...“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing,” Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird highlights her childhood, showing the racism in her home and mirrors her family life. To Kill a Mockingbird shows the innocence of children and growing up. Harper Lee’s Maycomb mirrors her childhood home of Monroeville, Alabama and the white supremacy. Scout is the child of a lawyer taking on a job of defending a black man in front of the town. Characterization is how an author portrays a character in their piece. Jean Louise “Scout” Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a masculine young child who is learning about the world with her curiousity. She is adventurous because she of the way she treats the mysterious Radley house. Scout Finch is more interested in playing rather being the “typical girl”. When Scout caught Walter Cunningham she rubbed his nose in dirt. This specific piece shows Scout’s aggressiveness and her “masculinity” towards everyone. She also stomped at him to scare him off after she rubbed his nose in dirt. This specific piece shows more aggression and “bravery”. “ He ain’t company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham,” Scout says this to Calpurnia the family...
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...In addition to bearing the title of the novel, Harper Lee uses “To Kill a Mockingbird” as an opportunity to convey the significance of moral veracity to depict the alleged Mockingbirds of May comb county. She uses the innocence of children such as Jem and Scout to experience the underlying reality of good and evil in society, as their father, Atticus Finch attempts to teach them the morals of killing shadowed innocent beings who are helpless to their own freedom. After the encounter with Atticus and being told that to kill a mocking is a sin, Scout asks Miss Maudie who explains that,” Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” In the novel, Mockingbirds symbolize harmless innocent people who have only ever tried to serve others but are destroyed by the evil around them. To terrorize a Mockingbirds security is deemed to be morally detestable, as it would be considered a “sin.” The concept of Mockingbird relate to those discriminated for complex past history and wellbeing, race and mixed orientation. Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and mixed children represent the innocent creatures that are deemed to be the harmless and helpless Mockingbirds of Maycomb County. Boo Radley is clarified as a greatly misunderstood troubled victim of society with an intricate past history involving an abusive parental figure devoted to his own selfish pride, resulting in locking his son away from society...
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...Galvez, Steven January 16, 2013 English TKaM Essay: Courage Harper Lee’s To kill a Mockingbird is an American classis based on the author’s childhood. In this book 3 children portray 1 character, Boo Radely, as a “malevolent phantom”, a monster and also an inferior. These 3 children, Scout, Dill and Jem, essentially treat Boo as if he weren’t human, just like Maycomb treats Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of rape. The kids and the town of Maycomb act on the same social level, treating Boo and Tom essentially the same way. A malevolent phantom, a monster, and his own name describes the prejudice these children felt against Boo, but the kids were naive and young and there image of Boo was only based on a game and silly stories. Their “game” was based on the false pretense that Boo was a frightening creature and the whole idea was to lure Boo to come out of his home. Unknowingly they did accomplish this goal. Once Boo left treats for Jem and Scout in a knothole of an oak tree. Again Boo came out during the cold night when Miss Maudie’s house burned down and secretly covered scout with a blanket. Even if Boo enjoyed the kids’ presence the children thought otherwise. Maycomb had the same feelings about Tom Robinson. When Tom testified he humbly said that he felt sorry for Mayella, but Mr. Gilmer, angered and frustrated, replied “you felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?” (Lee, pg. 200). He was implying that no black man or woman can feel sympathy for a superior...
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...Personal beliefs are shaped by perspective. In order to change a belief, a change in perspective has to occur. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee shows the change in Scout Finch’s beliefs as she matures and her perspective changes. We can see this when Scout evaluates Walter Cunningham’s way of life at her supper table, when she starts to witness the social inequalities in Maycomb, Alabama during Tom Robinson's trial, and when she learned the truth about her childhood monster, Boo Radley. As Walter Cunningham sat at the Finch’s table for Dinner, Scout who had previously beat him up that day, was furious because Walter’s way of life got her in trouble from her teacher, Miss Caroline. Atticus Finch, whose morals are strong believes in treating everyone equally says, “If you learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” (Lee, page 39) As any six year old would, Scout has a temper but Atticus always reminding her that it is important to step in other people’s shoes. This especially carries over to the...
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...Lee, Harper—To Kill a Mockingbird 1960 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee DEDICATION for Mr. Lee and Alice in consideration of Love & Affection Lawyers, I suppose, were children once. Charles Lamb PART ONE 1 When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury. His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh. He couldn’t have cared less, so long as he could pass and punt. When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out. I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson. If General Jackson hadn’t run the Creeks up the creek, Simon Finch would never have paddled up the Alabama, and where would we be if he hadn’t? We were far too old to settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus. Our father said we were both right. Being Southerners, it was a source of shame to some members of the family that we had no recorded ancestors on either side of the Battle of Hastings...
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