Kathleen Dichoso
“To Kill a Mockingbird” Critique
Presented with the issues of a complex social, ethical, and moral values of individuals and society, To Kill a Mockingbird continues to captivate those who are exposed to its enthralling story. Written by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around the time of prejudice and discrimination in the South. In a small town in Alabama, a women named Jean-Louise, recalls her days as a young child back at her house with her father Atticus, her brother Jem, and Nanny Calpurnia. In the beginning, the women is the narrator, but is also the voice of Scout in her head as a child. Through the eyes of Scout’s character, Harper Lee evolves the story with the different situations Scout encounters with.
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We share her experiences as she would go through them; we are with her when she goes through life changing moments that change a person; and we learn everything she learns. When Scout’s father, Atticus, told her “You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”, Scout did not fully understand her father; not until the end of story where she is standing on Boo Radley’s front sport did she fully understand her father. The audience develops a sense of connection with the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. We are with the characters when their lives change, when they learn new things, when they grow up. When life changing experiences happen to a character in a story, we see it from their point of view; this causes us to become closer to the character because we live through the story as if we were the ones who are actually living through …show more content…
The Mockingbird reference serves as a parallel to the audience, but to the characters as well. There are many symbols that are worth discussing such as that of the Tom Robinson case and the irony of the title of the novel. After seeing and hearing about a situation so vast, it causes one to look back and reflect on oneself. Many back then, even today in society, are misunderstood as a projection of evil which were conceived by others, but in reality, are just good individuals. Harper Lee is trying to convey this message to us by showing us who we are aware of that are seen and unseen, just as she shows us what is projected and not projected in society and in individuals. To Kill a Mockingbird is a film, a book, a play, a story, that can make us feel different about ourselves and the world we live in. It is a definite presentation of the past and the present that is worthwhile to watch over and over
Sympathy is understanding between people as well as sharing a common feeling for one another. “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 39)” Atticus defines sympathy by saying: “Consider things from his point of view.” Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus shows Jem and Scout that you can get along with everyone if you sympathize with them, not for them. The novel follows the young kids, Jem and Scout as they mature during a time of the Great Depression in a small town called Maycomb, in Alabama. Throughout this time, as they grow as people they learn important lessons
Characterize Miss Maudie Atkinson (characterization = personality traits, actions, thoughts/feelings, other people’s points of view). How typical is she of Maycomb’s women? What do the children think of her?
'To Kill a Mockingbird' is a novel that was written in the 1960s, but Harper Lee decided to set the novel in the Depression era of the 1930s in a small town in Alabama. Lee provided her readers with a historical background for the affairs of that time and in doing so she exposed the deeply entrenched history of the civil rights in South America. Like the main characters in this novel, Lee grew up in Alabama; this made it easier for her to relate to the characters in the novel as she would have understood what they would have experienced during the period when racism, discrimination and inequality was on the increase within the American society.
The book "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a story of life in an Alabama town in the 30's. The narrator, Jean Louise Finch, or Scout, is writing of a time when she was young, and the book is in part the record of a childhood, believed to be Harper Lee’s, the author of the book..
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird events and conflicts take place causing changes in characters. Some of the characters that are changed include Mrs. Dubose, Jem, Scout, and even Mr. Arthur Radley. Each of these events has a background to help change the characters. Mrs. Dubose is helped to change her charter in the novel by Jem reading to her, Aunt Alexandra comes to live with Atticus, Jem, and Scout changing Scout’s character, and Arthur Radley’s character is changed by the event of Jem and Scout being attacked by Bob Ewell.
Harper Lee is best known for writing the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel takes place during the depression in Alabama with the main character, Scout, viewing her lawyer father, Atticus, defending a wrongly accused black man of rape. The reader gets to understand Scout’s childhood view of this controversial situation. Scout’s character in to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is really the author’s own life playing out in the novel, which is most likely why this novel is thought to be one of the best American Novels of the 20th century.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a multi-faceted novel which explores the principles and morals of people in the South during the 1930s. Mockingbirds are symbolic of the people that society abuse. Lee narrates the events of the novel using Scout’s voice and uses this technique to add emotional context and develop themes. Themes of racial and classist prejudice are developed by Lee to challenge the reader. These techniques are all powerful ways to alter the views of the reader.
The tiny, sleepy, worn-out, dingy, slow-moving town of Maycomb, Alabama is where the novel takes place. The novel takes place in the early 1930s, during the Great Depression.
"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 30). Atticus Finch says these words to his daughter, Scout, after he elucidates to her why it is important to not be quick to judge a book by its cover . In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mocking Bird, the main conflicts are centered around prejudice. In the tiny town of Maycomb, everybody is set on tradition and there is no room for oddity. Atticus Finch breaks down the walls that everybody else builds up about first and lasting impressions, slowly but surely. Atticus Finch is a discreet example of practicing equality because he espouses the outcasts of Maycomb.
Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a study in the way people’s view of the world changes as they grow older. To Kill a Mockingbird is from the point of view of a six year old girl, Scout, the daughter of a lawyer. She is forced to grow up quickly when Atticus defends an innocent black man in the South, much to the dismay of most of the white citizens. Lee uses similes and personification in To Kill a Mockingbird to show the challenges and discoveries that children make while transitioning from a child to an adult.
Atticus Finch belongs to a very, very small minority. He is one of the very few human beings who does not hate Hitler. Of course, he does not like the universally hated historical figure, but merely dislikes him. This is a major theme of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. One can never, without exception, hate a man. Harper Lee promotes the idea that hatred is never acceptable by creating situations with literary devices like characters, settings, and plots that demand empathy.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a beautiful story depicting a family living in the South of the 1930’s, and their struggle against the prejudice which was common to that time. The book centers on Atticus Finch, the father of the family as well as a lawyer, and his fight against prejudice. We see the story unfold through the innocent eyes of his young daughter, Scout, who is free from prejudice and not yet jaded. By viewing events as Scout sees them, the author shows us how to overcome prejudices, and gain tolerance.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has become a mainstay in American high-schools. This is a classic novel that has inspired many people of all ages. It had a big impact on how people viewed and treated each other. This is a story that teaches everyone about the value of honesty, love, friendship and trust. Every word written in this book has a truly deep meaning to it. The time period that the book was written in was during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. This setting was in a small town in Maycomb, Alabama with people who did not get along. During this time there was a lot of segregation within America and different races. To Kill a Mockingbird is about a family who believes in doing the right thing and being honest. There was a
Harper Lee uses her novel to teach us important lessons from the characters presented in To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus, a fair and moral character, whose parenting style is unique, lined with honest and example, teaches us to follow his ways. Scout, an innocent girl who teaches us what’s important in life. Tom Robinson, someone who is ostracized for being African American, can teach us the importance of equal treatment and awakens us to our surrounding society. Lee’s construction of characters gives us perspective to issues in our society today, how they still matter and what we can learn from the novel such as compassion, justice and understanding.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 film directed by Robert Mulligan, and is based on the novel by Harper Lee of the same name. The film stars Gregory Peck (Atticus Finch), Mary Badham (Scout Finch), Phillip Alford (Jem), John Megna (Dill), Robert Duvall (Boo Radley), and Brock Peters (Tom Robinson). To start the film a woman is narrating her childhood in Macomb, Alabama that was "a tired old town even in 1932." She (Scout) recalls that she was six years old that summer. Scout and her brother Jem are fascinated by the neighbors a few door down, particularly Boo Radley, which they share with Dill, a boy visiting town for the summer. The primary plot line for Scout, Jem, and Dill revolves around Boo Radley.