Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

“Human beings are poor examiners, subject to superstition, bias, prejudice, and a profound tendency to see what they want to see rather than what is really there” ~ Scott Peck. Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird abounds with the injustice produced by social, gender, and racial prejudice. The setting of the book takes place in the 1930s, where racism is a big deal in society. In the novel Harper Lee uses a mockingbird as an analogy to the characters. The Mockingbird is a symbol for Three Characters in the book, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. The people of Maycomb only know Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by what others say about them. These Characters are then characterized by other people 's viewpoints. In the novel there are many themes that are adjacent to our lives, the one that is found in To Kill A Mockingbird is Human Conflict comes from the inability for one to understand another. “ You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has been banned and/or challenged over thirty times since its publication in 1960. Effectively preventing many students from enjoying the novel and benefitting from its message. To ignore racism is no different than denying it ever existed. To Kill a Mockingbird is appropriate for mature adolescence/students and should not be banned from schools. Despite its sexual related content, or profanity, a valuable lesson remains that should be taught to students.

Racism has been a hot subject for many years. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, it is the central theme of the novel. When Atticus Finch is asked by Judge Taylor, to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, Atticus accepts and defends Tom to the full extent of the law. Atticus even makes the plaintiff, Mayella Ewell, question how the incident involving herself and Tom Robinson, actually happened. Nevertheless, when Atticus made the case proving that Tom Robinson did not commit the crime he was accused of, a jury of white men all ruled that he was guilty. Furthermore, what does this say about the jury, the defendant, the plaintiff, and the lawyers involved in the trial? Did the jury decide guilty because of the information provided by the lawyers or was it because of the color of Tom Robinson’s skin?

People often fear what they don 't understand. Evolutionary psychology can be traced back millions of years, when fear was avoided because of its repercussion of death. An aversion to the unknown was usually safer. Therefore, evolution culled for human traits that feared and avoided the unknown. Fear of the unknown shows how people become narrow-minded and ignorant to their surroundings, and how people behave when they believe something will happen even though they are solely intolerant. This ideology directly correlates to Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a MockingBird. Throughout the story, the townspeople attempt to overcome their various fears by turning against each other. In Maycomb, fear enforces racism and causes the townspeople to

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel that shows what racism was like before all people were considered equal. The main characters are Scout Finch, an indomitable six year old tomboy who was smarter than what many people thought, and Atticus Finch, the father of Scout and Jem, who is an extraordinary lawyer. The primary conflict in the story is that Tom Robinson, an innocent black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Atticus was assigned to defend Robinson, but it would be almost impossible to win, because a white man’s word is always taken over a black man’s. Atticus is trying to show the jury what the truth is, and that the court is made to find out the truth, not judge someone by what color skin they have. By the end of the story, the characters have all learned that the world is not always fair to some because of the way they look or talk. To Kill A Mockingbird is a book showing that the justice done by a jury isn’t always the right way.

The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a classic authored by Harper Lee which takes place in Alabama during the depression. It is narrated by a six-year-old girl named Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch. The plot primarily revolves around everyday life in the community of Maycomb, focusing on Atticus Finch’s family and the challenges they encounter, including defending an African American in court. Throughout the novel, the community of Maycomb experiences significant change although there are those who hold steadfast to their convictions and habits. Perceptions of others, like Arthur Radley and Dolphus Raymond, are altered in the eyes of certain characters as they are exposed to other facets of the characters’ lives or personalities. Others, like Aunt Alexandra and Cecil Jacobs, undergo a certain level of maturity which significantly improves the way they interact with others. However, there are certain individuals within the community that do not experience a transformation and the community as a whole continue to maintain their racist views.

Imagine making 95 cents a week, and not even being able to use the bathroom that everyone else uses. At this time period black people were treated like dirt, and they were basically slaves that did whatever a white person said. Well this is exactly what

“Simply because we’re licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win” (Lee 101). One of the major lessons of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is to always do the right thing. The text is told through the narrator Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. She lives in the small, old town of Maycomb, Alabama with her brother, Jem Finch and her father, Atticus. Across the street from the Finch lives Arthur “Boo” Radley who is believed to be a horrible human. Rumor has it he eats squirrels and cats and is locked in the basement of his house for these actions when he was a teen. Throughout the novel, there is also a trial that has inundates the whole town. It is between Tom Robinson and the daughter of Bob Ewell. Mr. Ewell is a disgrace to the town. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses characterization to show that people should always do the right thing even when faced with big obstacles.

The book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee was set in the 1930s in a fictional town called Maycomb County. Courage within that specific time period and town was seen as strength in the face of fear; whilst the way that Harper Lee has tried to convey courage throughout her book is as the act of doing something to benefit a specific person or a whole group of people, no matter what odds are against you, how uncomfortable you may find the task, and how dim the chances of succeeding are. Many characters in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird,” express this form of courage. This is demonstrated firstly by Atticus Finch when he went to trial defending a black man who had been accused of a rape he didn’t commit whilst systematic racism was still at large, purely to help an innocent man, to hopefully further the black rights movements at the time and to give his children a firm faith in the justice system. By Boo Radley when he stepped out of the comfort of his home to rescue Jem and Scout from Mr. Ewell, despite the fact that fighting was not at all in his nature. And lastly by Jem, when he and Scout were attacked by Mr. Ewell and Jem was needed to protect Scout at no matter what costs, as she was unable to fend for herself.

A poor economy, outdated health care programs, and classism have propelled a majority of Americans into poverty. In a community, groups of people are often disenfranchised through the means of external factors; circumstances they can not control. Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, conveys a powerful message demonstrating how people can become divided and deprived due to issues that affect a community. The message is appealing because the book is set in the 1930s; however, some of the very same issues are taking root in today 's society.

One of the most famous and iconic heroes in American literature is Atticus Finch, protagonist of the classic 1960s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. For decades, millions of readers around the world have admired him for his bravery and perseverance. The author, Harper Lee, has recently released a sequel to the original novel titled Go Set a Watchman. It discusses the problems that an adult Jean Louise (the narrator of the first book) faces when she returns to her hometown, and how she copes with the changes. One of the major issues she struggles with is finding out that her father, who she believed to have an equal view of everyone, is a white supremacist and racist. Atticus Finch 's iconic heroic character is altered and developed using descriptions, actions, and other characters ' reactions in Harper Lee 's novel, Go Set a Watchman.

Winston Churchill once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Many believe that courage is the ability to do something that is challenging and requires lots of effort, but that is not all. According to Psychology Today, six attributes of courage include feeling fear yet choosing to act, following one’s own heart, persevering in the face of adversity, standing up for what is right, expanding one’s horizons, and facing suffering with dignity and faith. People in the real world can show unexpected and overlooked forms of courage, just like Atticus Finch does in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. The setting takes place in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, where a young girl named Scout Finch learns to see the lively views of society. Maycomb society is characterized by racism hypocrisy, prejudice, and fear. Scout lives with his brother Jem and his father Atticus, who is a well-known lawyer in town. Atticus is defending Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, the loneliest girl in the whole town. After the jury debates over the verdict, Tom Robinson is guilty for what he has done and gets sentenced to prison. Mr. Bob Ewell, father of Mayella, wins the court case, and starts to go after the Finch kids with his pocket knife. Boo Radley, a neighbor who has not gone out for many years, notices this and peacefully saves the Finch kids from Mr. Ewell. Lee clearly demonstrates through

Growing up is an important part of life that we look forward to, as becoming an adult seems exciting, but realizing the truth may be difficult. In the novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Harper Lee shows the significance of growing up through his literature. Lee shows this through one of the protagonist in the novel, Scout looses her innocence as she discovers the harsh reality of society. In addition, her younger brother Jem also learns from his experiences, as he gains a new perspective and point of view from others. Scout and Jem also grow from their encounter and relation with Boo Radley. The two siblings both go through an emotional growing up development, as they learn from past experiences and see the world in a different way. One will lose their innocence from experiences that will change their point of view of things, but also gain wisdom and knowledge as it leads to the result of growing up.

Did you ever think you knew something about a person only to find that you could not be more wrong? Making unverified assumptions like this is part of human nature for everyone. Because of this, some people do not want to reveal their true selves to others and prefer to remain unknown. Often, some people will hide out in their house and not show themselves to the world because of how others would react. Other people do not want to learn the truth and prefer to believe what they think is right evidence not with what is actually real. The people of Maycomb County are no different than people in the larger world. The characters in To Kill A Mockingbird work hard to maintain appearances that differ from reality.

America was once thought of as the greatest country in the world. Though since the dawn of our country’s time, we’ve been one of the biggest perpatrators of racial and social injustice. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Lee puts America’s faults on display for everyone to see. There are so many people today who view this novel as old, outdated, and irrelevant to society today; but with issues like the wage gap between men and women, Donald Trump being a real candidate for the presidency, and the Black Lives Matter movement, this novel pertains to our society much more than society probably thinks, and America is far from the end of racial and social injustice.