...Influential Themes in the book To Kill a Mockingbird The history of the world has lots of social problems that still exist in the world today. We deal with an extensive amount of racism all around the world; therefore, it is still a struggle for the world to learn how to live in peace and harmony. Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, captures many themes, but the most influential life lessons deal with racism, perspective, and morality. Racism is one of the most influential themes in the book. Lee explains very well about the problems of racism in the south; in other words, the theme of racism in the book teaches an important message that all people need to learn. Atticus says, “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the...
Words: 719 - Pages: 3
...How would you feel if you were a child living in the early 1900’s when racism and segregation were such a large scale problem. In the masterpiece novel, To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, she tells the story of a girl named Scout who’s growing up during a time when not everyone is treated with respect and equality. For a young girl, Scout understands more about things in life because of her father, Atticus, a very wise lawyer who doesn’t believe in racism. Even though she knows more than other kids there are still many things she is yet to learn that cause her to ask questions without any thought about what she’s saying. She’s joined by her older brother Jem who makes sure to keep her under check to stop her from doing anything too...
Words: 1281 - Pages: 6
...To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee To kill a mockingbird is a story about innocence, knowledge, prejudice, courage and growing up. The main character is Scout Finch. The book is about what she learns about people and life over the course of those two years. The book takes place in 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama. She lives with her father Atticus, her brother Jem and their cook. Scout´s father is a lawyer. Scout basically learns 4 major lessons of the course of the book; she learns them partly from Atticus and partly from her own experience. The first lesson; is that you don’t understand someone until you put yourself in their shoes. She takes a while to master this one. Across the street from where Scout lives, lives Boo Radley or Arthur Radley, the mysterious neighbor who saves Scout and Jem from being killed. The second important lesson is that you don’t kill a mockingbird, Atticus gives the children air rifle, and they are allowed to kill whatever bird but mockingbirds because mockingbirds don’t eat anyone’s plants or harm anything, they just makes music. A mockingbird has a metaphoric meaning too, anyone who is weak and defenseless. To kill a mockingbird is to take advantage of someone weaker than you. The second face of the book involves Tom Robinson. Tom is a black man who been arrested in charge with raping a white women named Mayella Ewell. Atticus has been appointed as a defend attorney and he is determined to do a good job at it even if he knows he going...
Words: 486 - Pages: 2
...Mockingbirds are a big part of the story in Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Mockingbirds sing their hearts out, that’s just what they do. They don’t hurt others or damage any trees, they sing a beautiful tone for all to hear. As Mockingbirds sing, so do people, they have their own characteristics and ways that they express themselves in. Atticus says that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird, and so it would be a sin to kill someone’s voice or the way they stand up for others. Three characters that I think are mockingbirds that sing their own song are Atticus Finch, Scout Finch, and Jem Finch. Atticus Finch is the person that does the dirty work, he is a wise and great father to his children, he teaches them many great life lessons...
Words: 817 - Pages: 4
...Would To Kill A Mockingbird be relevant or not. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird has succeeded the test of time. To Kill A Mockingbird is relevant because it defines different stereotypes, bad and good ones. Schools are still reading To Kill a Mockingbird. According to, Why Does 'To Kill A Mockingbird' Still Have Such An Impact, “Every year, students come when I teach this course, they want to work on ‘To Kill a Mockingbird. This proves that everybody is interested in To Kill A Mockingbird. As you can see To Kill A Mockingbird is still relevant to schools. Kids learn from the book To Kill a Mockingbird. “The narrator, Scout, is a delight”. “She has an ironic view of life but at the same time, is innocent”. She is also a strong female role model. It teaches kids about “discrimination, racism, cruelty” and growing up. To Kill A Mockingbird has topics that teenagers can connect with. Others might say that To Kill a Mockingbird is not relevant. “A source stated that Harper Lee doesn’t really measure up to the others in literary talent, but we like to pretend she does.” The characters are stereotypes especially Atticus Finch, Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was the brave stereotype, Bob Ewell was the bully and liar stereotype, and Atticus Finch was the brave, forgiving and kind stereotype. As you can see in To Kill A Mockingbird...
Words: 436 - Pages: 2
...Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel centered around a few years in Jean Louise “Scout” Finch’s childhood, featuring her experiences and the lessons that she learns growing up in the 1930s. Scout and her brother, Jeremy “Jem” Finch, mature in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, in a one-parent home. Their father and aunt, Atticus and Alexandra, raise them with help from Calpurnia, their African American maid. Harper Lee weaves several different themes throughout the novel, but some are more prominent than others. Lee develops the main themes of growth, protection of innocence, and perception throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, disguised in the form of lessons learned during the narrator’s childhood. Harper Lee reveals her theme of growth...
Words: 1632 - Pages: 7
...general, but it will analyze a certain piece of work that signifies popular culture. The popular fiction novel that I choose to critique is a very well known book called To Kill a Mockingbird, published by author Harper Lee in 1960. This novel takes place in a small segregated fictional town in the south, called Maycomb, Alabama. Harper based this novel on her life experience growing up in the south as a young child and what it was like to be separated between the whites and the blacks. To Kill a Mockingbird, is about five characters, with Scout, a six year old little girl, and her brother Jem a ten year old boy, their father Atticus, who was a defense attorney for the local courts, and their neighbor Boo Radley. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the era of the Great Depression, and where segregation was a big thing. The book displays what it was like in the 1960’s to defend a African American person and stand up for their rights, whether you were right or wrong. The plot of this fiction novel takes place in the small town of Maycomb, Atticus is found on trial for defending a black man named Tom Robinson who has been accused of raping a local white woman. The accused is the towns local drunk by the name of Bob Ewell. Atticus family has been tormented and criticized and called names for standing up for Tom Robinson....
Words: 708 - Pages: 3
...The differences between Harper Lee’s novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman shares a generalized statement about how growing up helps one realize that there is more than just strictly good and evil people in the world and they may obtain their own personal opinions that others may not agree with. More specifically, when Jean Louis felt as if she had been betrayed by the actions of her father, it was only her starting to think of her father as a human being opposed to being a perfect figure. Atticus’ brother helped Jean Louis realize this by telling her that her father's intentions were to make her “.. reduce him to the status of a human being.” In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jean Louis obtained majorly childish perspectives with...
Words: 670 - Pages: 3
...Influence Paper September 18th, 2015 Brandon McConnell To Kill A Mockingbird If you were to ask me about a book or a hero that was an ethical influence on me, I would tell you that both come from the same book/movie. It would be Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, it is a classic example of heroism and doing the right thing and there is many readers who would agree with that statement. I read this book at the young age of 14 in middle school when I was still developing my feel for the ethics of right and wrong so it made a lasting impact on me growing up and developing as a person. Summarize the book or hero’s life in a few paragraphs; Everyone should know the story of To Kill A Mockingbird but if you don’t, let me share it with you. It happens in a little town of Maycomb, Alabama in the heat of all the racism in the South. In this little town everyone knows each other and everyone knows what happens. The main characters are the Finch family with Atticus, Scout, and Jem in their small house in the middle of Maycomb. Scout is a young girl who grew up with a lot of boys and acts that way in the way she deals with conflict. Jem is the older brother who isn’t really isn’t in the picture a lot but is in a crucial incident of the story with Scout. Atticus is a very well known coveted lawyer; everyone in town knows him and looks up to him as a person and a professional. That was short lived when Atticus did something he knew was right but society said it was wrong...
Words: 1361 - Pages: 6
...Innocence is the state, quality, or fact of being innocent of a crime or offense. Innocence is one of the many recurring themes of To Kill A Mockingbird. Jem and Scout have an innocent point of view in life. The children believe the color of your skin shouldn't matter, however they soon realize ignorance in the people of Maycomb. “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. 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.” (quoted by Atticus/Ms. Maudie) Tom is nothing but a hard working innocent black man in the town of Maycomb county. Mockingbirds are symbolic to Tom Robinson because Tom is being falsely accused of rape to the white trash of the town, Mayella Ewell. Mockingbirds are innocent and all they want is to bring pleasure to those around them; Tom is innocent and all he wants to do is help Mayella with the chores around the house because he feels pity. However...
Words: 756 - Pages: 4
...have a tendency to move in like a pack of hyenas. What is it that causes people to act this way? Is it insecurity? Is it fear? Whatever prejudice is at its core, it makes people lose control. They give up individual thought to be part of the group. Maybe they feel safer. But there is one thing that causes this mob mentality to fall apart: empathy. If someone puts themselves in another person’s shoes, looks through their eyes,...
Words: 1521 - Pages: 7
...To Kill a Mockingbird is a book written by Harper Lee about a small town in Alabama named Maycomb. The time period that this book takes place in is the late 1930s, the end of the Great Depression and prejudice is extremely prominent. The story is about a black male, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell, and is defended by a white attorney, Atticus Finch. Atticus and his children, Scout and Jem, endure tough love from their community, but learn many things from the treatment they received. During the book, as the Harper Lee expresses the themes she uses symbols to interpret them. The major themes in the story are revealed within symbols, such as, a mockingbird, an oak tree, and geraniums. The mockingbird...
Words: 818 - Pages: 4
...To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is a critically acclaimed novel narrated by Scout FInch, following an important three years in her life. This novel became an instant best seller, an Academy Award-winning film, and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize. This book in some states are part of the English curriculum to be taught in high schools, while in other states it is banned from school libraries. This book arises much controversy because it is based around white supremacy in the South, and how African Americans were harshly treated. It reveals the ugly truth on how society handled cases in the court and the biased verdicts as the result. It also reveals the existence of good and evil in a small town, and how some adults...
Words: 1838 - Pages: 8
..."I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what"- Atticus Finch. Also courage is a part of growing up but it's the type of courage that determine whether a person matures or evolved from once they once were. In addition, to this in novel To Kill a Mockingbird there are two children Scout and Jem, that experience things a child should never go through. However, by going through a time of Great Depression and dealing with a prejudice town they have evolved from the naive kids they used to be. Except, in this essay it's about who has evolved the most throughout the novel. Therefore, Jem has changed the more than Scout in "To Kill a Mockingbird" because he has proved more mature than Scout. Towards the middle of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem evolves by following Atticus as a role model.For example Jem shows maturing by stating 'I reckon if he'd wanted us to know it, he'da told...
Words: 856 - Pages: 4
...K Mrs. G ENG2D1 6 January 2015 To Kill a Mockingbird: A Excellent Adaptation To Kill a Mockingbird, according to many people is one of the finest books written in modern American Literature, which spreads the honorable message of racial injustice in the 1930’s in an informative and creative way. By showing a family known as “the Finches” experience and face the trials of living in a small Alabaman Town called Maycomb. The book itself was written by Harper Lee, a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist. When the novel was turned to a movie, there were many challenges that the director had to face while turning this classic novel into life. The director Robert Mulligan had to make sure the movie itself is an excellent adaptation of the book within the restrictions of creating a movie such as time limit, audience restrictions, money, and making sure to not replicate the entire book. This is why a book is better in an aspect as there are not as many restrictions to when creating a book compared to a movie. The film and the novel itself has many similarities and differences, however it is upon whether or not the film is a successful adaptation and portrays the theme of racial injustice. This film is a reasonable adaptation as it demonstrates the message of the film using the same context as the book and brings the characters to life in a creative way. There is great screenplay and dialogue amongst the characters which allows the audience to understand the movie thoroughly. However...
Words: 1905 - Pages: 8
