Similarities Between Moral Cowardice And To Kill A Mockingbird

How is the racial problem of the southern states of USA in the 1930s portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Famous poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou once said, “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.” This quote demonstrates one of the many themes in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel, written by Harper Lee, follows the story of the protagonist, Jean Louise Finch or Scout, who lives in Maycomb, Alabama with her brother, Jeremy “Jem” Finch, and her father, Atticus Finch. The story takes place in the 1930s, where Scout’s father, Atticus, is a lawyer who was chosen to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. While Atticus is preparing for his case, Jem, Scout, and their friend, Dill, have multiple encounters with their ghost-like neighbor,

On a rainy day, a man at the bus stop asks for change. The two choices are walking past him avoiding eye contact, or giving him the change with a smile. Before even talking to this man, one may have already made the assumption that he is homeless or a drug addict wanting to buy his next high. But assumptions cannot accurately explain who he is or why he needs money. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee explores this idea of judging others before looking at the world from their perspective. Scout and Jem, although raised in a prejudice town, learn from their father Atticus that who a person is racially, does not define them as a person. Although the children make up stories about Arthur “Boo” Radley to pass the time in part one of the novel, in part two the Tom Robinson situation widens their eyes to the biased ways of their town. In the end, Jem and Scout are rescued by Boo Radley, the very person they feared during their childhood. Mockingbirds are used as a symbol in the novel to portray the fact that innocent and caring people are sometimes the most abused. The theme of presumptions and the dangers of judging others are explored through the childhood fable of Boo, the story of Atticus, and the trial of Tom Robinson; the mockingbirds.

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, killing a mockingbird is considered committing a sin. Two men are considered metaphorical or figurative mockingbirds in the fact that they are considerate to others, but have something that puts them at a disadvantage to other people, these two men are Arthur, Boo, Radley and Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is at a bigger disadvantage because of how he was born, than what happened to him later in life. Tom has the disadvantage of being African American, in a racist town, and having a rubber like left hand, he was crippled on the left side. Arthur Radley was a white man, but we think he might have had some kind of disease that made him be perceived as a little different than most people. Though,

September begins and Dill leaves Maycomb to go back to the town of Meridian. Scout feels sad but is excited to go to school for the first time. She has been longing to go to school and in the past would spy on the school children through a telescope. However, on her first day of school she gets assigned to Miss Caroline Fisher who is unaware of the Maycomb customs because she is from north Alabama. Miss Caroline Fisher is not very pleasant with the children and becomes extremely upset with Scout when she learns that Atticus has taught Scout to read. She makes Scout feel guilty for having learn to read before school started. Scout complains to her older brother Jem but he tells her that Miss Caroline is just trying a new method of teaching.

Often, authors write stories with their characters possessing Christ-like characteristics. Within the books, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, three characters portray these qualities. Both of these books tell about children who experienced many different adventures, and grew up while listening to their parents. To Kill a Mockingbird tells about a young girl named Scout, who experienced a trial of a black man falsely accused of rape. Despite the harsh backlash of the townsfolk, her father, Atticus, became chosen to represent him in court. Meanwhile, The Chosen, tells about a Jewish boy, Reuven, and although their different religions, befriended another boy his age called Danny. Reuven’s father, David Malter played a large role in his son’s life, and taught him many things. Overall, the characters in both books represent many Christ-like qualities, however three people who stand out the most are Scout, David Malter, and Atticus.

Imagine you live in a tiny old divided southern town during the Great Depression. The people in that town will stand up for what they believe in and not back down for nobody and nothing. That town is called Maycomb and is the setting of the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”(TKaM) written by Harper Lee. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a realistic fiction novel that is told through a young girl named Scout, eyes. Scout has a father named Atticus and a brother she calls Jem. Atticus is a defense attorney and is appointed to a case that will affect him deeply for a lifetime. Atticus defends a young African American man accused of rape. His name Tom Robinson. This case will cause division in Maycomb, but also this case will cause many citizens of

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, when Jem finds out Tom Robinson is convicted of raping Mayella Ewell his innocence is corrupted because he always believed the people of Maycomb would do the right thing, but when the jury presiding over Tom’s case does not do what he expected Jem realizes the sadness of life. This novel is told from the perspective of Scout Finch, a six year old girl, and it takes place in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Towards the end of the book Scout and her brother Jem are fascinated by their father Atticus’s court case in which he is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, who is on trial for his life after being wrongly accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. When Scout and Jem are watching the trial

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County during the late 1930s, where the characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will witness the prejudice that Maycomb produces during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin colour, and class, their whole lives. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and each contribute to how events play out in the small town of Maycomb. Consequently, socially disabling the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace. Boo Radley and his isolation from Maycomb County, the racial aspects of Tom Robinson, and the decision Atticus Finch makes as a lawyer, to defend a black man has all made them fall in the hands of Maycomb’s prejudice ways.

To 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.

“To kill a Mockingbird” is a novel in which Harper Lee, the author, presents forth various themes among them the unheard theme of social molarity. Harper dramatically uses a distinctive language through Scout, who is the narrator of the story to bring out the difficulties faced by children living in the southern Alabama town of Maycomb. Harper has dramatically displayed use of bildungsroman throughout the story; this helped to give the story a unique touch of a child’s view to bring out a different type of humor and wit. It has also used to develop and thrive the theme of morality in the society. Scout, being a child, she thinks the society is free of evil and it’s pure basically because she hasn’t been in contact with evil. Just like any other child she engages in several activities oblivious of the ramifications that follows. As a child she doesn’t understand the injustice that is enshrined the society and the glimmering racism.

“The hardest part of growing up is letting go of what we are used to and moving on to something you are not”-Paul Walker

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

“Courage doesn 't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I’ll try again tomorrow’” - Mary Anne Radmacher. Through this quote one can see the advantages of real courage. One can really understand the true meaning of courage by reading the books To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The book by Harper Lee is written by a 9 year old’s perspective named Scout. Throughout the book she discovers many mockingbirds in her society and the trouble they have to live through. This helps the reader identify many subtopics in the book like prejudice vs tolerance, compassion vs ignorance and more importantly courage vs cowardice. She deciphers the true meaning of courage vs cowardice when she meets the mystery character, Boo Radley. The book by Sherman Alexie too has similar themes and settings. It’s based on the struggles Indian’s face in America due to their race. The book uses a teenagers perspective to exhibit these struggles. This helps teenagers connect to the book as even they might have perspectives similar to of Junior’s (main character). Both the authors use similar literary devices like external conflict, internal conflict and characterization to keep the reader interested in the text. In both the texts one can see that the thematic idea conveyed is that courageous people don’t roar about their strength, but they use it to benefit the community as a whole.

One of the contributions of the literary quest of identity has been the question of ‘’the other ‘more specifically its representation from the canon of the discourse of colonialism and the civil rights era’s literature. This canon has been established by substantial and well-known critical studies including ‘’ Claudia Durst Johnson ‘’, Michelle Foucault, Carter & Cranny-Francis, Paul Brown, Deborah Willis and many others