Essay on A Continuation of To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is recounted by Scout, who at the time was six years old. This book follows her journey in growing up and eventually losing her innocence through realising the evil in the world, mostly portrayed by the racism and prejudice surrounding her. A mockingbird is a metaphor for the destruction of innocence. There are three mockingbirds in the text: Boo Radley, Scout Finch and Tom Robinson. Boo has done nothing wrong except sit in his house and 'mind his own business', and has done nothing to hurt anyone else. All that has happened is he has been accused once again of crimes he did not commit. Scout is a mockingbird because she is thrust in the middle of all of the adults and their prejudices. Tom has done

Perspectives can change beliefs in many ways. In Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, Bob Ewell hears and sees Atticus defending Tom Robinson who is black, therefore, he believes Atticus ‘loves niggers’. Jem, Scout, and Dill have never seen Boo Radley come out at day and they hear rumors that Boo only comes out at night. People believe rumors and their perspectives until they get the truth and change their beliefs.

Understanding perspective is essential to understanding people. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird presents this idea in multiple passages of her writing. It can be seen in the rough, unknown troubles that people face despite their wrongful actions. As well as the rumours that are untrue and give complete false impressions of people. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird uses these topics to illustrate the dangers of judging others before getting to know them.

On August 9, 2014,a young man by the name of Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer. It is little known why the shooting occurred, but the boy was unarmed.This could be one of many cases of modern day racism and segregation. In 1930, “even after the abolishment of slavery in 1865, blacks were still almost powerless(BBC 2)”.Blacks were heavily segregated and had almost no rights.Many cases of segregation in the 1930s caused a lot of current day racial tension in the united states.

As Scout and Jem walk home from the pageant they got attacked by Mr. Ewell. They screamed for help and the only person that heard them was Arthur (Boo) Radley. So he ran out to rescue their lives. This is the first time Mr.Radley left his house and the first time Scout saw him. To most people it was a mystery how Mr. Radley looked. When he was at Scout’s house he went to the farthest corner and the people there acted as if Mr. Radley was invisible.

After starting school, Scout comes upon his first lesson from Atticus. When Walter Cunningham refuses to take a quarter from Miss Caroline to pay for his lunch, Scout begins to explain to her teacher that “The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back.” Scout had overheard her father talking to one of his clients, Mr. Cunningham, about how he would pay Atticus for his work on his entailment. Atticus explains to Mr. Cunningham that the money was the least of his worries. Scout later learns that the Cunninghams pay in what they have, for example, stovewood or turnip greens. When Atticus says “ If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. 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.” Scout learns that some people live differently than her, and that it is important to always accept that some people are different. When she explains the situation to her teacher, she gets in trouble, in turn making her not want to go to school anymore.

I watched in awe as the many boys jumped time and time again from the edge of the cliff into the water, wondering to myself how someone can muster such courage to even attempt something like that in the first place. The boys were cheered on by the girls along the Swan river shoreline. How I wished I had girls to cheer me on. I would have to find he courage to jump blackies, for someone like me a chance of popularity shines golden in my eyes. I decided I would try again to jump off blackies.

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird is successful in delivering the story in a manner that captivates the audience. The story began by setting the scene, mood and also by introducing each character, which familiarized the reader with the environment. The author wrote the story in a manner that flowed with real life events of a time relative to the story, such as the segregation, racism and any financial struggles. It also did well to give each character a realistic mindset and reactions based on each person’s respective characterization. In a similar way, the story was written from the perspective of Scout, and the story was effectively narrated with the innocence and a lesser knowledge coming from someone of her age. Additionally, the story did a particularly good job at introducing details that were important to the story as it progressed so there were no surprises based on a sudden law change, for example. This aided in building the story to its climax, and other peaks of action. Each element to the story worked in sync to maneuver easily through the plot in a well thought out and executed story.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird a major theme is the loss of innocence. Whether from emotional abuse, racial prejudice or learning, Boo, Tom, and Scout all lose their innocence in one sense or another. The prejudice that each character endures leads to their loss. Through the responses of Boo, Tom, and Scout, Harper Lee shows how each character responded differently to their loss of innocence.

Scout’s school did not stress the importance of equality, and it showed in the town’s ignorance. But, Scout did not let school taint her perception of others, and she believed “everybody’s gotta learn, nobody’s born knowin’. That Walter’s as smart as he can be he just gets held back [...]. Nothing’s wrong with him. Naw, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks” (Lee 304). Scout’s friend was going to get held back in school because he was poor and unable to attend as often. She stood up for him, because she thought everyone deserves an equal chance. However, a place that did not give everyone an equal chance was the courtroom where Atticus defended a black man accused of a crime he did not commit. After losing the case, Atticus consoles his children and tells Scout and Jem that “as you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it- whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, or how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash” (Lee 295). While others may see a situation such as this and say that the black man was at fault, Atticus sees through the color of a man’s skin. He wants to make sure his children do this, too. Growing up in the south, racism was expected to be seen. But, just because something is common does not make it right. Atticus made it a priority to teach his

Courage is the quality of mind that enables one to face danger with confidence, resolution, and gain a firm control of oneself. Many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird showed courage in their own way. Courage can come in many different forms: physical, mental, emotional and moral. Courage is not the only main theme displayed in To Kill a Mockingbird; prejudice and education are also very important themes exhibited throughout the progression of the novel. Through the eyes of Scout Finch, a bright, sensitive and intelligent little girl, these themes of the novel are explored in great depth.

“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”. Discuss this quote from Atticus in relation to 3 characters from the novel.

Dubose. Jem and Scout hated Mrs. Dubose, she was always disrespectful when they passed by her house. She would yell at them about many different things like their behavior, their father, what they would be when they grew up, them walking to town, and them not having their mother around anymore. Most of her comments were about how Atticus was defending a man of color in court. One day Jem went mad, he grabbed Scout’s baton and ran into the front yard and cut the tops off every camellia bush in sight, he didn't begin to calm down until the ground has green buds and leaves everywhere. Once he was finished trashing Mrs. Dubose’ yard he snapped the baton in half, threw it down, when Scout saw she started screaming. Jem pulled her hair, and kicked her down. When Atticus got home he was disappointed that Jem would do something like that, he told him to go to Mrs. Dubose’ house and talk to her. When Jem came back he said he cleaned for her, said sorry, and said that he would help them grow back. Mrs. Dubose told Jem to come to her house everyday after school and on Saturdays and read to her out loud for two hours for a whole month. On the first day they weren't there for a long time because about half way through it was time for Mrs. Dubose’s medicine, Jessie kicked them out because she had to get the

Scout also learns to control her anger and to not react when people tease her. She learns this lesson when Cecil Jacobs says “Scout Finch’s daddy defends niggers” and that he is a “disgrace”. Atticus says “Scout got to learn to keep her head” meaning she needs to control her anger. She puts this advice into practice when Cecil Jones has a go at her again. She “dropped (her) fists and walked away…” because “if (she) fought Cecil (she) would let Atticus down” This shows that she had learnt to control her anger and that she has reached a level of maturity.

This quote is in perspective of Francis, a younger cousin of Scout’s. Francis had called Scout’s father a “nigger-lover” and scout couldn’t let this one go. She has also learned to grow quite an extensive diction towards derogatory terms.