Harper Lee, in the realistic-fiction novel To Kill A Mockingbird, uses a variety of literary elements to aid in the overall development of the theme. All of the characters are going through some sort of coming of age experience or enhancing someone else's experience as well as their lives all the while being greatly impacted by the racial discrimination and injustices that occurred all around them. An event in the novel that expresses this is the court case of Tom Robinson, or more specifically, Atticus’s, Tom Robinson’s attorney, closing argument. During this Tom Robinson is wrongly accused of raping a white girl in their town of Maycomb, and Atticus decides to defend him as his attorney despite the town's clear racial biases and preconceived stereotypes on people of color; this greatly impacts Atticus’s daughter, Scout. To show this Harper Lee uses setting, plot and conflict to enhance the development of the novel and put forth the theme. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses these literary elements, plot, conflict and setting to develop the idea that the presence of racial inequality leading to the undermining of justice impacts the coming of age for Scout on a variety of levels.
Differences in social status based off of race can be seen impacting Scouts coming of age experience and is a main source of conflict in the novel. This concept is expressed on page 271 when Atticus states in his closing argument “‘I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with
The award winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee includes several key components that are exemplary passages of coming-of-age scenes. One of the most significant scenes throughout the whole book is the courtroom scene that describes the trial of Tom Robinson, who has been accused of rape by Mayella Ewell. The outcome of the trial was creating a coming-of-age scene for several characters, including Jem Finch, Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, and Dill Harris. In this scene, it is seen that in defense of Tom, Atticus Finch uses ethical, logical, and emotional stances in order to find Tom innocent and continue to fight for justice by being impartial and having no judgement unlike society. Although a strong defense was presented, society still
As children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray
Since the first spark of human life, coming-of-age has even occurred at the time of Adam and Eve. Many people think that the only part of maturing is puberty. However, one of the greatest parts of growing up is not, surprisingly, going through puberty. Coming-of-age involves recognizing different perspectives.
There is a time in everyone’s life when they reach a certain age where they go through a period where they come of age. To come of age means that a person reaches an age when they discover something they didn’t know before and they learn it when they come across something significant. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses the theme of coming of age with her character Jem Finch. Throughout his coming of age experience Jem encounters the tree, the gun, and the camellias which teach him some important lessons that he will benefit from in the future.
As shown, the literary element in chapter 12 shows coming of age in setting, character, and conflict. The setting seems to be a happy cemetery to Scout.When they were at the church, Jem and Scout was noticing that Calpurnia has a different perspective compared to Lula. Conflict is seen in life and it makes Jem and Scout uncomfortable when they face different perspectives. Rather than just seeing the literary element in chapter 12, we can see how coming of age experiences affect young
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a novel about children coming of age during the great depression in the Jim Crow south. The passage when Dill comes of age is when Dill sees the ugly truth of reality. They are in the courtroom and Mr. Gilmore is treating Tom Robinson as though he is not a human being. Dill becomes emotionally unstable and goes outside where he talks to Scout, Jem, and Mr. Raymond. They talk about how Mr. Gilmore is stereotyping black people and making ugly remarks. The author uses the literary elements characterization, dialog, and tone to promote the theme, as we get older we can handle more information.
Journal #1 To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee, is narrated by a young, six-year-old girl, named Scout. Through every flip of the page, Scout grows into a sophisticated young adult with a different mindset. That is why, To Kill a Mockingbird is often referred to as a bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age story. “A coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult” (Wikipedia.org). In the novel, you can find Scout on different trips to investigate Arthur “Boo” Radley’s situation.
In Harper Lee’s novel about coming of age, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a common reference to the sin of tainting something or someone that is pure. A mockingbird displays no evil traits and all they want to do is sing their beautiful songs. Similar to mockingbirds, some of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird represent nothing but innocence. Others are comparable to blue jays, who are noisy and obnoxious. A few of these birds that have their own song that is exclusive to them include Mayella Ewell, Jean Louise Scout Finch, and Boo Radley.
As the United States “progresses” in economic, educational and technological advancements we still are fighting for racial equality. With more than 50 years since the brown vs. board of education case there is still incidents like Ferguson, Baton Rouge, and Phiando Castile where many questions are still unanswered. However, Harper Lee dealt with these same problems in 1960 when she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee created an emotionally confronting story. Lee writes through the eyes of “Scout” a lawyer’s daughter in a small sleepy town of Maycomb in Alabama during the great depression. Throughout the book “Scout” learns coming of age lessons from Atticus and her own experiences. But when Atticus takes on a case defending a black man (Tom Robinson) convicted for rapping a white woman (Mayella Ewell) and is found guilty. “Scout” her brother Jem begin to understand the effects of the prejudices in society. Therefore, Lee applies the literary concepts of diction and tone to revel the truth that prejudices in society negatively affect the way people treat each other in To Kill a Mocking Bird.
The theme is very big and come together in so many ways. The first theme is that even though a someone hinds, and seem like to be a bad guy, doesn't mean he is.Next when all the evidence shows a person is indecent.The way these two themes go together is, the kids have to see no justice being do.When the jury of the Tom Robinson knows that he is innocent, but makes his guilt.This ties in with the other themes because the victim father tries to heart Atticus children.After Atticus wins over the evidence, and wants to get revenge.So he goes after Mr.Finch.
Today’s society is damaged with the results of people doing terrible things to each other. Peoples actions can make or break lives.The novel To Kill A Mockingbird, is about a little girl, her Brother, their Dad, and the negro they all fight to defend. The main character scout and her older brother Jem, get into all sorts of dilemmas in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As they learn new valuable lessons about life, they also pick up that the small town they grow up in is not as clean and safe as it seems. The father, Atticus Finch is a kind hearted soul who was given the case of Tom Robinson, a negro accused of Raping a white woman. As soon as Atticus was given the case he aimed to defend Tom but a faulty jury made sure it did not happen.To
Throughout the book To Kill A Mockingbird Lee discusses the effects of ignorance and the toll it takes on people such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Scout herself, and many more. Through her examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the populist of poverty stricken Southerners, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of ignorance are the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story. A good example of this injustice is the trial of Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white girl and is found guilty. The book is from the point of view Scout, a child, who has an advantage over most kids due to her having a lawyer as a dad, to see the other side of the story. Her father tells her in the story, “you never really know a man until
Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.
The themes of racism and growing up are significant in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Atticus Finch, a lawyer, is trying to defend a black man who has been falsely accused in a trial. His children Scout and Jem don’t understand a lot of the racism occurring in the beginning, but slowly start to realize that people are being discriminated against and understand what they may be going through as they grow up and mature. How is discrimination infectious? It can influence the young by family and/or society. Atticus’s children Scout and Jem, are brought up with the values of non-discrimination and these values will help them go far in life. Through the characters of Scout and Jem, Harper Lee demonstrates that when growing up, people who are exposed to discrimination are encouraged to discriminate in return.
When you were a little kid, only in elementary school, you had a very different mindset and point of view of the world and people around you. Once you start to grow up more and meet new people outside of your community, you become much more aware of your surroundings and what the people of your town are actually like. Since you have grown up nothing is sugar-coated, now and you are able to see what the world is actually like without any barriers. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, that is how life was like for Scout Finch and her brother Jem Finch. Scout and her brother grew up in the year 1930 in Maycomb county, in the beginning of the story they were like any normal kid of their age, they liked to play and didn’t know much about the people of Maycomb. When summer approaches Scout, Jem, and Dill become more and more intrigued about the people of Maycomb especially Boo Radley. As the story progresses Scout encounters more experiences that help her better understand the town of Maycomb and the people within it. By the end of the story, they come to a point where they finally see the world and people around them for what it really is. As one reads To Kill a Mockingbird Scout’s maturation develops at the following points in the story: When her Aunt Alexandra comes to live with the family, as Scout learns more about Boo Radley, and during the Tom Robinson case.