Archetypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

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

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’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,

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).

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 “To Kill A Mockingbird” the characters portray archetypes depending on their personality. Where evil characters live among the good of society in this case the Maycomb community it can lead to unfairness in the rights of the citizens for the right decision. All the characters made the huge impact of the becoming of “To Kill A Mockingbird” in the way their behaviors represent what there is in a society such as ours in the real world. Each fit in their own style of what they resembled in the book and also developed the events of what had happened in Maycomb.

“Hey, Boo” Many people go through a major event in their lives that affects their perspective of certain aspects in the world. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the main character, Scout Finch, goes through many experiences that deeply affect her character’s view of life. The loss of innocence archetype is also shown by Scout in the novel. Scout starts out as a very innocent youngster who believes everything that she hears. She matures very quickly for a child because she went through so many significant experiences.

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

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

Literary criticism is an informed written analysis and evaluation of a literature. Also literary theory is a means to understand the various ways people read and connect through texts. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM) by Harper Lee, the story displays archetypal criticisms through using multiple archetypes within the work. This criticism displays how reoccurring symbols, situations, and themes help develop the story. Throughout the novel, the archetypes being the hero, victim, and the tree as a symbol for friendship are used.

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’

“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.

Lee had created significance in his character, to attain a correlation with the Civil Rights Movement at the time, transgressing empowerment to her novels’ audiences. In Lee’s novel, Tom Robinson becomes the fundamental “mockingbird” of the title, where he faces the irrationality of society and the underlying inequality of both races, as an African American man. After being falsely accused of rape by Mayella Ewell, a white woman, he is challenged with the prejudice of white society and its own moral degeneracy to their community. Lee accumulates oppression in her novel to position her audiences to feel remorse and disgust in the conviction of the innocent Tom Robinson, making him vital to the text.

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.

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.