In To Kill a Mockingbird there were many characters who were misjudged such as Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and even Calpernia but the character who was most misjudged was Boo (Arthur) Radley because of the incident that he had with his father as a child, which was when people started viewing him as a monster when in reality he wasn’t.
When comparing How To Read Literature Like A Professor and To Kill A Mockingbird, many’s first thoughts lead to symbolism. As Thomas C. Foster wrote much of How to Read Literature Like A Professor about symbolism, To Kill A Mockingbird is one huge symbol, including the title itself. By that, I mean that the mockingbird is the overall universal face of this timeless novel, portraying innocence. This theme of innocence is made evident in many instances in the novel by making many characters into that same mockingbird in a way, including the dog, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose herself. However, this theme also includes the innocence of that mockingbird being stolen. In How to Read Literature Like A Professor, Chapter 12 ‘Is That A Symbol?’ , Foster
We live in a society today where judging others is a regular, everyday activity. Many people may blame a significant amount of this issue on the excessive amount of technology we have access too, but this problem has been around for much longer. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, it shows the ugliness that can come from judging others, but it also teaches two young children, Scout and Jem, to listen to others, so that you can have the opportunity to learn from them. Throughout the story many characters were able to demonstrate this lesson for the kids, but three that were true examples of it were Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch and Boo Radley. With only aiming to stand up for what they believe in and not worrying what everyone
The title “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, regard to how it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because all they do is sing. Atticus told the kids they can shoot as much blue jays as they desire, but not to shoot any mockingbirds for that reasons, because mockingbird do not harm nor do they bother anyone. In this novel, there are three main mockingbird, Tom Robinson, Jem, and Boo “Arthur” Radley.
Peer pressure appeared throughout the course of the short story. The children in the brownies Girl Scout program were pressured and influenced into having an altercation with the brownie troop 909. The characters in the story named Armetta and Octavia was like the leaders of the group. Anything they said or the way they acted, did not receive backlash by other fellow girl scouts because many were afraid of the outcome if one was to question their wrong doing .When the two character supposedly heard that one of the members of troop 909 called Daphne a nigger, they wanted their scout group to brawl with them . Armetta and Octavia in a way forced her to say that the girl called her out her name by repeatedly asking her and giving her a nudge
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of a small town named Maycomb Located in Alabama, highlighting the adventures of the finch children and many other people in the small town. The people in this town are very judgemental and of each other and it often leads to people being labeled with stereotypes and people think they know everything about that person however that is not reality. It is not possible to know the reality of a person 's life by placing a stereotype without seeing it through their own eyes and experiencing the things they experience. This happens often throughout the story with many people in the town. People are labeled as many things such a “monster” a “nigger” and many other things that seem to put them in their
To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age story, through the eyes of Scout, a young girl living in Maycomb County, Alabama. Scout is raised in an odd time in American history when racism and prejudice were routine. Scout was surrounded by people that forced to learn many crucial life lessons and help her mature into a respectable lady. List points
In Chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird Jem and Scout find several things in the knot-hole of the old oak tree on the Radley house. The children are very curious about who left these things there. Later in the book they realize that it is Boo Radley is leaving the gifts. He is trying to show them his affection for them. Throughout the novel Jem and scout find 2 sticks of gum, a pack of gum, 2 old Indian head coins, gray twine, soap figures carved to like Jem and Scout, old spelling bee medals and an old watch on a chain and an aluminum knife. "Two live oaks stood at the end of the Radley lot; their roots reached into the side road and made it bumpy. Something about one of the trees attracted my attention. Some tin foil was sticking out of a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at
Compassion and forgiveness is not something everyone gives but is something you should give to everyone. Even when they don’t deserve it. Compassion and forgiveness is a theme in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee when Atticus tells Scout not to be angry at the people who are against him, when he defends Bob Ewell’s behavior after the Tom Robinson case, and when Scout saw the world in Boo Radley’s shoes. And in real life, when a woman pardoned a man on the gallows, before he was hung, even though he murdered her son, and a woman forgave two boys that pushed a cart over a railing onto her, causing many injuries
1. Scout’s comments and reactions contributed to the pressure Jem felt to accept Dill’s dare. At one point, Scout says, “Always runnin’,”(Lee 17). This insinuates that Jem is alarmed by even the idea of going past the house, so he will surely never have the gall to run up and touch the house. It also states that Scout “sneered at him”(Lee 18). This conveys the idea that Scout is try to egg Jem on with her actions and pressure him into doing something much out of Jem’s comfort zone.
Social prejudice is shown throughout Harper Lee’s award winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee powerfully analyses the theme social prejudice, and its effect on people. Such as how the
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, some people do not recognize that someone wants to help them. The people mentioned had been given or received kindness from someone but they do not know that they are trying to help. The types of kindness that will be shown is kindness within the Finch family, kindness shown through neighbours, and kindness of acquaintances. It is shown that kindness is taken for granted.
He is accountable for creating many themes as well affecting the actions and development of other characters. Furthermore, he plays a major role in the maturation of Jem and Scout. Jem, Scout, and Dill are fascinated by the rumors of Boo Radley around them. People in Maycomb perceive Boo as someone who, “dined on raw squirrels and cats” and “the teeth he had were yellow and rotten”(16). This quote shows the people’s impression of Boo and how they affect the childrens in the book. A day came when they were acting out Boo’s life and Atticus says, “that you never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (36). Boo teaches Scout and Jem not to judge a person based on rumors because later in the book, they find out that Boo is not this evil person as the society perceives but he is an innocent and kind person, symbolic of a mockingbird. Boo also teaches Jem and Scout a major theme of the book which is that it's terrible to do harm to an innocent person as Atticus would say, “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird.” At the end of the book, when Tate and Atticus are hiding the case of Boo killing Bob, Scout reminds Atticus that charging Boo with murder would be, “Like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”(276) It refers back to when Atticus told them it’s a sin to kill mockingbird because they don’t harm you. Boo is symbolic of a mockingbird because he didn’t do harm to anyone. At the end, Scout
Boo Radley taught them, in the sense, that you can’t Judge a book by its cover. At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout pictured Boo to be this “...malevolent Phantom (Lee 10).” that went out at night and looked through people’s windows. But after leaving them gifts in the tree and putting a blanket on Scout while she was standing out in the cold, Jem’s and Scout’s Perception of him began to evolve from a monster to a person. And eventually, after Boo saves Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell, and she takes him home, Scout realizes that “... Just standing on the Radley front porch was enough (Lee 374),” for her to see through Boo’s eyes. She finally begins to understand Boo and why he acts the way that he does. Ultimately, teaching her that she shouldn’t listen to rumors or judge someone simply because they are different.
Boo Radley never harmed anyone, but was victimized by the social prejudice of the Maycomb community. Although not established until the end of the novel, Boo Radley is set up to be the last discovered symbolic character for the image of the mockingbird. Harper Lee has done this to illustrate all points of injustice in the 1930s societal town of Maycomb, where rumours and old tales define Boo's life story rather than his authentically generous heart and personality. During the concluding chapter of the novel, Scout comes to the realization that blaming Boo for Bob Ewell's death would be "sort of like shootin' a mockingbird." Boo does many kind-hearted things in the novel such as leaving gifts in the knot-hole for Scout and Jem, repairing Jem's pants, putting the blanket on Scout discretely in order to keep her warm, and even saving them from the evil Bob Ewell. But due to his shyness and overall reclusiveness, the public has developed prejudice and false rumours about him, thus killing his innocence. Therefore Getting Boo sent to jail, or to his death, because he was doing the right thing and saving innocent children from a spiteful man would be like killing a mockingbird - unjust and sinful. Although the discovery of Boo's heroism and mockingbird qualities are only presented near the end of the novel, there are hints that Lee purposefully and professionally leaves throughout the novel that can found to show that despite all of the