most of the coloured community and even in some ways, Scout and her family. One way that poverty is shown is when Mr Cunningham has to pay Atticus for his work by giving them wood and the produce of his hunting trips. Another theme brought into the novel was loneliness, which is shown mostly by Mayella Ewell. Courage is shown by Atticus when he shoots the "mad dog" and this courage is also show by Mrs Dubose when she makes herself stop the medication to prove something to herself. Ignorance is shown by most of the townspeople, as it seems to be firmly in place that anything different should be feared and no attempt to understand anything new should be made, especially when it comes to prejudice. One of the main reasons for this closed mindedness is the place that Maycomb is situated in. The town is set in Alabama in Southern America; this alone almost guarantees that
SYMBOLISM IN To Kill a Mockingbird
SYMBOLISM IN To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee has used symbolism rather extensively throughout the novel and a great deal of it refers to the problems of racism in the South during the early twentieth century. Symbolism can be traced in almost every important episode or event which formulates the story line. Right from the beginning Scout's character and her outlook towards the behavior of the people in Maycomb county symbolizes a child's innate curiosity towards life. It also portrays the untainted intelligence which helps her see beyond what is apparent. Scout's understanding of Walter Cunningham's poverty and his self-pride is a prime example of this. Even Scout and Jem's relationship with Calpurnia symbolizes the rare understanding of racism prevalent during those times. Miss Maudie is a classic example of the enlightened woman living in an age of suppressed womanhood. Miss Maudie hates staying indoors and is always seen pottering around her garden, working on her flowerbeds. She understands Atticus' need to fight against the racial prejudices and believes in him absolutely. When her house gets burnt down, instead of moping about it, she is back on her feet the next day, restoring her house and her garden. She is thus a symbol of strength and integrity. Mrs. Dubose symbolizes the grit and determination of a woman, who though aware of the fact that she is going to
