Harper Lee explores racism in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird through several literary devices, including point of view. Readers learn the story of To Kill a Mockingbird through the point of view of Scout Finch, the six-year-old daughter of a lawyer who defends a black man. In a criticism titled Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Dorothy Jewell Altman writes, “[Harper] Lee believes that children are born with an instinct for truth and justice. Their education, which is the result of observing
In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, symbolism is used throughout the novel. The novel takes place in the 1930s in Alabama, in which racism was at its peak. Harper Lee uses her characters to symbolize justice, morality, and ethics: Tom Robinson symbolizes the mockingbird because of his innocence; Atticus Finch symbolizes morality because of his refusal to back down from his principles; and the blue jay symbolizes Bob Ewell. Miss Maudie explained, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music
words of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. The novel follows the fictional case of Tom Robinson, seen through the eyes of Jean-Louise “Scout” Finch, Atticus’ daughter. Atticus has been tasked by the judge to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a young white woman. Because of the discrimination of the time, Tom Robinson was ultimately found guilty and shot. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee presents the idea that morality is demonstrated by following one’s
Author Harper Lee did a fantastic job on adding multiple running themes that would keep the reader tied onto the book To Kill A Mockingbird. Also, Harper Lee found a way to keep her character’s interesting and then have an underlying reason for a particular character to be stagnant. The way in which she was able to do this was through the characters that stayed racist and the characters who were beginning to leap over the racial divide towards equality. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, there were
To Kill A Mockingbird illustrates the importance of moral education Discuss Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird illustrates the importance of moral education whilst depicting the Southern life in 1930s as a world of prejudice and immoral justice. Lee throughout the novel demonstrates the ramifications of a world without education and the effect it has on a small society but also the benefits of moral education. Furthermore Lee displays the dominance of prejudice due to cruel poverty, ignorance and
Lee’s Life Lessons Throughout life, many life lessons are learned. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, she displays many different life lessons. Lee’s novel was published in the 1960’s, but was set in the 1930’s. Which is when she grew up. The south in the 1930’s was a very harsh place. This is during times of the Great Depression; the Depression was hard on everyone. Not to mention that colored people in the South were still treated lower than white people. Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird Final Essay Freshman English Introduction The literary critic Wayne C. Booth contends that when we read literature we “stretch our own capacities for thinking about how life should be lived.” If this is so, then the study of a novel such as To Kill a Mockingbird ought to conclude with reflection about what we can learn by reading it and then put into practice in our own lives. During our studies of To Kill a Mockingbird, we have wrestled with profound moral and ethical questions;
worst, the Finches treat the colored folks with equality. Overall, Harper Lee writes the novel To Kill a Mockingbird using the voice of characters to share her views on the injustice in Alabama. As an unbiased lawyer of Maycomb, Atticus Finch ignores all destructiveness toward him to stick to his morals. Alike stands his six year-old daughter Scout Finch. One of Scout’s best qualities was judging someone based on their morality, not the color of his or her skin. Scout comments on Tom’s response
Children from a young age are affected by the people and things around them. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a MockingBird, we see events through the eyes of scout who is 6 years old when the novel begins. As Jem and Scout grows up, they are influenced by this characters in the story. Calpurnia, Miss Maudie and Mrs Dubose are minor characters who influence the values and beliefs of Jem and Scout. Calpurnia has influenced the values and belief on the children by taking the role of a surrogate mother
As a person grows and goes through experiences, one will develop a sense of morality which will change a person’s decisions and allow one to decide what is right and what is wrong. A good moral education can come from school but the strongest education comes from family and the experiences a person can go through. Harper Lee who is the author of To Kill A Mockingbird shows the importance of a good moral education through not only Jean Louise Finch or “Scout” but through her brother Jem and others