Humans live in a world where moral values are very clearly set determining what is good and what is bad. We know what scares us and how racism should be treated. Nevertheless, this was not the case back in Alabama during the 1950s. In the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee narrates the lives of the people of Maycomb, Alabama, focusing on the story of Scout and Jem Finch, and the case of a said to be rape. In this emotion filled narrative, readers learn how life was back then not only in general, but for the separate social statuses that there was. As the book goes on and the characters change, ethical dilemmas about fear, and racism are seen. Additionally, what the book has to say about moral values and how things are done is mentioned in this essay. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee depicts the crude reality of Ethical Dilemmas in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1950s.
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. Boo Radley’s isolation from the Maycomb county, Tom Robinson’s black skin colour, and Atticus
Courage is not strength or skill, it’s simply standing up for what you believe in and what is right. This is the theme that was enrolled after Jem destroys Mrs.Dubose’s camellias and after she died in chapter 11. This passage also reveals Jem’s coming of age moment. After using conflict, symbolism, and point of view, Harper Lee was able to connect the theme with Jems coming of age moment.
Atticus stands up for what he believes in in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, even if his opinion is generally disagreed with; which is reflected greatly in his children as they learn to become part of society. He stands up for what he believes in by defending Tom Robinson even when the odds are stacked against him, and making Jem read to Mrs. Dubose even if she says awful things about him. These actions define Atticus’s character and shape his children into becoming the people they are. Atticus stands up for what he believes in by defending Tom Robinson and making Jem read to Mrs. Dubose; which influences his children become better people.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the themes is that people should not be quick to judge others based on the labels given by society. During the story, the children judge Boo Radley based on what other people have gossiped about him and what comes from their imagination. “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained-if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped and he drooled most of the time.” (Lee 16) This helps demonstrate the theme because it shows
A. Theme- Pick two quotes and explain how each relates to a theme in the novel in 3-5 sentences each. Do not summarize the novel.
The quote that Atticus tells Scout in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is true. This quote is true because each individual’s circumstances are different and because every person has had their own life experiences, ones that only a few people can relate to, but not completely understand. When Miss Caroline sees a cootie in Burris Ewell’s hair, she freaks out and her instant reaction is panicking. After calming down, Miss Caroline excuses Burris for the rest of the afternoon and tells him to go and wash his hair with lye soap and treat his scalp with kerosene. Harper Lee describes Burris’s condition through the following quote, “The boy stood up. He was the filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was dark gray,
In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” there were many heartbreaking and confusing events. This book took place in Alabama during the great depression of the 1930s. Harper Lee exemplifies many phases of courage. Lee demonstrates many diverse characters defining their courage throughout the book. She also illustrates how they show their courageous acts. Since the book is written to display how people were treated, Lee expresses the characters with a lot of details. Aside from all the details, she expresses the sincere courageous characters throughout the novel. This novel demonstrates the courageous performance of the characters in many disparate but challenging circumstances.
“Personal integrity is important, not because it gets us what we want, but because it helps us be what we want.”-Michael Josephson. This quote describes personal integrity perfectly. Personal integrity can vary depending on many different things, but ultimately it is up to that person to decide who they are. This is shown in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Three people in the story show how much personal integrity can vary between people. Bob Ewell, Mr. Cunningham, and Atticus Finch each show different levels of personal integrity in people.
Recently, in my English class, we read the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. This story is about how a young girl comes to realize a few things about her community. One of the things she learns involves the social classes in her small town. She also learns that because these classes exist some people are treated differently than others. As the young girl, Scout, continues to see this behavior the reader also comes to realize how this segregation influences individuals to discriminate against the lower class. This behavior makes the community single out people like the Ewells and the Cunninghams. We also see how Maycomb’s society influences highly respected people like Alexandra Finch to speak and act impudent.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the people of Maycomb County have certain views as to who laid responsible for Tom Robinson’s death. Differing values among different characters heavily affect their opinions. Lee’s incorporation of traditional southern values and character dialogue provide the reader with details that help to detect Harper Lee’s view on who was responsible for Tom’s death, views supporting hers, and views contradicting hers.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, one of the most significant themes is real heroes do not always use weapons. For example, one of the meanest woman to ever live, Mrs. Dubose, was a morphine addict. The addiction made her needy because she wanted to take the drug, but resisted. Mrs. Dubose was determined not to “‘leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody...she meant to break herself of [the addiction] before she died’” (60). One day Mrs. Dubose was insulting Atticus in front of Jem and Scout, his children. Jem grew aggravated and threw a tantrum. He stomped and tore up Mrs. Dubose’s flowers. Therefore, as a punishment for Jem ruining her flowers, she had him read to her every day after school. Jem would have an alarm that indicated
In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the prominent theme of loss of innocence reoccurs throughout the book in certain characters dialect and actions. Jem, Scout, and Boo Radley show the theme of loss of innocence many times through the book. Loss of innocence is an important theme and helps the reader understand what these characters are thinking.
Atticus teaches his son a very important lesson after what he did with Mrs. Dubose’s flowers as well as about her death. Jem gets very upset about what Mrs. Dubose said about Atticus, “Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for” (102). Jem furious by what Mrs. Dubose had said, he decided to cut the tops off of every camellia that she owned. Atticus asks Jem if he was the one that was responsible for the damage that had been done to Mrs. Dubose’s camellia. Jem being completely honest responded yes. Atticus shows us how he has taught his children important moral lessons on integrity. Atticus sends Jem down to Mrs. Dubose's house to confess what he had done and to apologize for his actions. While doing so, we learn that Mrs. Dubose has a task for Jem, “She wants me to come every afternoon after school and Saturdays and read to her out loud for two hours...for a month” (105). During this task that has been bestowed upon Jem we learn that Mrs. Dubose is not as healthy as she should be. Mrs. Dubose is described through the eyes of Scout like
When Jem cut Mrs. Dubose's camellias Atticus shows love, by teaching Jem the lesson of respecting your fellow man. Atticus told Jem,"Jem she's old and ill,you can't hold her responsible for what she says and does."(Lee,173) ,it would have been human nature for Atticus to get mad at Mrs. Dubose for insulting him in front of his children, but truly shows love and forgives her for saying things that she doesn't understand herself.