To start, within the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, there is the idea that prejudice will always exist in society. Within the book, Maycomb, at several different points within the story, demonstrates their intense hatred against the colored population within the town itself. One key point with this idea is within chapter 26, where Scout’s teacher, Miss Gates, revealed how human’s always ostracized their kind because of a variable external trait that they held through the example of Hitler. In this chapter, on page 249, she states, “There are no better people in the world than the Jews, and why Hitler doesn’t think so is a mystery to me.” In this quotation, Miss Gates states that Hitler detested Jews and spurned the Jewish
Landon Bennett Mrs. Alfaro English 3 May 22, 2023 To Kill a Mockingbird In Harper Lee's timeless novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the character of Atticus Finch serves as a moral compass and a pillar of righteousness. Through his actions, words, and unwavering principles, Atticus demonstrates the qualities of a compassionate and just individual, whose beliefs are deeply rooted in fairness, equality, and respect for all individuals. Atticus's commitment to justice and equality is evident throughout the novel. He consistently upholds the belief that every person deserves to be treated fairly and without prejudice. Atticus imparts this wisdom to his children, Scout and Jem, when he tells them, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the author believes that harming the innocent is not ok if they didn’t do anything to deserve it. One example from To Kill A Mockingbird that proves this is when Atticus doesn’t allow his kids to torment Boo Radley. The author states, “i’m going to tell you something and tell you one time: stop tormenting that man” (Lee, p. 54) This supports the theme because Atticus doesn’t want the kids messing and bothering Mr. Arthur when he hasn’t bothered anyone and doesn’t deserve the tormenting. Another example from To Kill A Mockingbird that proves this is Tom Robinson's trial.
Then some people thought that Tom was innocent but the judge decided to make Tom go to prison. In the book it said that Mayella hugged and kissed Tom on the cheek. From this I can infer that Mayella is desperate and can get away with this because Tom Robinson is a black person. This reminds me of a couple southern movies I’ve watched where black people are always the first to suspect because of their color. Tom Robinson on trial for his life said Bob Ewell yelled “whore I’ll kill you” when he saw Mayella kiss Tom from the window.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County in the late 1930s, where characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will experience prejudice Maycomb brings during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin, and class. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and they all contribute to how events play out in the small town. Many of those in Maycomb face and express sexism, racial discrimination, and classism their whole lives. This disables the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace.
Paragraph #3 Furthermore, the most reoccurring character trait that Atticus portrays is empathy. For instance, Atticus shows Scout how he understands and share the feeling of others when Scout had trouble adapted to a new teacher in Maycomb. Atticus shows empathy towards Radley family because he understands that rumors relating to the Radley family causes the family a great deal of trouble and unwanted attention from curious youngsters such as Jem, Dill, and Scout. An instance in the novel when Atticus showed empathy towards the Radleys is on page 65 “I’m going to tell you something and tell you one time: stop tormenting that man.” Atticus says this quote to Jem when he was trying to get Boo Radley outside.
When one grows up, it is inevitable they will lose their innocence. Seeing the world through rose colored glasses can only take one so far, and eventually they will have to open their eyes to real issues in their lives. While this happens at different ages for everyone, Atticus in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee believes that his kids should not be sheltered from the real world. As Scout and Jem, Atticus’ children, grow up, especially in a time where Maycomb is so segregated, Atticus teaches his kids real life lessons and to not become like the rest of their town; racist and judgemental. This comes with a cost, however, as the kids “grow up” at an expedited rate.
She also says “What her papa do to her don’t count” (Doc B) which shows that he’s probably took advantage of her because she can’t physically do anything to stop him. The last quote i got was “There is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left” All these quotes show that Mayella has been beaten by someone they don’t know who but being a female she isn’t as strong as whoever beat her so she can’t defend herself. She won’t say it’s her father but from the circumstantial evidence that whoever beat her was left handed and it couldn’t have been Tom because he can’t use his left hand so the only other suspect left is her father and it makes sense that it could be him because he told her that he would kill her if she didn’t say that Tom raped her because there is evidence to pass that someone has beaten her and her father doesn’t want the truth to come
“Heroes are made in the hour of defeat.” This quote, by the late Mahatma Gandhi, who was an Indian activist, perfectly encapsulates the meaning of a hero. A hero is someone who stands up for what he or she believes in, and confronts the evils that the person may face, no matter how big or small those evils may be. This is exhibited in both Harper Lee's Atticus from To Kill a Mockingbird, and Markus Zusac's Hans Hubberman and Liesel Meminger from The Book Thief. Just like the quote eludes to, these characters stay resilient even when there seems to be no hope.
Hatred has always been around in history, including from all of our literature that we’ve read this semester, and what we’ve learned. Some, more than others. And some still to this day. In our Holocaust unit, there has been many, many examples of hatred, but I’ll talk about the hatred from Defiance.
Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "... In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony.
After Atticus loses his trial, Jem notices that the Maycomb County justice system is broken and it needs help, “Then it all goes back to the jury, then. We oughta do away with juries. ”(294) This shows that Jem now understands that people are racist in everything and racism needs to be fought. On top of realizing that the justice system is in shambles, Jem realized that Tom Robinson’s case was very good at showing that.
Essay In the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, there are many important messages shown throughout the book. However the primary focus was set on racial prejudice that existed in the 1930s-1940’s in the fictional town of Maycomb County. The racism in the novel was very much a reality in 1930s-1940s America. A very good example of the racial prejudice that existed was in the courtroom during Tom Robinson’s trial, an innocent Negro man held against his will for a crime he did not commit.
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 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.