Throughout all of history, society has been the main thing shaping how people think about things and view others. Things were no different in 1930s Maycomb, as shown in To Kill a Mockingbird, when the U.S. was struggling through the Great Depression and deeply-rooted racism ran rampant around every corner. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, many characters are influenced by society, but none as much as our narrator, a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, who is commonly referred to as Scout.…
Life values and lessons are an integral part of life as we know it and are prevalent throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. This 1950s novel is rooted in the town of Maycomb and outlines issues relating to the deep and socially ingrained racism such as the courage and conviction to face opposition, respect for all people as well as oneself, educational differences between the white and black citizens of Maycomb, and finally the important life lesson of standing in someone else’s shoes.…
Published in 1960, To Kill A Mockingbird allowed Harper Lee to demonstrate the prejudice against negroes by using Atticus Finch, a white lawyer, who bravely defended Tom Roberson, a negro, and his false accusation for rape of a white woman. The daughter of Mr. Finch, Scout, narrates the story of this trial of Tom Roberson. “She is an innocent, good-hearted, five year old girl who has no experience with the evil of the world; however, as the novel progresses, she sees firsthand the evil in form…
Character Progression in To Kill a Mockingbird In the shadows of the Great Depression, everyday life for both children and adults alike must carry on. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jean Louise Finch, dubbed Scout by her close friends and family, recounts the tale of her brother Jeremy Finch, nicknamed Jem, and how his arm is injured. However, through the recollection, the children encounter prejudice, appearance vs reality, and grow as people. Lee appropriately uses the…
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, the underlying problem that moves the story is cultural, not personal. The cultural problem is civil rights. We see this in the trial, when Calpurnia brings the children to her church, and when Aunt Alexandra disapproves of Calpurnia working for Atticus. This novel is set during the Great Depression. Not many people have money to go out and buy what they formerly could, which hinders most individual’s spirits. So, not only are the African American people…
In today 's society, to become a good person, understanding the difference between right and wrong, just and unjust is an important skill. Two characters from the movie “A Time To Kill” by Joel Schumacher and “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee have a very thorough understanding of justice. These two characters are Atticus Finch and Jake Brigance. Both of these people have comparable characteristics. They both have high intelligence, making them able to adapt to their surroundings and win…
The Clash of Prejudice and Maturation in To Kill a Mockingbird “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.” claimed freedom rights activist Nelson Mandela, a statement that generalized the main source of prejudiced hate through time. Since birth, children can learn from their surroundings about the world and how it works, and almost every time, their experiences with other people instill a general sense of opinions and ideas upon…
expresses this idea through her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. She shows how a single person can take a stand for something they know is right, even if it goes against the majority’s morals. Other historical events, such as Emmett Till’s murder in 1955, support this idea that a single individual with good morals can bring about a long-awaited change. Even in the present day, people are making significant changes which improve the lives of others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, a few individuals pursue…
Harper Lee published her novel To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960. The characters in the novel are based on the behaviors of people that she knew growing up in Monroeville, Alabama. The novel is considered to be a bildungsroman, which is a novel where one or more of the characters is forced into adulthood throughout the story. The story takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama in the 1930s and it highlights the racial, social, and political issues of that time period. In the novel, Tom Robinson, an…
Book Summary To Kill a Mockingbird is about a girl named Scout and her brother named Jem growing up in Maycomb county. Their mother died when Scout was two from a heart attack. Because of this their dad, Atticus, and their housekeeper Calpurnia take care of them. Scout, Jem, and their friend Dill get obsessed with trying to lure their neighbor Boo outside for them to see. Arthur “Boo” Radley never leaves his home and has many rumors about him. Later in the book Atticus is assigned to defend…