...Minh-Thi Nguyen Mrs. Smith English 1 Honors/ Period 4 November 14, 2013 To Kill a Mockingbird Purpose Passage Questions “Atticus reached down and picked up the candy box. He handed it to Jem. Jem opened the box. Inside, surrounded by wads of damp cotton, was a white, perfect camellia It was a Snow-on –the-Mountain… ‘Old hell-devil, old hell-devil. Why can’t she leave me alone?’ …Jem picked up the candy box and threw it in the fire. He picked up the camellia, and when I went off to bed I saw him fingering the wide petals” (148). Questions: 1. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, why does Mrs. Dubose give Jem the perfect white camellia? What does its color symbolize and how is it significant to the novel? 2. The “Snow-on-the-Mountain” camellia in the candy box is cut and does not have any roots. Moreover, Mrs. Dubose only gave the camellia to Jem. What does this symbolize and what was the message that Mrs. Dubose was trying to convey? 3. Why does Harper Lee end Part One of the novel with Jem’s decision of keeping the camellia? 1. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, why does Mrs. Dubose give Jem the perfect white camellia? What does it symbolize and how is it significant to the novel? In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Mrs. Dubose criticizes Atticus as a “nigger-lover” and taunts the children for their father’s decision to defend an African American in court, Jem deliberately destroys every one of her precious camellias...
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...symbols of success, virtue and an adverse personality in To Kill a Mockingbird. For example, in the beginning of the book, Jem was aggravated by the then taunting Dill Harris (a young visitor to Maycomb) so that Jem would touch the house of Radley. By touching the Radley house, he proved that he was not afraid and could take on any challenge. When such predicaments come Jem's way he will usually be able to make the best of them successfully. In addition, Jem will lash out in complete contempt for a wrong against his moral conscience, such as Mrs. Dubose slinging blasphemy at Jem's father. A good character must have a sense of morality to defend what is believed to be right, and Jem has this emblematic realism. But, a life-like character must have their weaknesses; and he displayed that on account of Mrs. Dubose's harsh words. Furthermore, in chapter eleven of To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem has to repent his wrongdoing by reading to Mrs. Dubose. Jem's moral obligation takes precedence over his failure, revealing that Jem is a strong character and allows himself to be punished. While being disciplined, he responds benevolently but with quite a bit of quiet resentment -- an idiosyncrasy that Jem carries with him throughout the book. Jem Finch has many qualities of a three-dimensional character: he is able to restrict human fear for success, and is penetrable easily by...
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...INFORMATION ABOUT THE NOVEL Classification- To Kill a Mockingbird is embodied by Atticus Finch, who is virtually unique in the novel in that he has experienced and understood evil without losing his faith in the human capacity for goodness. Atticus understands that, rather than being simply creatures of good or creatures of evil, most people have both good and bad qualities. The important thing is to appreciate the good qualities and understand the bad qualities by treating others with sympathy and trying to see life from their perspective. He tries to teach this ultimate moral lesson to Jem and Scout to show them that it is possible to live with conscience without losing hope or becoming cynical. In this way, Atticus is able to admire Mrs. Dubose’s courage even while deploring her racism. Scout’s progress as a character in the novel is defined by her gradual development toward understanding Atticus’s lessons, culminating when, in the final chapters, Scout at last sees Boo Radley as a human being. Her newfound ability to view the world from his perspective ensures that she will not become jaded as she loses her...
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