Imagine your child is growing up in a short span, being tainted by the evils of man and the heart of the prejudice. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem Finch are forced to age early when their father takes an unpopular side in the courtroom. His children learn the up and downs of being social outcasts who’s father is a ‘nigger-lover’. Although through the course of their unexpected summer, they absorb many aspects of life that even the adults are oblivious to. As they are progressing through their eye-opening summer, Jem and Scout Finch learn about the power of names in their society, the roles of destructive loneliness, and the loss of their innocence. The power of names in Maycomb County seeps into every crease of the public …show more content…
When Scout wants to spend time with him, Aunty forbides it, simply given that he is a Cunningham. “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem.” (Lee 300). Aunt Alexandra stresses the point that despite Walter, a Cunningham, cleaning himself up and presenting himself well, will never be like Jem, a Finch. Merely given his surname, Walter will not be invited into the Finch house while Aunty is present. Scout fails to understand this, because her friend is a Cunningham, they are not ‘suppose’ to strengthen their bond. All of the children in Maycomb avoid the Radley house. Although he has never been spotted by them, they knew exactly what he appeared as, a monster. “Boo Radley was about-six-and-a-half feet tall...there was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (Lee 16). The Radley house is feared and avoided by the children of Maycomb. The Radleys are perceived as ghoulish and morbid by the youth of the town. Children run past their house fearful of the Radley’s, because they are recognised as evil, unhappy,
Mockingbird in Everyday Lives “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. ”(119) In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Atticus uses this quote to teach that it is wrong to harm innocent creatures.
The children hear from Mrs. Stephanie Crawford about her encounter with Boo Radley, claiming that she saw him look through the window at her one night, and stories like that cause Scout, Jem, and Dill to fear Boo. After listening to the Tom Robinson case and hearing about his unfortunate death, Scout and Jem begin to comprehend why Boo never comes out of his house. Jem explains to Scout, “I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time . . . it’s because he wants to stay inside” (259).
The “hain’t” of the Radley house will never get a chance to change his position in society; because of the gossip Maycomb spreads about him, he will always be seen as bad and will never be able to break out of that role. The fact that even the youngest members of the town of Maycomb commonly know the Radleys as villains shows that Maycomb has a way of confining people to a single story and keeping them on one level of importance. But the social standings of the town are not only based on genetics-they also depend on skin color. Black people in Maycomb are seen as unimportant. In the courtroom, Mr. Gilmer proves this to be true by confronting Tom Robinson, saying, “‘Had your eye on her a long time, hadn’t you, boy?’
During every person’s childhood, an event, person, or lesson changes their view on the world. This circumstance provides them with knowledge about what it means to be an adult and what humanity and society really are. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem and Scout Finch are growing up during the 1930’s-a time where racism was very prevalent in Southern American society. The two children live in Maycomb County with their father Atticus.
Harper Lee uses setting and characterisation to reveal values such as social justice, attitudes such as racism and fears that exist in relationships within the town of Maycomb County during the 1930’s. In this essay I will discuss these aspects that exist in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Maycomb County is a small town in Alabama which is very much set in its ways. Time goes by and nothing seems to change, everyone’s business is publicly known. As Scout quoted ‘ He liked Maycomb County, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his people, they knew him’.
The 1900’s South Imagine your typical day to day life. Imagine the dull familiarity of it, the repetitive task of simply living. Now imagine how different it would be… if you, instead of living in the new and shiny present, were living in the old, worn-down 1900’s American South. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the story centers around the experiences and memories of a little girl named “Scout” Jean Louise Finch who lives in a small southern town called Maycomb County. In this story, Scout explores her childhood, by having fun in the sun, making new friends, and spending time with her brother “Jem” Jeremy Finch.
At first, Jem was easily startled. After he went through the consequence he changed into a more patient person, but he still wasn’t sorry for destroying Ms. Dubose’s bushes. In Maycomb there is a house where an interesting family called the Radleys lives in. Scout and Jem are both afraid of the Radleys house because of Boo Radley.
A. Theme- Pick two quotes and explain how each relates to a theme in the novel in 3-5 sentences each. Do not summarize the novel. 1. “‘[It’s] a sin to kill a mockingbird.’” It relates to the novel because it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates the characters by pulling traits of people in her daily life. Atticus, Scout’s dad in the book, is a perfect example of one of these characters because he relates to Harper Lee’s father, Amasa Coleman(A.C.) Lee. In chapter 1 of the book, it says, “… yet the tradition of living in the land remained unbroken until well into the twentieth century, when my father, Atticus Finch, went to Montgomery to read law… ”(page 4-5). This quotation connects to Harper Lee’s father because he was also a lawyer, according to Scott Stabler.
Have you ever thought what would happen if one person started to believe in something that’s others didn’t. Then what if everybody else started to follow along. That reminds me of this game called Fortnite. One person started playing it then everybody followed along.
To Kill a Mockingbird: Growing Up When you grow up you may experience unfairness, changes in life, more understanding and reach maturity, you will grow up naturally and may be difficult to take in. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, focuses on a girl named Scott, who is growing up in Maycomb during The Great Depression, witnesses the changes in society, discrimination to African Americans, parenting, role of being a women, and courage. The book starts off on how Jem broke his arm and the bad rumors of Arthur Radley . While Scott grows up she also discovers the reality of the world and sees the injustice with African Americans by “white people.” Scout Finch was immature and childish during the beginning of the novel, but soon starts maturing, begins to become more like a lady than a tom boy, becomes more aware, and is growing fast for various reasons.
Camille Mischen Mrs. Vande Guchte Honors English 10 B 10 February 2022 To Kill a Mockingbird Essay “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee 103) This is a famous quote from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee which takes place in Maycomb County, Alabama during the Great Depression. This novel follows six-year-old girl Scout Finch who grows up in a small town and as she’s growing up, she’s learning more about the truths of her town and the people in it.
When Ms. Caroline seems perplexed about Burris Ewell trying to leave school before the day was over, he clears up that he had, ¨Been comin’ to the first day o’ the first grade fer three year now¨ (Lee 30). This is an example of a person knowing their status in Maycomb County. Because his last name is Ewell, Burris just follows right in the footsteps of his family, and does not understand that if he wanted to, he could make a better name for
In the beginning, Mr. Arthur Radley’s son generally roused a lot of trouble and caused a ruckus, culminating in him and his friends locking the town sheriff inside a courthouse. However, Mr. Radley didn’t know that his son was causing trouble until he was arrested. In the words of Scout, “Nobody in Maycomb had nerve enough to tell Mr. Radley that his boy was in the wrong crowd. ”(10). This quote perfectly sums up the unique but relatable character criteria.
At the start of To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout flashes back to the summer that Dill first arrives, which brings up the conversation of Mr. Arthur Radley, otherwise known as Boo. Scout, Jem, and Dill ramble on and on about the rumors of Mr. Radley, and they truly believe that he’s the epitome of a monster. The rumors about Boo’s past haunt the children of Maycomb, especially Scout, Jem, and Dill. Throughout the novel, the perception of Mr. Radley gradually changes and the speculation about his past increases. By the end of the book, the children have the upmost respect for Arthur because he is their savior.