Standing Up to the Crowd in The Help and To Kill a Mockingbird “If you want to be a real human being - a real woman, a real man - you cannot tolerate things which put you to indignation, to outrage. You must stand up. I always say to people, 'Look around; look at what makes you unhappy, what makes you furious, and then engage yourself in some action”(Stephane Hessel). The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is from the perspective of a little girl named Scout and it is about her father, Atticus Finch trying to helplessly defend an innocent black man from the racist justice system that was present during the 1930s. The movie, The Help by Tate Taylor, is about the treatment of African American maids during the 1960s and the main character, Skeeter Phelan trying to help them by publishing a novel about how the maids were treated like and how it affected their life. Both of these stories take place in the …show more content…
In both the book, To Kill a Mockingbird and the movie, The Help, there are many characters that share the same passion that is standing up to the
To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about an african american man who has there life on the line because his being falsely accused of raping a white woman. To Kill a Mockingbird was based off the true story of the Scottsboro boys who were a group of african american teenagers who all had their lives on the line for being falsely accused of raping two white women. Both of these cases are similar because they both have to do with african american men who are being falsely accused of rape, deal with racial injustice or hatred, and are both represented by kind white lawyers. Both the Scottsboro case and the Tom Robinson case, where about black men that had their lives on the line for being falsely accused of rape. On April 9th,1931 an Alabama judge sentenced
Atticus takes a stand by standing up for Tom Robinson. He stands up for him when the mob tries to harm him. In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, In Chapter 15 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus goes to the jail to sit guard outside the night before Tom Robinson's trial, in the hope of stopping a lynch mob coming for him. At the end of chapter 15, Atticus and the children go to the office to guard Tom Robinson. Afterward, a group of anonymous men arrives at the scene to lynch the young African American man.
It’s an awful feeling knowing that no matter how hard you work, you’ll never earn as much money as your white counterpart. Sadly, this has been the case for hundreds of years for African Americans living in the United States. To Kill a Mockingbird reveals the everyday struggles that African Americans endured during the 1930’s. Many of the events in the novel were based on the author, Harper Lee’s life. Just like Atticus, Lee’s father was also a lawyer.
Everyone has had to take a stand for someone at some point in their life, sometimes it's risky, and sometimes it’s dangerous, but you have to face it and stand up for what you believe in and fight against the odds. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, A lawyer named Atticus has to defend a black man called Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white girl named Mayella Ewells. In the 1930s, racism was common in Maycomb County, and it was no easy task to defend a man of color. Atticus takes a stand for Tom Robinson, And it would make sense why, since Atticus holds an open-minded personality, and treats everyone as equals. He is a determined person and tries to think empathetically.
The scenarios in this novel feature events that one can definitely learn from. Its theme applies not only to the novel itself, but to real life. These three characters do not do anything out of the ordinary by defending themselves, however their courage is admirable. In “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Harper Lee uses Atticus, Calpurnia, and Scout reflect the idea of standing up for one’s principles, even if it is not a popular decision.
In conclusion, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird displays courage by telling the reader to care more for family and friends than oneself. Atticus Finch is courageous for defending Tom Robinson even though he knows he is already beaten. Jem Finch is courageous for defending his sister and helping Mrs. Dubose with her morphine addiction. Arthur “Boo” Radley is courageous for protecting Jem and Scout by putting
In the early 1900’s, one’s ethnicity, financial status, education and popularity were many factors in determining one’s place in society. Along with the day to day life, those factors shown to have an effect on one’s say in many situations. In spite of this, Harper Lee enunciates the idea that with great courage, anyone (of any background) can stand for what they deem is right, even with foreseen inevitable consequences and obstacles. She displays this in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird. In consequence of Atticus defending the case of Tom Robinson, a black man, in a racist era, both of his children Scout and Jem get attacked by Bob Ewell.
The Help is an inspiring novel that tells the tale of black servants, or often referred to as the help, that work for white women and families in the 1960s. The protagonists of this tale, Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny, work together to write a book of true and heartbreaking stories of the colored ‘help’ in America. The author uses the characters inner thoughts and dialogue to convey a powerful message and theme to the audience that is often forgot about in today’s society, there is no difference between us no matter our race, gender, or religion. Throughout this novel we Aibileen and Minny be constantly scrutinized because of the color of their skin, and we see Skeeter and the other I'm women that use help be humiliated because of their gender.
During a time of hardship, one must not cower, but display courage. Atticus displays this all throughout the novel, but mostly when he deals with Tom Robinson. When Scout gets separated from Jem and Dill in the Trial scene, she finds herself listening to men talk about her father. “… thinks he knows what he’s doing,’ one said. ‘Oh’h now, I wouldn’t say that,’ said another.
The novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s. A period that saw the segregation of blacks and the superiority of whites dominate the southern United States. The novel focuses on the colored help and their work environment, greatly emphasizing the help 's relations with their white employers. The plot of the novel follows a colored maid and educated white women in their journey to make known the relations that the help build with their employers and their families, and to show the maltreatment that some colored maids receive. In addition, the novel Uncle Tom 's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe takes place in various places, most of which are in the southern United States, during the mid 19th
The title of the book is To Kill a Mockingbird. The reason it’s called To Kill a Mockingbird is because Atticus says “It’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird”. A Mockingbird is best described as a bird that doesn’t hurt anyone, does not attempt to hurt anyone, sings for enjoyment, tires to help, and has nothing but innocence. There are many “Mockingbirds” in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. The two characters that really stood out to me as the Mockingbirds were Atticus Finch and Calpurnia.
One central idea shown in Chapter 15 of "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee is the importance of standing up for what is right, even in the face of opposition. In chapter 15, Atticus risks his life to protect Tom Robinson when he is in the Maycomb jail. Even when Atticus was surrounded by a mob of people willing to hurt him, he remains calm and does not show any signs of fear or panic, and only wants to protect Tom Robinson. The author reinforces this theme when a man asks, "He in there Mr. Finch?" a man said.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee contains various examples of racism and prejudice throughout the novel. The story takes place in the 1930's, a period when racism was a part of everyday life. Prejudice and racism in this book are represented by acts of hate towards others because of the color of their skin. In this novel, prejudice and racism was dominantly pointed towards blacks. Acts of racism can be discreet to the point that you can easily miss them.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a book mainly about the coexistence of good and evil. The book stresses and emphasizes on the exploration of moral nature in humans. There are many themes in this novel including courage, innocence, racism, femininity, etc. However the most prevalent theme in the book is innocence. Not just innocence in itself but the danger and harm evil poses to the innocent.
In society, there are very few people who have the unwavering dedication to stand up for what they believe. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man was convicted and accused of a crime he didn 't commit, raping a white women, which is not in anyway tolerable in society. In Harper Lee 's To Kill A Mockingbird, the author used point of view and symbolism to acknowledge how the the several social divisions which make up much of the adult world are shown to be both irrational and extremely destructive. To begin with, the short story To Kill A Mockingbird, used point of view to show how the many social divisions in the world are irrational and destructive. Scout; a first grade student at the time, was telling the story from her point of view and what had occurred from her childhood perspective.