To Kill A mockingbird Essay

Submitted By jaylamorris1
Words: 616
Pages: 3
Open Document
To Kill a Mockingbird is a powerful book. It tells us about historical American culture back in the 1930s. This was the time when discrimination was very harmful. Harper Lee published this book To Kill a Mockingbird. Despite being published fifty years ago, it still manages to send us the main reason why her book is still significant.
To Kill a Mockingbird is an accurate historical representation of the culture of American South during the Great Depression. The Ewell family symbolizes the type of white pride and prejudice toward African Americans and other minority groups. Tom Robinson’s character serves an example of the victimized black man who is found guilty of a crime because of his skin color instead of his actions which would prove him innocent. In this book, the Great Depression has economic hardships of the time period mentioned. Lee’s novel is valued today because it tells what life was like in the 1930s in the American Deep South.
In addition, To Kill a Mockingbird provides us with a wonderful story of overcoming prejudice of all kinds. The racism played towards Tom Robinson when he is merely accused of rape and convicted is the most obvious form of racism. It can be justified that Tom overcame the racist attitude shown toward him by realizing that he would never be accepted in society because of his skin color. He also realized that he would be killed when he tried to escape from prison forever for a crime he did not commit. Another form of prejudice displayed in To Kill a Mockingbird is sexism. In the novel, Atticus is harassed by Aunt Alexandra for not taking another wife. Atticus did a superb job of proving Alexandra wrong in her bias. A third form is ageism. We see that as Jem grows older, he gets a much higher opinion of himself, and begins to consider himself an “adult” and Scout a child. Scout nearly convinces Jem to place himself on the same level as her again. Nevertheless, a core theme of Lee’s novel is overcoming injustice based upon unfounded, random choice opinions. Despite all of the other themes in To Kill a Mockingbird, growing up is the one that speaks to the modern world. Many young people can emphasize with Scout and Jem’s situation. Lee shows us the obstacles we encounter growing up can change us forever. Jem’s tendency to act above Scout because of her
Show More

Related Documents: To Kill A mockingbird Essay

Essay To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird Personal Integrity Nic Grob Mr. Smadu Ela 20 November 23rd 2012 The most important theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is personal integrity, doing what is right. First of all, Atticus knew he needed to do what was right in the Tom Robinson case. Also, Atticus told his kids to quit bothering Boo Radley and to leave the poor boy alone. Lastly, when Bob Ewell wins the case against Tom and attacks Atticus’s children. But then Boo comes in and saves Jem and Scout…

Words 743 - Pages 3

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

In To Kill A Mockingbird One can learn many lessons from the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. The theme revolving around the mockingbird represents innocence and how it is wrong to destroy it. The characters of Jem, Atticus, and Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley demonstrate courage in situations that would be easy to shy away from. Many of the characters in this novel grow up in some way, whether it is learning or accepting something new. Three essential themes in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird are innocence…

Words 1002 - Pages 5

To Kill A Mockingbird Letter

Dear Editor: I believe that our high school must include To Kill A Mockingbird in the 9th grade level English class because the book teaches people a lot of life lessons. In the book, there is a huge use of the “n” word. While critics may argue that the “n” word is not something children should be around, however, this argument is incorrect because in today’s society a lot of songs out there that children are listening to have that word in it all the time, and since they hear it all the time…

Words 688 - Pages 3

Feminism In To Kill A Mockingbird

What Does It Mean to Be a Woman Through the Book To Kill A Mockingbird In to kill a mockingbird feminism is without a doubt present. The book alludes to the question what does it mean to be a woman. Scout struggles with this throughout the entire book because she likes to wear pants and play with the boys, but does that make her not a girl? To Kill a Mockingbird includes various allusions to the idea that society has certain expectations and preconceptions of what it is, and what it means to be…

Words 919 - Pages 4

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

Lindsey Congdon Mrs. Peterson Period 7 December 1, 2009 To Kill a Mockingbird Essay The Dictionary defines prejudice as, “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” There has been prejudice known throughout history, mostly against the blacks during and before the time of Martin Luther King Jr. In The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there is clear evidence of prejudice against the blacks. In…

Words 864 - Pages 4

Reflection On To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee Overall, I thought To Kill a Mockingbird was an exceptional book. I found that I learned a lot more than I already knew about how the South functioned as a whole back in the 1930s, which I found to be very interesting. I never knew specifically how slavery and racism affected what it was like to live in the South and how much of an impact these issues had on different situations, like the trial in the book. Reading this story helped my understanding of these…

Words 385 - Pages 2

To Kill A Mockingbird Relationships

The book To Kill a Mockingbird is about a family of Finchs. Atticus Finch is helping a black man that was accused of raping a white girl. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has mockingbirds which are people who are completely harmless and helps others. Two mockingbird are Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Tom Robinson never did anything harmful to anyone, even as a worker, he never hesitated on work. Page 256 ”Were you paid for your services? No suh, not after she offered me a nickel the first…

Words 178 - Pages 1

Labels In To Kill A Mockingbird

Labels have affected us throughout history. Whether it being now in modern day times or it being during the times of racial segregation and suffrage against women and blacks. In the book “To Kill A MockingBird” by Harper Lee, Lee tells the story of how labels affect the people in Maycomb, Alabama treat one another. These labels can deny people equal justice, decide where people belong on the social hierarchy, and force people to cope with stereotypes. The white people of Maycomb deny equal justice…

Words 821 - Pages 4

Innocent In To Kill A Mockingbird

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD FINAL PAPER Innocence is both a definitive and relative word. In one sense, a newborn infant is the only truly innocent, as it has just come into the world without any chance to do anything negative. On the other hand, we also tend to see those starving after natural disasters as innocent despite the fact that they may have past misdoings we are dubious to. In the sense of the town of Maycomb, in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, children such as Scout and Jem, who…

Words 1072 - Pages 5

Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Prejudice is described as a “preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.” Webster’s Rotary Canadian Dictionary & Thesaurus. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the horrendous impact that prejudice has on specific characters including Atticus Finch, Arthur “Boo” Radley, and Thomas Robinson. To begin, the unpleasant outcome of prejudice is indicated through Atticus Finch. Majority of Jem and Scout’s classmates have fathers that are youthful and…

Words 908 - Pages 4