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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the story unfolds through the eyes of a six-year-old girl named Scout. The story takes place in the small southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the early 1900 s where prejudice was at its peak. Miss Harper Lee has chosen Scout as the narrator in this story. This narrative technique has many strengths and some weakness.
Scout is a bright, sensitive and intelligent little girl. For all her intelligence, she is still a child and not always fully understands the implications of the events she reports. This is sometimes amusing, like the time she thinks Miss Maudies loud voice scares Miss Stephanie. Scout does her best to inform us of the happenings at the Tom Robinson trial.
Yet, she is not certain what rape is, or aware of the prejudice surrounding her. Ultimately she represents the innocence within society. This story has a variety of themes and lessons including maturity (the story shows Jem and Scout going through many life lessons and how theyve grown from it), prejudice (like in the Tom Robinson case in this small community), and courage (it takes courage for anyone to stand up to the events that go on in this book. Throughout the story the reader see how Scout and Jem are afraid of Arthur Boo Radley because they think he is a monster and try to tease him. They try to play tricks on Boo. Later in the novel they are no longer afraid of him and are no longer interested in teasing him.
Jem and Scout had believed that their father was not like any other fathers in school. They see him as an old man who cannot do anything. However, when a dog appears on the street, Atticus, their father, kills that dog with one shot. They are surprised to learn that he is the best shot in the town.
Theyre attitude towards their father changes. This is a sign of maturity. The rifle cracked. Tin Johnson leaped, flopped over and crumpled on the sidewalk in a brown-and-white heap.
He didnt know what hit him. (96) Jem became vaguely articulate, you see him, Scout? You see him just stand there? All of a sudden he just relaxed all over. It looked like that gun was a part of him and he did it so quick, like I hat aim from ten minutes fore I can hit something (97) An incident which shows Scouts maturing is when she overhears her teacher saying that it is a good thing Tom Robinson was convicted because the black were getting too high and mighty. This disturbs Scout very much because the teacher is always telling them about democracy and the persecution of the Jews, yet it is okay to persecute the blacks. As little as Scout is she began to realize what was going on around her.
Scout wonders how her teacher could be so contradictory. Another example of their maturity is how they view people. When Scout and Jem see how Tom Robinson is treated just because he is black, they begin to understand the meaning of prejudice. No one comes to help Tom Robinson except their father who defends him when Tom is accused of raping a white woman. Scout watches the trial and believes that he will be found innocent. Instead, Tom Robinson is found guilty.
Her disappointment in the verdict makes Scout question the idea of justice. The last incident that brings Scout to adulthood is when she and Jem are brought safely home from their attacker by Boo. She finally has the courage to stand on the Radley porch, and the kids are no longer afraid of Boo Radley. They now understand him. Jem and Scout mature during the duration of the novel by watching the events happen around them. They learn to examine the situations around them more closely and to accept people as they are.
Prejudice has caused the pain and suffering of people for many centuries. Some examples of this include the Holocaust and slavery in the United States. In To Kill a Mockingbird, racism was the cause of much agony to the blacks of the segregated South. Along with the blacks, other people are judged unfairly because of their differences. The prejudice and bigotry of society causes the victimization of people with differences. [Some who are discriminated against those who are born differently than the majority. ] One person that is treated unfairly is Calpurnia, as you can see when Aunt Alexandra tries to get Atticus to fire Calpurnia, because in her eyes, Calpurnia isnt a good female role model. This is a prejudiced action, because Calpurnia is a good as role model as Aunt Alexandra, if not better.
Aunt Alexandra is a bigot and does not see the character of Calpurnia, just the color of her skin. Another person who is treated like an inferior is Scout by her teacher, because she knew how to read. She discovered that I was literate and looked at me with no more than a faint distaste. (17) Scout is treated like it is her fault that she knows more then the average child did. She learned earlier then others so she gets punished unjustly. Tom Robinson is also one who is discriminated by the biased community.
The jury finds Tom guilty in his case against the Ewells. The guilty verdict is a direct result of a racist community. Tom was never given a fair chance in the trial, even though the evidence proves him innocent. People that are born differently often get mistreated and are discriminated against. Another group that is treated poorly in the society based on bigotry, are the people who have chosen to be different. One who chose to be different is Dolphus Raymond.
He pretends to be drunk so no one gives him trouble about the way he lives his life. Another person that lives differently is Boo Radley. Boo stays inside his house for a number of years without even coming out to inter-act with others. He did not want the attention that would come from rumors that were said about him. Stories are made up about him and he feels it was risk of being made an outcast of the majority of the society. Throughout the story, people that are unlike the majority get hurt.
They are given obstacles that they have to overcome in order to survive. Some people in the world can survive these obstacles, and there are some that just give up. By fighting for your rights, people start to realize that character is the important attribute of a person. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee showed me that the people with differences are not always doing things wrong the way. It is the majority that may be going at it all wrong. Courage is another theme in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
Atticus was a good example of one who had courage. Atticus had the integrity that gave him the strength and courage to endure the ridicule that arose from his decision to defend a black man in a segregated area. Atticus is threatened and his peers treated his children poorly, because he has the courage to stand up for the oppressed. There was a pageant planned and Scout, much to her dismay, has been cast the role of the ham.
After the pageant Scout decides to walk home still dressed in her bulky costume, with Jem leading the way. The cowardly Bob Ewell sees an opportunity to get revenge on Atticus through his children. He follows his children down a dark road and tries to kill them. Watching form his home window, it is none other then Boo Radley, who sees the attack. Boo stabs Bob to death, and carries the wounded Jem home. It took a lot of courage for Boo to do what he did living a life sheltered.
Sheriff Tate defends the different when he says, I never heard tell that against the law for a citizen to do utmost to prevent a crime from being committed, which is exactly what he did, but maybe youll say its my duty to tell the town all about it and not hush it up (276). Sheriff Tate is trying to protect Boo from the attention that could frighten him. The sheriff is doing that right thing by hiding the truth from the community. By defending the different, people take the chance of being known as strange or inferiors to the rest of the people that they are around. Tate took a lot of courage as to shield what he did from the community. One of the most important examples of courage is Mrs.
Dubose braking her addiction to morphine- this leads Atticus to explain & real courage to Scout and Jem. Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird is an astounding portrayal of Southern tradition and human dignity, a novels whose themes and lessons transcend time and place. The book is narrated by a young girl who matures over the course of the story from innocent child to a morally conscience young adult. The cover of the novel displays a knot-holed tree containing a pocket watch and a ball of yarn, accompanied by the silhouette of a mockingbird soaring over the trees through the twilight sky. The portrait on the cover is an emblem that signifies the event that go on within the story and life it self.
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Research essay sample on Kill A Mockingbird Scout And Jem
