To begin, the author of the story To Kill A Mockingbird expresses her theme of “coming of age” through many ways. These ways include the development of the characters, symbols used, imagery, tone and motifs. Despite the fact, that she presents numerous themes, such as racism, and social class in the South, it is the coming of age theme that is most apparent in two characters Jem and Scout. As these characters are under the control of their principled father, Jem and Scout have to encounter events that test their beliefs, faith in father’s teachings and to understand the nature of human actions/behavior.…
Harper Lee employs all three rhetorical categories in order to appeal to her audience. Concerning ethos, Atticus points out how Mr. Heck Tate never called a doctor to the scene. The author emphasizes the suspicious nature of this through Atticus’ dialogue, with continuous questioning directed towards Tate. American society typically views doctors with a significant level of trust. Therefore, this persuades the reader to agree with Atticus how Tate made a mistake by neglecting to call a doctor (whose title comes with a sense of public credibility), which likely could helped her greatly with treating the alleged serious injuries sustained.…
Throughout chapters one to five, I began to have a new perspective on the characters from what I had judged before reading the book. Scout I feel like a major archetype for Scout is Loss of Innocence. The reason I think this is such a major archetype is because of the various tasks she is faced with throughout the chapters.…
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee develops the theme of morality through the characters Atticus, Calpurnia, and Miss Maudie. In the book, Scout and her brother Jem spend their time playing with their friend, Dill, and spying on their highly secretive neighbor, Boo Radley. In addition, morality can be defined as principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong. Through these characters’ lives, Lee develops the theme of morality. To start, Lee conveys the theme of morality through the character, Atticus.…
A second time that the theme appears during the trial is when Atticus directly says the “truth” and then the reality about African Americans. He states “The evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women…” (273). This is the “truth” that the society believes, not that it is an evil assumption but the assumption itself. In addition to his previous statement, Atticus then continues on to explain the reality; that some Negroes fall into those categories, but not all. Atticus calls the assumptions themselves “...a lie as black as Tom Robinson’s skin.”…
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel that demonstrates many universal themes throughout the book. The most important theme that was prevalent, was that through the use of characterization, Harper Lee clearly portrays that the innocent are often taken advantage of by a corrupt society. The mockingbird was a very important symbol in the novel that was revealed through the characterization of 3 main characters in the book. The mockingbird was the ultimate symbol of the innocent that should be left alone because they are so precious and special. “I’d rather shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after the birds.…
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy.” This is an example of the motif mockingbirds. A motif is anything that can be used as an idea or theme in a story. It is 1930s Alabama, which was considered The Jim Crow Era. The book To Kill a Mockingbird follows the story of the Finch family and their journey living in a world with hardcore racism.…
Atticus acts in a way he believes is right and does not change to accommodate the situation. He also admits that if he fails to do what he sees as right, he could not live with himself. Lee uses the simple and unchanging morals of Atticus to display the wickedness in their community from racism. Atticus states, “Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don't pretend to understand. ”(Lee 117)…
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, there are many different themes depicted such as hypocrisy, prejudice, courage, coming of age/loss of innocence, justice, femininity, but racism is illustrated more heavily. Living in maycomb, racism is allowed; if you were not racist towards the blacks then you would be criticized by being called names such as “nigger-lover”. Atticus ignored the rest of the people in Maycomb and went out of his way to support a black man known as Tom Robinson, who was accused of rape. Racism is the key theme in the novel.…
‘To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about growing up.’ Explore this statement about the novel by Harper Lee. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the theme of growing up is clearly seen through the protagonist Scout and her brother Jem Finch as they grow up and mature in 1930’s Alabama. There are many examples of Scout and Jem growing up in the novel.…
Author: Harper Lee Title: To Kill a Mockingbird Reading Level: 8-12 (790L) Sophistication Level: 11 To Kill a Mockingbird is an American literary classic, published in 1960. The story takes place between the years of 1933 through 1935, during the Great Depression era. It takes place in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama and tells the story of Scout Finch and her father Atticus, who is a widowed lawyer.…
Family in To Kill a Mockingbird “Family is not an important thing, it’s everything,” stated Michael J. Fox. Family is a meaningful theme in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which is written by Harper Lee. The main characters are Scout, Jem, and Atticus, their father. The setting takes place in a small town called Maycomb County in Alabama. Scout and Jem have to deal with the problems that occur because of Atticus’s trial.…
Honor is given to those who follow the domain’s moral cowardice, the conspicuous, howbeit, have lost all honor by those who are followers. One of the most prominent themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is lost honor. Honor means to have high respect and Mr. Dolphus Raymond lost his respect when he professed to love a colored woman, have mixed children with her, and chose to be surrounded by those who don’t share the same skin color as him. “He’s got a colored woman and all sorts of mixed chillun” (Lee 214) “..drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of whiskey-that’s why he won’t change his ways” (Lee 268) “and man's commonest weakness, his aversions, pointed at, shunned, as being on the unpopular side. Its other…
Sirius Black once said, “We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.” Good and evil oppose the meanings of one another. Often in this world, people describe others by either all the positive qualities or by the negative qualities, forgetting that nothing in the world is perfect or completely imperfect.…
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird contains many different literary devices that the author, Harper Lee, portrays throughout the book. The most abundant of the literary devices is the author’s use of theme. Some themes are more thoroughly extended upon and made detectable by Harper Lee. Although some examples of theme throughout the novel are very subtle, the ones described in this paper are the most easily detected and have the most accounts in the novel. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird the themes of prejudice, ignorance, and courage are frequently introduced and expanded upon through characters and situations alike.…