little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” This novel is set in a small town in rural Alabama in the 1930’s. The protagonist, Atticus Finch, is arguably the most educated and sophisticated citizen in Maycomb, Alabama and practices law as a defense attorney. In contrast, Bob Ewell, the antagonist in the novel, is a white farmer and widower who lives in poverty and ignorance on the outskirts of town…
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‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ examines racism at a time in American history when racial segregation was a mainstream way of life. Although today’s society has evolved, racism may still exist to the same degree, only it is not as obvious as during the era of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. When Harper Lee was writing “To Kill a Mockingbird” in the 1950’s, The United States was a hot spot for social change. In Lee’s home state of Alabama, many current event were taking place that were influencing this change…
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The theme of social injustice is central to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and the lessons the novel teaches about compassion and understanding are still relevant today. Harper Lee used the setting of a small town in rural Alabama in the 1930’s as a backdrop to explore several different forms of social injustice, among them racial prejudice and social ostracism. Racial prejudice was best illustrated through the character of Tom Robinson, a black man who was on trial for the rape of a white woman…
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Harper Lee’s novel “To kill a mockingbird” is seen as one of the best classics of American literature. “To kill a mockingbird” is set in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. In the 1930’s, America was in a time of racial segregation. The novel consists of a lot of different themes and ideas such as: innocence, injustice, courage, molarity and class but the most recognised theme is prejudice, as the middle class, Atticus Finch is charged with defending Tom Robinson, who is black, and…
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during the 1950's and 1960's (around the time that To Kill a Mockingbird was published) of social activists striving to equalize the treatment of both black and white people. The Civil Rights Movement began because of the unjust segregation and discrimination of African Americans in relation to their Caucasian counterparts, that had been enforced during the 1950's. One of the first events to spur the Civil Rights Movement was an African-American…
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Why did the sixties happened ? This question has many answers to it. The 1960's burst of social movement was led by many factors. After World War II (1939-1945), the United States emerged as a global power that competed with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); this competition was both a political and moral crusade to convince people around the world that Western democracy was superior to the Communist system adopted by the USSR. The 1950s and 1960s were periods of relative economic…
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Beyond Appearances Scout Finch is a young girl who lives in the town of Maycomb Alabama in the 1930’s, where her father Atticus works to acquit wrongfully accused Tom Robinson in a time of extreme racial prejudice. Harper Lee demonstrates in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird that appearance does not reflect a person's true value and identity through the interactions Scout has with characters like Mr. Raymond and Mrs. Dubose. Scout encounters Mr. Dolphus Raymond outside of the courthouse during Toms…
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Racial inequality has been a dilemma for years in the United States. Long after slavery was abolished, racism and discrimination was still extremely prominent within the States, especially during the early 1900s. World War I had left its mark in the form of a profound isolationist sentiment. The Depression paralyzed the economy, leaving 25 percent of the workforce unemployed. The Jim Crow Laws, strictly segregating Blacks from Whites, were still in effect in the South and racial tension was high…
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the irrational suspicion and hatred of a social group, usually towards race. Evidently, the social hierarchy upon which we build society promotes hate and injustice. In Harper Lee’s depression era novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she illustrates the different types of mindsets of the southern people of Maycomb County, Alabama. In the early 1930’s, unemployment and poverty were spreading quickly during the years of the Depression and the quality of living had dropped substantially. Maycomb had been severely…
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through no matter what” (128). In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch is a noble lawyer and father who cares deeply about other people. This novel is mostly about the Finch family living in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. During the time period injustice and racism. This essay will explore how the heroic character Atticus Finch is a courageous man who portrays strength and embodies 2 of the Cardinal Virtues: Fortitude and Justice, by persevering in difficult situations, and…
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