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Scout s Introduction to the Real World It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing but make music for us to enjoy{Lee 90 }, this line Spoken by Atticus can sum up the heart of the novel. This was quoted from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a creative novelist. Miss Harper Lee has chosen Scout as a first person narrator in this story. This narrative technique has much strength and some weaknesses. Scout for all her intelligence, she is still a child and does not always fully understand the implications of the events she reports Scout does her best to inform us of the happenings at the Tom Robinson trial. Yet, she is not certain what rape is, and is neither aware of the prejudice state surrounding her.
Ultimately she represents the innocence within society. The themes of To kill a mockingbird all revolve around Scout. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout Finch, a little girl growing up in a small Southern town, tells the story of her childhood, when she witnessed the trial of a Negro falsely accused of raping a white woman. The Negros lawyer is Scouts father, Atticus Finch. He defends the Negro vigorously, though he expects to lose the case. As well as being the story of childhood, it is also the story of the struggle for equality of the American Negro s.
To Kill A Mockingbird can be read as the story of a childs growth and maturation. Almost every incident in the novel contributes something to Scouts perception of the world. Through her experiences she grows more tolerant of others, learning how to climb into another persons skin and walk around in it{Lee 30 }. On her first day of school she finds that there are both social and poor classes in society, some are respectable and others not. Like for instance Walter Cunnigham is a young boy whose family was hit hard by the depression.
I asked Atticus If Mr. Cunnigham would ever pay us. Not in Money {Lee 20 }. She also learns that her father is an extra-ordinary man, fighting for a Negros rights in court. At the trial of Tom Robinson Scout learns about equality and inequality, about justice and injustice and finally about racial prejudice. Another incident which shows Scout s understanding 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{Roden 38 }.
This disturbs scout very much because the teacher is always telling them about democracy and the persecution of Jews yet it is OK to persecute the blacks. Scout wonders how her teacher could be so contradictory. The last incident, which 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.
Well, it d be sort of like shootin a mockingbird. don t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don t eat up people s gardens, don t nest in corncrib's, they don t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us (Lee 94). Scout finds a roly-poly in chapter 25. In answer to Scout s desire to kill the bug, Jem says, Because they don t bother you (241).
At this second stage, Jem, not yet Scout has understood Atticus holy words. The last depiction is in the final chapters of the book. This Mockingbird is Arthur Boo Radley. Boo ends up to save both Jem and Scout s lives, by killing Bob Ewell. At this final stage in the book, Scout, as well as Jem understands Atticus and his saying. Scout realizes life.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a very inspirational book. Not only is it a book for pleasure, it shows us today how far we have come, and yet the long journey ahead. Boo Radley and Atticus were very important characters, for both the developments of kids in the book and reader. The title is something that can be interpreted in many ways. Each one will be different, based on the reader s philosophy and beliefs. One day their housekeeper takes Jem and Scout to visit her church, and the children realize for the first time that the black parishioners are supporting Tom Robinsons wife.
Her childhood believe that everyone has the right to go to church changed when Lulu s mouth opened. You ain t got no business bringin white chill here-they got their church, we got our n {Lee 119 }. Many times during the course of the novel the idea of the mockingbird comes to mind. We first hear of the bird when the children are given their first air rifles for Christmas, There father warns them to never shoot the songbird, saying to do so would be a sin. During the trial of Tom Robinson, it occurs to the reader that the Negro has many characteristics he shares with the mockingbird, He is a gentleman, who has never harmed anyone and only tried to help. His murder is as much a sin as the killing of any innocent creature.
By the end of the novel we see that the hermit Boo Radley is also like the mockingbird. He is shy and gentle, living quietly and harming no one. Near the end of the novel, Boo saves the children from being killed. Scout realizes that bringing Boo into the limelight would only be like killing the songbird. Many themes and ideas are presented in this novel; the sympathy theme is one of the main ones. Atticus tells his children that they may shoot as many blue jays as they like.
These orders were certainly in opposition to the fickle logic of a childs mind. Blue jays are colorful birds, with black crests atop their heads and vibrant patterns on their wings. Mockingbirds dont do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They dont eat up peoples gardens, dont nest in corncrib's{Lee 90 }. By contrast, mockingbird s sport drab, brown and black feathers, and is much more likely to attract the aggression of marksmen looking for deserving targets. However, the simplistic, unlearned minds of children do not easily recognize any criteria beyond the superficial, such as the visual appeal of a bird {Roden 45 }.
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. Who in this town did one thing to help Tom Robinson, just who? (215) Scout and Jem had believed that their father was not like any other fathers in school. They see him as an old man who can t do anything. However, when a mad dog appears on the street, Atticus, their farther, kills that dog with one shot. They are surprised to learn that he is the best shot in the town.
They re attitude towards their father has changed. This is a sign of maturity. The rifle cracked. Tim Johnson leaped, flopped over and crumpled on the sidewalk in a brown-and-white heap. He didn t 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 human he did it so quick, like I hat to aim for ten minutes fore I can hit something (97) Two nights before the trial is to start, a group of men come to the Finch house to tell Atticus about threats against Tom Robinsons life. Atticus spends the next night camped out at the jail to defend Tom from the mob. Jem, Scout and Dill go downtown to check on Atticus and arrive at the same time as a group of men, who have come to kill Tom. Scout recognizes one of the men in the group as Walter Cunningham. Her friendliness embarrasses the man so much that he and the mob leave.
After the pageant Scout decides to walk home still dressed in her bulky costume, with Jem leading the way. The cowardly Bob Ewell seeing an opportunity to get revenge on Atticus through his children. He follows the children down a dark street and tries to kill them. It is none other than Boo Radley, who had seen the attack from his window. Boo stabs Bob Ewell to death, and carries the wounded Jem home. The sheriff decides to file a report that Bob fell on his own knife and died, thus sparing Boo the publicity that would be sure to follow.
Atticus also made Jem and Scout realize that no one is pure evil; meaning that if you look hard enough, you would find that there is good in every person you meet. Mrs. Dubose, who was perceived as an old witch by Jem and Scout, showed great bravery in her fight against drug addiction. Atticus believed Jem would change his opinions of Mrs. Dubose if he spends some time with her. Only after Mrs.
Dubose's death did Jem begin to perceive Mrs. Dubose the same way his father did. Atticus believed that Mrs. Dubose was the most courageous person he ever knew.
I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It s when you know you re liked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win but sometimes yo do {Lee 112 } Heck Tate, who was the sheriff, believed that taking the one man whos done you and this town a great service an dragging him with his shy ways into the limelight (279) was a sin. Tate reasoned that Boo would have hated being praised a hero by the townspeople because he was so shy.
Scout never gave anything back to Boo, except love at the end. When Scout escorts Arthur home and stands on his front porch, she sees the same street she saw, just from an entirely different perspective. Scout learns what a Mockingbird is, and who represents one. For example, in the beginning Atticus tells Scout, 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 34). Scout and Jem mature during the duration of the novel by watching the events happen around them. They learn to examine the institutions around them more closely and to accept people as they are.
Before reading To Kill a Mockingbird, the title itself means nothing. The title is the foundation of a house. It is just a slob of cement, and cannot be interpreted. While reading the book, pieces of wood fit together and the house starts to stand up. After reading the book, the house is fully painted and decorated.
The landscaping is complete, and the house is beautiful{Scout/Jem and the title}.
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Research essay sample on Kill A Mockingbird Jem And Scout
