“Everybody’s gotta learn. Nobody’s born knowin’” -Harper Lee. Age alters our perspective. Maturity changes our understanding. This sentiment is echoed in Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The timeless novel tells the tale of the Finch family and the residents of their town in the southern county of Maycomb. A tale of racism, sexism, coming of age, and small town prejudice is woven through the youthful perspective of the fiery tomboy, Scout Finch. She lives her life under the wise guidance of her father, Atticus Finch, and the with the wavering companionship of her brother, Jem. As Scout matures and experiences new things in life, her view and her awareness of life issues evolves, specifically her awareness of gender.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee about her life in the early 1960’s. To Kill a Mockingbird shows Scouts life and the events that lead up to her meeting Boo Radley. In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout discovers hot to grow up through her life.
and oblivious to the racial injustices that were prevalent in the town of which she lived.
Like every young girl, Scout Finch must learn how to navigate through the world and find who she is. With the help of some unexpected acquaintances and mature encounters, she ends up finding herself at a younger age than most. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is narrated by the seven year old, Scout Finch. Her young age provides pros and cons to us as readers. Readers are able to see her change of views and change of opinions over the course of four years. Her views and opinions such as her father’s court case and due to people who re-path her way of thinking such as Dolphus Raymond. Scout learns, changes, and grows throughout the novel because of the things that happen in her life that don’t normally happen to girls her age.
The root of any discrimination is dehumanization, no large group of people can sincerely hate or cause pain to a group of people based off of race, color, sexuality, gender, religion or any other separating factor without dehumanizing them. Every single time in history where people in power have taken advantage of a specific group of people, they have had to dehumanize them. There is no debate about that. Harper Lee not only uses To Kill a Mockingbird as a direct protest against the Jim Crow Laws, but she also protests the reason people allowed themselves to sleep at night.
Even in a society that, overall, is diverse, people with similar ideas and experiences tend to congregate in small groups, where they are comfortable. It is much easier to remain in homogenous groups, among those who understand each other. When different groups combine, many different life experiences and points of view will be present and will potentially clash. Misunderstanding is bound to occur in some form when individuals of different backgrounds interact. When misunderstandings occur, people tend to respond with violence, fear, or stereotyping.
The way people handle moral dilemmas are often different. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee show various moral dilemmas and how different characters deal with it. Scout chose to be different in handling with her moral dilemma and change for the better while Mayella does not change and does wrong. In an odd way two different women (Miss Maudie and Calprina) show great moral choices in this novel. Both Atticus and Bob Ewell are different people and in their moral dilemmas. As you can see in this novel, there are so many different characters and deal with their moral dilemmas differently
The name of the novel being explored is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1950's in Alabama Maycomb during the racist times towards the blacks. Throughout this topic the focus is on the main character/narrator Scout (Jan Louise Finch). This essay will explore Scout's character and the negative and or positive influence she has on other characters at the start, throughout and at the end of the text.
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout, Calpurnia, and Atticus stand out when courage comes to mind. These characters show courage in many unique ways with different situations. In the early 1930s, in the deep south, racial discrimination was a huge conflict, for example, the Jim Crows Laws were in play, and it legalized segregation between blacks and whites. Courage isn’t always shown in situations, but simply throughout growing up.
How is the racial problem of the southern states of USA in the 1930s portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird?
Scout's race in To Kill a Mockingbird affects the tone, voice, and content of the narration because it is in the tone of a white woman looking back from the perspective of herself as a young white child in Jim Crow South. A young white child's tone is different because she has no idea of how bad it is for African Americans in her town. Since things have just always been that way and the racism never directly affects her she is mostly unaware of it. She wonders why Calpurnia uses the front door when the rabid dog comes down the road because she has just always used the back entrance and doesnt recognize why or that it is disrespectful. For the most part of the novel the narrator's voice is the voice of Scout, as a 10 year old white girl.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents a life of Jean Louis Finch, also known as Scout, growing up in a small town. The setting of the story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1960’s. Life for Scout growing up appears difficult because of the Great Depression, racial inequality, white supremacy, and peoples’ prejudiced mindset. In the beginning of the book, Scout’s character shows her innocence, her tomboyish side, her adventurous personality, and her ability to question and observe the goodness and evilness of society. By the end of the novel, Scout learns fighting does not fix everything, possessing lady-like characteristics obtain value and holding prejudiced thoughts reflects in every person’s life. Atticus Finch and Calpurnia instill fundamental advice into Scout that she needs for development and success in life.
Children go to school to gain knowledge, but life can give children the most important education. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem, and Scout are two growing children navigating life in the 1930’s in racist Alabama. They see racism throughout their town and have to navigate how they want to live their lives or follow their town. In their own school, they see racist people, and they often question what they hear, see, and learn. Scout and Jem both learn most of their knowledge from, their father Atticus, their maid Calpurnia, and their neighbors. The people that are present in their lives shape Jem and Scout into the people they are becoming. Education from school helps Jem and Scout advance, but the information they learn from life allows them to mature.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. The author Lee demonstrates some major themes such as social inequality, intolerance, education, legal justice and bravery through this character. The title To Kill a Mockingbird symbolises innocence where Lee explores this through the eyes of Jem and Scout who are kids of Atticus Finch. He is one of the most honest, patient, kind, fair, respected and admired men in Maycomb during the Great Depression. Atticus is known for his moral character throughout the book. He is a talented man, he is good at a variety of things from being the best checker player in the town to being an honest and fair lawyer, and he can even play the Jew’s harp. Atticus is seen as a great father even though the odds are against him he does not give up therefore he is admired and respected for his courage. His attitude and personality does not change. For instance Miss Maudie says, “Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets”
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee presents a large social atmosphere that includes many different cultures and extremes. The story takes place in the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. This novel illustrates how the southerners perceived different ideas about each other and social norms. It is told through the eyes of a young girl, Scout Finch, as she is growing up and becoming influenced by societal attitudes. Throughout the course of this book Scout learns many lessons including: how a society functions, why there is conflict between different cultures, and what makes cultures different from each other. Harper Lee utilizes functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism to convey how