A Literary Analysis Of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird
Cheuk Wai Fu (Justine)
Professor Katarzyna Wasylak
ENGL 169
13 November 2015
A Literary Analysis of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”
American writer Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird has been a classic in the American literature for over half a decade. The story of a widowed lawyer, Atticus Finch and his children, Scout and Jem, living in Alabama, southern parts of the United States, has revealed one of the greatest social issues in the 1950s, the racial inequality and the segregation between black and white people. There were conflicts between the two groups and there were always prejudices towards the black people in the society. In the novel, it covers three years of Scout Finch’s childhood living in Maycomb Alabama during the Great Depression period while she is five to eight. Scout and his brother Jem love to go out of their house and play and they are fascinated by their neighbor’s house. One day, there is a black man named Tom Robinson arrested and he is accused by a young white woman for raping and attacking her. Atticus, Scout’s father, becomes his lawyer and defends for what Tom is charged for. Since then, Scout’s neighborhood’s attitudes towards their family changed and they treat the Finches differently. Other children in the town start to bully Scout and Jem. Although Tom Robinson did not rape nor attack the young woman, he is judged as guilty and is sent to prison. He is killed for his escape of prison. Throughout the story, Lee used the child’s
A Rhetorical Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee
378 Words | 2 PagesRhetorical Precis Writing Atticus Finch, a fictional character within Harper Lee’s 1930s set novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, (1960) argues that Tom Robinson is innocent, and rather the defenseless victim of a society ruled by prejudice. Consequently, through Atticus, Harper Lee supports this argument by applying the use of rhetorical appeals and literary devices. For instance, Lee establishes ethos through the utilization of an allusion to Thomas Jefferson, showing Atticus’s credibility and education: “‘Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal” (Lee 233).
Tom Robinson Transformation
951 Words | 4 PagesThis leads to the town’s most known lawyer, Atticus, which happens to be the protagonist’s dad, to attempt to help Tom Robinson get a fair trial to prove his innocence. Throughout the whole book, we are able to read about the Finch family’s adventures of living in a racist-filled environment and how well they react to them initially and ultimately. Being just a child at the time, it is hard for Scout Finch to understand what’s really going on in the town of Maycomb and why people have turned against her family. The novel is written in the form of flashbacks, with the story beginning when Scout was only 6 years old and ending when she is 9 years old.
Rhetorical Analysis Of Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'
490 Words | 2 PagesPreston Geerinck Per. 1 4/25/17 Mrs. Granahan-Smith Speech Analysis Atticus Finch of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird tackled the task of defending the case of Tom Robinson who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell.
Theme Of Community In To Kill A Mockingbird
1580 Words | 7 PagesThe novel To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the segregated South of the 1930’s. The book is told in the eyes of an eight year old girl, Scout Finch. Her father, Atticus Finch, is an attorney who is struggling to prove the innocence of a black man incorrectly accused of rape. The historical context of the book lets one see the social status of different groups during the civil rights era. The story explores who fits into certain societies, who is respected in the community, written and unwritten rules concerning family, gender, age, and race, expectations of certain people, and what conflicts arise out of tension.
Scout's Struggles In To Kill A Mockingbird
647 Words | 3 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about the child hood of a young girl named Jean Louise Finch. It is about the struggles she faced growing up with racial circumstances in the Southern United States. She is often her referred to as Scout Finch through the novel. Scout lives with her brother Jem and their father Atticus in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a small town where everybody knows everybody.
Theme Of Diction In To Kill A Mockingbird
743 Words | 3 PagesIn Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, two children live in a chaotic world of racial injustice and poverty. In this book, two siblings named Jem and Scout Finch grow and mature in a mysterious area of people battling and supporting racism. Throughout this book, Harper Lee uses symbolism to provide the view of racism. While doing this, she also uses selective choices of diction to shape the story. Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird with a purpose, to bring awareness to racial injustice through hidden symbols and diction.
To Kill A Mockingbird Critical Lens Analysis
1019 Words | 5 PagesLiterature can be analyzed with many different critical lenses. While analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, one may use a critical lens to recognize the different ideas throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates her perspective on intolerance and discrimination within the early twentieth century. Firstly, intolerance of people who are different is very prevalent within the novel.
Literary Analysis On To Kill A Mockingbird
691 Words | 3 PagesTo Kill A Mockingbird Literary Analysis Throughout To Kill A MockingBird, by Harper Lee there are many acts of courage. This is shown in Atticus Finch, Jem Finch, and Boo Radley. Atticus shows the most courage in the book but all three of these characters show true courage in some way, shape, or form. Boo Radley showed a lot of courage, but he was not in the storyline as much as Atticus. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, courage is defined as standing up for people and doing what’s right.
To Kill A Mockingbird How Has Jem Changed
844 Words | 4 PagesThe novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about two kids, Jem and Scout, and their childhood in their small town Maycomb, Alabama. In the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout were two innocent kids playing in the summer sun, until school came along. Jem was about twelve throughout the novel and Scout was eight, and considering that Jem was twelve in the novel, he was changing. During the middle of the novel a rape trial occurred, which included a black man being accused by a white woman of first-degree rape. Atticus, the kid’s father was defending the african american man; Tom Robinson.
Theme Of Racial Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird
754 Words | 4 PagesRace has always been a part of history, from slavery to MLK, to Barack Obama. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee defines race in the south during the 1930’s. Jean “Scout” Finch, is the narrator of the story. Her brother Jeremy “Jem” and her dad, Atticus, are both main characters. Calpurnia is their house cook and helper, she is also black.
How Does Boo Radley Use Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird
549 Words | 3 PagesTo Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is a story about inequality, injustice and racism seen through the eyes of two innocent children, Jem and Scout. Jem and Scout live in Maycomb, Alabama and learn these sad lessons through their relationships with their father Atticus, their maid Calpurnia, their mysterious neighbor Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of a terrible crime. Through their relationship with Boo and Tom, Jem and Scout learn about racism and inequality that changes how they see the world. Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are two different people who share similar struggles with inequality throughout this story. Boo and Tom experience a form of racism and discrimination.
Examples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird
1914 Words | 8 PagesHarper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that show the life of a southern state od Alabama during the “black racism” time period, where majority of the people had the mentality that (quote) with the exception of a few. To chosen to portray it from the eyes of Scout Finch, from a child’s point of view. Living in Maycomb, in the midst of a conservative society of the 1930’s and 20’s Southern America Scout Finch is an extra ordinary child.
Argumentative Essay On To Kill A Mockingbird
508 Words | 3 PagesHarper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” is set sometime in the 1930s in Maycomb County Alabama. The story is told through the point of view of Scout Finch who lives with her father, Atticus, and brother, Jem. The kids like to play pretend with their friend Dill about the man who lives in a scary house down the road, Boo Radley. The kids come in a few close counters along the way during these games in which Atticus does not approve. Scouts’ father, a lawyer, is appointed by Judge Taylor to defend Mr. Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young girl.
To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Analysis
1037 Words | 5 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird is a story that takes place during the Great Depression in a small town located in southern Georgia in the 1930s. The book focuses on Jean Louise “Scout” and Jeremy Atticus “Jem” and their coming of age and the major events that made the two grow up. One of the events was the trial of the Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, in which their father, Atticus Finch, was defending Tom, a man of color. Mockingbirds are used throughout the book to represent people that were harmed by the society even though they were innocent. There is a common misinterpretation of the meaning behind the Mockingbird leading many to believe that Scout is the Mockingbird in the story.
Literary Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee
915 Words | 4 PagesOption 2 Literary Analysis To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel set during the 1930s in a small town in Southern Alabama called Maycomb. The story is told through the narrator, Scout, a young girl who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her older brother Jem. As a child, Scout is portrayed as a stubborn and obnoxious little girl who loves to read, play with her brother Jem, and fantasize about her mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. However, her life gets turned upside down when Scout’s father agrees to do something that is deemed unacceptable in the south; he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white girl. Instantly, Atticus and his family go from being respected and beloved by their town, to being
More about A Literary Analysis Of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird
A Rhetorical Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee
378 Words | 2 PagesTom Robinson Transformation
951 Words | 4 PagesRhetorical Analysis Of Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'
490 Words | 2 PagesTheme Of Community In To Kill A Mockingbird
1580 Words | 7 PagesScout's Struggles In To Kill A Mockingbird
647 Words | 3 PagesTheme Of Diction In To Kill A Mockingbird
743 Words | 3 PagesTo Kill A Mockingbird Critical Lens Analysis
1019 Words | 5 PagesLiterary Analysis On To Kill A Mockingbird
691 Words | 3 PagesTo Kill A Mockingbird How Has Jem Changed
844 Words | 4 PagesTheme Of Racial Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird
754 Words | 4 PagesHow Does Boo Radley Use Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird
549 Words | 3 PagesExamples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird
1914 Words | 8 PagesArgumentative Essay On To Kill A Mockingbird
508 Words | 3 PagesTo Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Analysis
1037 Words | 5 PagesLiterary Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee
915 Words | 4 Pages