To Kill A Mockingbird
What Message Does The Novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Convey About Prejudice? 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was set in Alabama during the thirties and wrote the novel in the sixties when Civil Rights Movement was being written. The message of the novel is that people should not be judged according to who/what they are but should be judged on their actions and behaviours. Harper Lee shows prejudice in events like Tom Robinson's trial, also through characters like Arthur (Boo) Radley. Prejudice is also shown in the day to day activities. The novel is titled 'To kill a Mockingbird' because the mockingbird represent innocence. At the beginning of the novel Atticus tells Scout and Jem "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit `em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird," which illustrates and explains you should not kill innocent beings. Tom Robinson is clearly a mockingbird. He is an untainted person who has in no way pained or harmed anybody and is directly and deliberately shot by society not because of justice but prejudice. The jurors sentence him to death not because he did anything wrong but because of the prejudice. He is then later shot for trying to escape this unjust ruling. So Tom Robinson just like a mockingbird is shot for no reason at all. At the beginning of the novel we are introduced to life in Maycomb, life in Maycomb is small town life where the
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird The novel as a whole seems to be a reliable and unexaggerated portrait of southern American's prejudice. It implies that society disciplines children into being discriminative by pointing out that when people are treated unfairly "only the children weep." The book is very persuasive due to Lee's implications about society. She never directly attacks it but still manages to change the way the reader sees aspects of society and consider his own prejudices. In the novel, there are references to real life events that were happening at the time. For example, in 1930's sharecropping began in order to reconstruct the society after the civil war between the north and south, people such as The Cunninghams were victims of sharecropping, that is why they were poor. The cause of the war was to abolish slavery in the south, the south lost the war, but still believed black people were unequal to white people, so the segregation law was brought forward, i.e. white people and black people living in different settlements in a town. This did not please many black people, civil rights activists like Malcolm. X and Martin Luther King fought for black people's freedom. Malcolm X was assassinated, but Martin Luther King continued the fight until something was done. Many people found the book shocking, as a white woman who was openly opposed to the way black people were
To Kill A Mockingbird.
To Kill A Mockingbird "To kill a mocking Bird" is a play written in the 1960's, but it is set in 1930's America. The play is set in a small southern state of America called Maycomb County, Alabama. "To kill a mocking Bird" was written by Harper Lee, and I think that Harper Lee has based the book on her own life experiences. I think this because Harper Lee's farther was a lawyer just like Atticus, Harper Lee was also born in Alabama. Harper Lee also spent most of her days with her childhood friend. This novel is set in many different places in Maycomb County. For example the main areas in this novel is set in Atticus's house, the court room, Tom Robinson's house, Boo Radley's house. The title "To kill a mocking Bird" is significant because a mocking bird is an innocent and harmless bird. The reason I think that Harper Lee chose a mocking bird is because it represents a few of the characters in the book. For example a Mocking Bird would represent: Atticus Finch, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, as all these characters are innocent and harmless to other people. The novel is based on courage. Other issues are confronted in this text, prejudice and racism. I think the main subject dealt with is courage. Courage is about stepping out of your comfort zone, not always complying with others, doing what you believe in. Most characters in the novel display this trait, but there are
One Justice in To Kill A Mockingbird
One Justice in To Kill A Mockingbird Everyone has their own ideas of what is just and moral. Everyone's idea of unfairness is established as a child, denied candy or a late curfew. As our perceptions grow more sophisticated, one question cannot be avioded: What is justice? In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, many themes of justice are explored. Each child in the story comes to a different conclusion concerning the importance of justice. Their opinions are crafted in the waring sides of fairness and prejudice that divide the town of Maycomb, Alabama. The first differing philopsy in Maycomb is that of fairness and law over prejudice and money. This view of justice is held by many influential powers, including characters that are central to the development of Jem, Dill, and Scout. These characters include Atticus Finch, Miss Maudie, Heck Tate, Dolphus Raymond and even to an extent Mr Underwood, who "despises negroes" (Lee, 156) but chooses to uphold the law before his own personal prejudices. Most important to the three children is Atticus Finch, who as a father has raised Jem and Scout on his own principle of justice, that "in our courts all men are created equal" (Lee, 156). Like Atticus, this side of the conflict "believe firmly in the integrity of [the] courts" (Lee, 205) to fulfill society's obligations of justice. Until Jem, Dill and Scout are exposed to the other
To Kill a Mockingbird - critical review
To Kill a Mockingbird is set during the 1930's in a small, isolated town in Maycomb County, Alabama. The 1930's was a period of great change with new ideas coming to the forefront of the Western world. America was fast becoming one of the most powerful countries in the world and therefore its ideas and ways of living were being copied in every far corner of the western world. Economically America was not quite so sound. Only a year earlier America had sustained a massive crash in share prices that had affected the whole nation from the richest to the poorest everybody was facing bankruptcy and poverty. In the early 1930's racism was a large factor in the way that everyone lived their lives. A true reflection of this came on March 25th 1931; it was the day of a trial of nine black teenagers who were accused of the alleged rape of two young white women; Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. It took place in a small, isolated town (much like the one in Maycomb County) in Scottsboro, Ala. The trial was significant because it was the sign of recognition from the white population that racism was not right. Eight of the boys were sentenced to death while another was sentenced to life imprisonment. The nine black teenagers were tried in conjunction with the Jim Crow Laws. The Jim Crow Laws were legal punishments on people consorting with members of another race. The most common laws
To Kill a Mockingbird
To kill a Mocking Bird Harper Lee wrote the novel To kill a Mocking Bird during the beginning of the Civil Rights campaign, and around the time of the bus boycott. Alabama was at the centre of racial tension. In the early 1960's, Ku Klux Klan outrages were reported in Montgomery and Meridian, Mississippi Dills home town. Therefore Harper Lee when she was writing the book To kill a Mocking Bird she most of been influenced by some racial issues. However Harper Lee writes about a time when the Civil rights campaign had barely started rather than the strong movement tin the 1960's. Harper Lee sets the story in the town Maycomb. Maycomb, as created by Harper Lee, is a tired old town where little happens, despite this the idea of dangerous prejudices and tensions are always there. In the town many of the people are strict Baptists or Methodists. Most of the characters think they are good according to their own standards, but the standards at which they set them self are narrow. In the town gossip is common and so is prejudice. Not only the blacks are subjected to racial prejudice but anyone how fails to conform for example Dolphus Raymond, we know he isn't prejudice as he says "Hell white people give coloured folks". A big factor in the town is the fact that things change very slowly for example what was important in 1861 is still important is still important in 1933. The Black
To Kill a Mockingbird Essay
Judd Rosenblatt To Kill a Mockingbird Essay "It is not what an author says, but what she whispers which is most important. In other words, one must read in between the lines to discover the subtler meaning of novels. This is true for To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Understanding of the many themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is attained only by reading in between the lines. A major one of these themes is dignity as Harper Lee presents a clear picture of which characters are dignified. She does not clearly state which characters are dignified, but she utilizes actions to differentiate between the dignified and the undignified. Amongst the poor folk, the Cunninghams have dignity and the Ewells lack it. The Cunninghams pay back everything they borrow. One Cunningham turned the racist mob away from Atticus and Tom Robinson; another almost voted for Tom's innocence at his trial. This virtuous behavior proves the Cunninghams to be dignified. While the Cunninghams' good deeds demonstrate their dignity, the Ewells' actions prove them undignified. They live unhealthily off the town's welfare and the father, Bob Ewell, selfishly causes the death of an innocent man and tries to kill two innocent children. Of the rich people in Maycomb, Atticus holds dignity while Miss Stephanie lacks it. Miss Stephanie lies, exaggerates, and gossips about the town's affairs. Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird
Martin Luther King is a courageous leader, for he fought against prejudice and discrimination amongst the black society through non-violent protests. The characters of To Kill a Mockingbird resemble, Martin Luther King's courage, for they also believe in equality amongst different colors. Characters such as, Tom Robinson, a black man that fights for freedom against a white court system; Dolphus Raymond, a white man that prefers the company of black people; and Atticus Finch, a lawyer that defends a black man, are all seen as being courageous. The fight against discrimination and prejudice makes Tom Robinson, Dolphus Raymond, and Atticus Finch courageous men in the town of Maycomb. Despite the prejudice and discriminating society that these characters face, they all are courageous because they believe in the equal treatment of people. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird courage is shown through the character Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is seen as being a courageous human being because he fights for his freedom against a white court system that has already decided the fate of Robinson before he has had his day in court. Facing allegations of raping Mayella Ewell, a white girl, Tom Robinson is defended by Atticus Finch, a white lawyer. Atticus claims that: "The only thing we've got is a black man's word against the Ewells'. The evidence boils down to you did-I didn't. The jury
To kill a mockingbird - How does Harper Lee present childhood in Part I of the novel.
How does Harper Lee present childhood in Part I of the novel? This essay is about how does the author Harper Lee present childhood in part I of the episodic novel "To Kill A Mockingbird". This novel has involved childhood by including what a normal child would do in their childhood. Harper Lee has used many methods to illustrates childhood in part I of the novel. For example, firstly she has involved the role of adults. "Hush your mouth! Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house's yo'com'ny, and don't you let me catch you remakin' on their ways like you was so high and mighty!" This quote shows the Calpurnia teaches Scout and Jem a lesson of how to behave probably while there is a guest in the house. From this quote we can interpret that the author is trying to use the role of adults to displays childhood. Secondly, Harper Lee has used the way a child will act if something is wrong has happened to demonstrate childhood. "The world's endin', Atticus! Please do something -!" This quote exemplifies Scout is innocence and being childish. As children do not have as much knowledge as an adult would have, therefore children would think that the world is ending when there is a fire or some other serious event occurs. Thirdly, the write always convey childhood as her retrospect to remind the reader that she is not a child any more but an adult. This can be shown
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird There are defining moments in a society when one individual can shape events for generations to come. For one to change ones surroundings, and make the situation better for others is a great task. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and in today's society men try and make dents in their unjust surroundings, not only in politics but in their homes and personal lives. Men such as Atticus Finch and Jackie Robinson made actions that changed their communities and homes in suddle but memorably ways. Atticus changed the racist society of Maycomb by defending Tom Robinson in his trial. By acting as Tom's defense Atticus, an influential member of his community, is standing up for an oppressed group in his society. In the quote ." . . If I didn't take this case (Scout) then I wouldn't be able to hold my head up, I wouldn't be about to tell anyone what to do, not even you and Jem." the reader can understand that Tom's case is significant to Atticus. He knows that it will shape his community, that a serious change will be a result from the trial, and if he did not accept the trial no one else in Maycomb would help Tom and the rest of the African-Americans in the community. Atticus also changed his community by standing up against the majority and defending a man he knows is innocent. In the quote " Link, that boy might go to the chair, but he's not going till
