Archetypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

Tom Robinson’s character exemplifies the mockingbird because he is a black man who is denied justice based on racial prejudice. After Mayella Ewell accuses Tom of rape, there is no way for him to be judged fairly because the narrow-minded, white townspeople are unable to get past their prejudices towards blacks. At his trial, Tom’s lawyer, Atticus, argues,

Defined innocent means showing the simplicity or the naivete of an unworldly person (Dictionary). Archetypes in american literature are used to represent a persons emotions or personality. In american literature authors use the innocent to promote the view that humanity suffers, and happiness is found only found in those who work to find it.

A literary criticism is an informed written analysis or evaluation of a work of literature based on literary theory. The hero archetype type is one common type of character used by an author which displays morality, bravery, and self sacrifice. In the fictitious novel To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the hero archetype is shown in multiple characters. This archetype is used to help characterize the characters and help the reader understand them. Thought the story Lee uses the hero archetype in the characters Atticus, Jem, and Boo Radley.

Tom Robinson is an example of a mockingbird in To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson was a black man in 1930, therefor it was unfair from the start. Tom Robinson was nothing but a kind man, he never harmed anyone. Tom saw Mayella struggling around the house. Her father was a drunk that left her to fend for her and the children. She did her best but once in awhile when Tom was passing by the EWell house Mayella would invite him inside the fence to see if her would help her with little tasks. One day she invited him inside to fix a door. When he got inside to fix the door her found there was nothing wrong with the door. That is when Mayella kissed Tom, however Tom is wrongfully charged with rape.

A white woman would never admit to doing what the character Mayella Ewell does, breaking a “time-honored rule” by kissing Tom Robinson, a black man. After being caught, she seeks to save herself from the scorn of society by accusing him of raping her. Such an accusation was a death sentence for an African American man. “Rape was the central drama of the white psyche,” said Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer prize–winner Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution. “A black man raping a white woman justified the most draconian social control over black people.” The punishment for such a sin was hanging, as would have been the case with the mob of white men, smelling of whiskey and pigpen who went up to the jail to cart away Robinson. Even though they are stopped in the book, because Scout Finch shames them, many real incidents went unchecked. Mockingbird paralleled at least three cases that were objects of disagreements in the Monroeville of her childhood. Lee once commented how, in the novel, “the trial, and the rape charge that brings on the trial, are made up out of a composite of such cases and charges.” Seven years before Harper’s birth, the senior Lee defended two blacks accused of murder. At the time, “the idea that someone like Lee would represent a black was in no means abnormal or

As Lemony Snicket wrote in The Blank Book, “People don’t always get what they deserve in this world.” 1930s America was fraught with racism, especially in the southern states. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a Negro man by the name of Tom Robinson was put on trial. Although he was not guilty, the jury convicted him because of the colour of his skin. During the trial, others showed injustice towards Tom and people that were on his side. As Tom’s lawyer, Atticus Finch was not admired by many of the white citizens of Maycomb, the town in which the novel takes place. Although Atticus and Jean Louise Finch (Scout) were white, they were still treated unjustly as a result of helping and supporting Tom Robinson. Scout, Atticus’

Literary criticism is informed, written analysis, evaluation of a work of literature based on literary theory. One literary theory is archetypal criticism which discusses reoccurring symbols, themes, and situations that operate on universal scales that are easily recognized and understandable by the reader. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee exhibits archetypal criticism. From the archetypes readers are able to understand the characters better and how their actions move the story along. Throughout the story, Harper Lee uses archetypes victim, mentor, and loss of innocence.

In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” Scout Finch is the narrator (DBQ Project, p.7). She tells about the different things that happened in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s (DBQ Project, p.7). She also talked about the people in the town. Scout talked about a specific trial that completely rocked the town. The case involved a white girl named Mayella Ewell and an African American man named Tom Robinson (DBQ Project, p.7). Mayella Ewell had no friends, she was poor, and because of her gender was not looked at as superior, although under those circumstances she was able to have influence within the case based on her class, gender, and race (DBQ Document A, p.13).

Harper Lee, author of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, acknowledged the prejudice in 1930’s America. This novel won the Pulitzer Prize for its strength in upholding the prejudice in a small town in the south. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in a town called Maycomb, where a family of three and their cook lives and deals with this animosity everyday. Atticus, the father, is a well-respected lawyer and Alabama state legislator. He chooses to defend African American Tom Robinson against charges of assault against Caucasian Mayella Ewell. Although Atticus knows that he would not win the case, he still wants to defend Tom to teach his children, Jem and Scout, a valuable lesson. Harper Lee made the right decision in having Atticus Finch defend Tom Robinson; however, the decision came with consequences (Lee).

Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, shows how life was for those in the southern part of the United States, during a time when racism ran rampant throughout the land. Many injustices were committed to those of “Negro” descent, and it was up to those behind the law to protect them as well as those who lived by the law. Atticus, attorney at law, defender of the people, and father to Scout and brother Jem is safeguarding Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. As the story continues though, Mayella’s accounts of the facts aren’t quite as how they actually happened. Together, Scout (Jean Louise Finch), Jem and Atticus show courage to stand up for what is right, defend the innocent until proven guilty, and how to remain

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird we learn that Atticus is defending a black man named Tom Robinson in court. Tom Later reveals during the trial that he helped Mayella Ewell, the girl that is accusing him for raping and beating her, with a couple of household chores and states that he "felt sorry for her" (Lee 264) because "she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em" (Lee 264) This showing of empathy from Tom Robinson brought his ultimate downfall when he was convicted by a full jury of whites even though she was made a liar when she was questioned by Atticus. The jury stubbornly believed that her word was better than Tom's because she was

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee portrays Tom Robinson as the stereotype of a man of color in the time period the novel was written, a morally decent man, yet uneducated due to the social constructions and restraints present at this given time period. This unfortunate man was accused by a southern white lady, Mayella Ewell, of raping her. Even though he

Tom Robinson is one character who is judged extremely harshly by Maycomb society. Tom is a victim of racism and is falsely accused of the rape of Mayella Ewell. As a result the accusations are directly linked to the effects of racism. When on trial, the Ewell’s testimony about Tom stereotypes him as an aggressive sex offender. During her testimony (Chapter

“Even among the poor whites, there were social divisions: at the bottom of the social rung, even below the poorest whites, were those who only two generations before would have been slaves. In To Kill a Mockingbird, this poor white bigotry was personified through Bob Ewell”(Mancini, Candice 9). Tom Robinson was known for being and honest man in the black community. He would go to church often and he was a family man. In contrast, Bob Ewell was the town drunk and was by no means a model citizen. Clearly the better man was Tom but due to his race, many people believed Bob and Mayella Ewell when they said that Tom had raped Mayella. In reality, Mayella kissed Tom, “she was white, and she tempted a Negro. She did something that in [their] society is unspeakable: she kissed a black man … a strong young Negro man”(Lee, Harper 204). At the time Lee was growing up, whites and blacks were still segregated and it was inconceivable that the two races consort.

Harper Lee's ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ explores the prejudicial issues which plague over the town Maycomb. Harper Lee uses the trial of Tom Robinson a black man accused of rape on a young white girl, Mayella as a central theme to portray the prominence of racial discrimination in Maycomb. The racial prejudice is also widely shown through the characterisation of Atticus. Having Scout as the narrator allows Harper Lee to highlight the gender inequity through a youthful unbiased perspective. The chauvinistic attitudes and prejudiced views of most of the town’s folk leaves Maycombs social hierarchy in an unfair order, victimising many of the town’s people due to their socially non-conforming habits some ‘socially unaccepted people’ including Boo