To Kill A Mockingbird Literary Criticism

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Jean “Scout” Louise Finch is greatly influenced by the world around her. The novel is written in the 1930’s in a time period of injustice, segregation, and the Great Depression. In Maycomb County, Scout lives with her brother, Jem, her father, Atticus, and their maid, Calpurnia. Atticus is a lawyer who is assigned a case to defend Tom Robinson, an African-American man, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a 19 year old girl. Scout’s character traits are greatly influenced because of the trial and everything she learns from it.

Jem and Scout could have been killed, but again, Boo came out at just the right moment and saved them. At this point, Boo was thought of as a watchful protector and a true neighbor to the children. As with all relationships, this one changed many different times throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Boo went from being the children’s biggest fear to their biggest hero. At the end of the novel, the kids not only admired Boo, but also were thankful for him.

Atticus’s Quote Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird is changed the most not by one of the themes of the novel, but by a quote from Atticus. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, revolves around the quote Atticus says about how you really don’t understand a person until you see it from their perspective.This is important to the novel because this quote helps Scout develop and grow into a better character. Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout develops and grows into a better character because of Atticus’s quote, “‘First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick Scout, you’ll gt along a lot better with all kinds of folks. 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.” (Lee 39). Scout first learns the meaning of Atticus’s quote because of the Cunningham family.

Understanding in To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a timeless American Classic. The Novel takes place in Alabama during the 1930’s, and follows the adventures of Scout Finch as she grows up in a society torn by social evils like racism. There are many themes in To Kill A Mockingbird: friendship, compassion, and fairness. Harper Lee illustrates understanding in To Kill A Mockingbird through Jems realization about Mrs. Dubose, the children's change in perspective about Atticus, and the with the children's discovery of the truth about Arthur “Boo” Radley. The theme of understanding can be witnessed by looking at Jems realization about the seemingly wicked Mrs. Dubose.

In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays the story through the eyes of a young girl named Scout. This novel takes place in the 1930’s during the Great Depression in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Scout and her brother Jem are growing up, enduring the hardships of the Tom Robinson trial and uncovering the mysteries of Boo Radley. Harper Lee incorporates the themes of love and innocence into the book, expressing it through the use of character interaction. First and foremost, two characters that greatly display the theme of love and innocence are Scout and Dill.

To Kill a Mockingbird Thesis Harper Lee moved America with her many themes in her award winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. One of her most common themes incorporated in her novel is innocence. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays innocence by the way the children of Maycomb not understanding or acting certain ways during specific events. One of the first signs of innocence that happens in the book was when Scout first experiences snow. Scout is terrified when she sees the snow outside, her bedroom window.

Since Mr. Radley never came out of the house, frightening rumors spread about him and the children all knew them. They even played games where they reenacted the story that was spread around about him, not realizing how disgraceful it was to the Radleys. Towards the end the book, Scout finally get to meet Boo Radley after Bob Ewell attempted to kill her and Jem. Scout took Mr. Radley home and on the way back she thought, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.

Today, it seems like everyone has a clear hatred for each other. You can see that on the news, in TV shows and on the radio, but there is no reason for it to be this way. In To Kill A Mockingbird lessons about prejudice, compassion and equality are shown from this American classic. In the book, Jean Louise (Scout) Finch, is growing up in Maycomb County somewhere in Southern Alabama, during an important court trial for her father. What it ends up being is an unforgettable novel of a childhood during a dark time in our country’s history.

“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy… That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee 119). Innocence is just like a mockingbird, it is robbed away from children who have done nothing wrong. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place in the 1930s during the Great Depression, in a small-sized town called Maycomb in Alabama. Jem Finch and Dill Harris are young children that have to experience and see new things as they grow up and in the process lost some of their innocence. However, Scout Jem’s little sister is the only one that keeps her innocence throughout the novel.

Another mockingbird in the story is Boo Radley. The children at first see him as this scary monster, but after showing them kindness the kids see him as kind hearted, and gentle. Much like a mockingbird; from that they learned just like a book, you can’t judge someone by what you hear, or see. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee gives readers a chance to see how racism in the deep south turned into injustice and leads to the killing of innocent minorities. By a young age many were taught that killing was very bad, and that the killing of the innocent is worst, but other than that this lesson can not be taught.