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To Kill A Mockingbird Loss Of Freedom Analysis

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The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, tells the story of two children, Jem and Scout Finch living in Maycomb, Alabama, around the time of the Great Depression. Their father, Atticus, also happens to be a lawyer and tries teaching the children strong moral values, such as not holding prejudices against others based on skin tone or social background. In addition, Atticus happens to be defending an African-American man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of rape by one of the more undesirable members of the town, Mayella Ewell and her father Bob. In the end, however, Tom cannot escape the racism that plagues Maycomb and after many hours of deliberation by the jury, he is convicted and sent to jail. There Tom tries to regain his freedom and escape but he is shot and killed. After some time, Jem and Scout are assaulted by Bob Ewell- who does it out of revenge on Atticus for embarrassing him-but they are saved by their mysterious neighbor, Arthur “Boo” Radley who happens to be a recluse. Throughout the story, Harper Lee uses a motif of time to show the loss of freedom for many characters. Lee hints at the loss of freedom for many characters when Scout recalls the items Boo Radley left for Jem and her in the tree. Boo Radley, their neighbor, was often the focus of the children before the trial and many rumors are spread about him including the fact that he was forced to stay inside his house all the time as a child, a result of …show more content…

When individuals lose their freedom, they lose their will to go on as well. This is best seen when Tom Robinson tries escaping jail, knowing he would get shot, because he had felt so confined and unmotivated to keep trying to regain his freedom. As a result, Lee stresses the importance of freedom, because it influences the choices people can make and can impact how people are treated as

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