Theme Essay 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

Mayella says, “He chunked me on the floor an’ chocked me’n took advantage of me” (Lee 241). Tom says, “She reached up an’ kissed me ‘side of th’ face” (Lee 260). Mayella Ewell is guilty of lying under oath because Tom Robinson said the opposite of what she said. Mayella says that he held her down and beat her, but Tom has a dead arm so it would have been very difficult for him to. Tom denies doing anything to her and says that she tried to kiss him.

She has done this because if she were, to tell the truth, she would still have to go back to that rickety house with a drunk father and have the wrath of him poured onto her. Members of the jury, one day Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell crossed paths, like every other day, and soon that day had turned into a horror. Mayella and Bob Ewell took Tom Robinson to court for rape and abuse.

Mayella Ewell had the chance to put the real rapist to prison, but instead she backed him up and now she has to live with him and with that decision the rest of her life. Tom was at the witness stand when Atticus asked him about Mr. Ewell said: “Tom Robinson shut his eyes tight. “ He says you goddamn whore, I’ll kill ya””(Document B). Mr. Ewell has complete power over his Mayella and this exhibits how he has power over her.

Due to an injury to his left arm, Tom is physically not capable of doing all that Mayella has accused him of. Furthermore, the accuracy of these claims is suspicious and can be doubted because Bob Ewell is left-handed and because of the placement of Mayella s injuries. Mayella s inability to tell what she accused Tom of doing, along with her family s reputation, creates unsureness and doubt about her credibility. If it weren't for the amount of prejudice and racism that affected the legal system so much during this time, I believe it would have been more apparent and acknowledged that Tom Robinson was

As a result of Mayella having such low class and her family being so poor, she did not gain any power in the Tom Robinson trial. She gained no power because of her poor class.The quote “Mayella looked as if she tried to keep clean, and I was reminded of the row of red geraniums in the Ewell yard (Doc A)” lets the readers

(“DBQ: Is Mayella Ewell Powerful?” 7). The Jim Crow Laws made Mayella’s accusation of Tom raping her even worse.

Without knowing the true character of Boo Radley, Scout believes Boo is a “malevolent phantom”, it shows that Scout believes what she sees of Boo on the outside, Scout does not see what Boo is truly like on the inside. Scout does not know what Boo is truly like and believes the rumours created by the citizens of Maycomb. The rumours Scout believes include Boo Radley peeping in people’s windows at night and Boo committing “stealthy small crimes” These rumours create the perception of Boo radley being an evil and cold-hearted man. The truth is however, Boo Radley is a kind hearted, caring person because during the fire of Mrs. Dubose’s house, he had put a blanket over Scout to keep her warm in the winter cold. When questioned by Atticus where Scout received the blanket from, Atticus explains to

Scout, Jem, and Dill work many summers to try to get Boo to come out of the Radley house for the first time in many years. Jem had been told many things about Boo in his short years in Maycomb, and he tells his sister Scout about the ‘monster’, saying, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (chap. 1). Jem’s ideas about Boo are very biased toward rumors that can be heard around Maycomb. This shows how Maycomb’s people often judge before they know, seeing as no one has seen Boo Radley in over twenty years and people are prejudiced to believing the unknown is always bad. Prejudice and rumors can often not be trusted and Boo Radley is no exception. After Miss Maudie’s house catches fire and half the town rushes outside to watch it burn, Atticus tells Scout, “someday you should thank him for covering you up” then Scout asks, “Thank Who?” And gets a response from Atticus, “Boo Radley. You were too busy looking at the fire, you didn’t even notice when he put the blanket around you” (chap. 8). Boo Radley is not really a bad person, he

This quote shows Mayella lying to everyone in the courtroom if Tom had ever came inside the fence before. She lied intentionally because she felt if the jury knew he had came inside the fence many times before they might believe Tom’s story instead of hers. Mayella knew that if she had lied about what had happened the jury would believe her just because she was white and Tom was black.

To kill a mockingbird written by Harper Lee. Themes are the subject of a talk, a piece of writing or a person's thoughts. There are many themes present in this great American classic such as courage, racism, prejudice, morality and of course coming of age. Lee communicates these themes with characters, events that unfold and the scenarios that Jem and Scout have to face.

Gilmer, Mayella’s lawyer, asks Tom, “Then you were mighty polite to do all that chopping and hauling for her [Mayella], weren't you boy?” (263). Tom’s answer is “I was just tryin’ to help her out, suh.” (263). Many times during his trial Tom keeps insisting he was just being nice, going as far as to admit he felt sorry for Mayella (264).

Passages undergone in life add up to one's characteristics. Passages are the emotional, physical and psychological rituals one faces in life. The theme of passage is demonstrated in many genres of literature including Harper Lee's coming of age novel To Kill a Mockingbird, David Malouf's historical novel Ransom, and Kurt Vonnegut's science fiction short story "Harrison Bergeron." Theme is a moral value or lesson the reader inferred from literature. The theme passage is especially inferred throughout the narrator Jean Louise "Scout" Finch eyes in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

The classroom classic To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee contains much mystery surrounding a character called Boo Radley. He is rarely seen as he chooses to live an isolated life style and not leave his house unless it is out of necessity. This necessity presents itself towards the end of the novel when Bob Ewell, an unfriendly townsman tries to attack and kill Jem and Scout late at night in the street outside the Radley household. Because of the lack of light Scout is confused by this attack and rescue mission. When Heck Tate, the town sheriff and Atticus question her on what exactly went down she recites it best she can

     In my opinion theme with the most impact in 'To Kill a Mockingbird" is Hypocrisy as shown in three main incidents . These are the teachings of Ms Gates about the atrocities of Adolf Hitler whilst she hated blacks ; the missionary circle trying to show how Christian they are while believing that to be a brother of Christ you must be white and finally the hypocrisy of the American court system in the 30's by saying they stand for justice.