Importance Of Childhood In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Childhood is the foundation of life. Childhood is where people are developed into the human beings that they will be for the rest of their lives. The experiences that one encounters and the values that one is taught are key to what kind of life that individual will live. Childhood in essence is like the roots of a tree; those roots need nourishment and time to grow into a strong foundation that is even stronger than the tree itself. However, when not provided the right kind or amount of nourishment, the roots will wither and the tree will not grow into the majestic life form that it could have been. This idea of the importance of childhood and its effect on people is illustrated in Harper Lee’s novel: To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird follows the lives of the Finch family, especially the children, and their lives in a small Alabama town in the 1930s. This small southern town has been hit hard by the Great Depression, yet the Finch family is one of the more affluent members of the community. The story follows the young children, Scout and Jem, as they grow up naively even playing a game called “Boo Radley” referring to a myth of a man…show more content…
In the book a mad dog appears in the town and Atticus is handed a gun and asked to shoot down the dog, and Atticus does so in one shot; it is later revealed that Atticus is the best shot in the town and at one point was referred to as “Ol’ One-Shot” (161). I picture the mad dog to be representative of Maycomb and it people’s racist views. Atticus is the man who is asked to take the shot at the dog even though he never picks up a gun and his children do not even know anything related to his shooting prowess. This is also similar to the anti-violence that MLK Jr. preached, and like MLK Jr. Atticus shows that although he seems weak and passive he will not be pushed around and will do whatever it takes to uphold what he feels is

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