To Kill A Mockingbird Essay, 1 Draft


“Remember, it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” (Lee 119). In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, this is the quote that Atticus, one of the main characters, says to his kids. Atticus is a lawyer who takes on a tough case in his town, Maycomb. His kids are Scout, and Jem. Throughout the book, they grow and mature. They don’t mess around with their neighbor, Boo, as much as they used to. But, luckily because of him, they live to see the next day. In To Kill a Mockingbird, it shows that because of prejudice, innocent people can be harmed. This is shown through Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Jem.
“Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. Courage means you don’t let fear stop you,” stated Bethany Hamilton, an American professional surfer, who survived a shark attack, when she was only 13 years of age. This quote relates to the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, on account that plenty of people in the book had fear, but did not let it stop them from doing what they needed to do. A few of these courageous people were Mrs. Dubose, Atticus, and Boo Radley. The intriguing novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is written by the prestigious author Harper Lee. Lee has utilised the lifestyle and attitudes towards ‘African-Americans" in the 1930's to create a novel which presents the reader with Lee's attitudes and values. The dominant reading of the novel is focused on the issues of racial prejudice, but there are also a number of other alternative and oppositional readings. Examples of this are the Marxist and feminist readings which can be applied to the text. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird one of the main themes is the importance of moral education taught by Atticus to Scout and Jem. Atticus educates the children in many ways that a formal education in 1930s may prohibit, like the lessons of courage and integrity. For instance, in the scene where Atticus talks to Jem about Mrs. Dubose, their elderly neighbour’s death. During this section Atticus speaks highly of Mrs. Dubose, how she dies free of her addiction to morphine and how she shows what the meaning of real courage is. In this lesson Atticus states, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin The story begins in Maycomb, Alabama, where young Scout Finch recalls herchildhood with her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus, a well-respectedlawyer. Their friend Dill joins them each summer, and together they becomefascinated by their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley, whom the townspeople fearand gossip about. Scout recounts various lessons she learns about morality andjustice from her father, who advises her never to harm innocent creatures,symbolized by his warning, "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Mayella Ewell is an abused young woman in Maycomb, Alabama who accused an African American man Tom Robinson of rape during the Great Depression in the early 1930’s. Mayella took advantage of the Jim Crow laws so she could end the mental and physical abuse her father caused. Since Mayella is white and female, she has power. Although she lives behind a dumpster this still provides a significant amount of power for her. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird” Harper Lee shows Mayella’s power for class during the trial. Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird details the life of young Scout Finch and brother Jem Finch, who is growing up in a time of racial uniqueness. Jem and Scout Finch are what most would call a typical family growing up in the small Alabama town of Maycomb. They encounter many different obstacles during their childhood missions with many characters making the novel an interesting read. Throughout the book, Lee is showing Jem and Scout grow up and become mature young adults. This novel, written by Harper Lee, demonstrates the themes of growing up, Innocence and most importantly, racism.

Summary of "To Kill A Mockingbird"

o Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of Scout Finch, a young girl growing up in a small Alabama town during the 1930s. Here are some key plot summary points:

Summary of "To Kill A Mockingbird"

Summer arrives and Dill returns. He, Scout, and Jem grow more daring and sneak onto the Radley property one night to look in the window, but Nathan Radley sees them and thinks they're thieves. As they run away, and Jem's pants get caught in the Radley fence. He leaves them behind and, to cover their tracks, the children show up with the rest of the neighborhood at Nathan Radley’s gate and explain that Jem is without pants because Dill won the pants in a game of strip poker, much to the horror and exasperation of the adults. When Jem goes back to Radleys’ fence to retrieve the pants later that night, he finds them mended and folded. Meanwhile, Scout and Jem continue to find gifts in the knothole until Nathan Radley cements it shut, claiming that the tree is dying. Jem is very hurt, especially when Atticus notes that the tree doesn’t look ill. A few months later, in the dead of winter, the Finch's neighbor 's house catches fire, and as Scout and Finch watch it burn, someone Scout doesn't see puts a blanket around her shoulders. Jem realizes that Boo must have done it. Scout is horrified, but Atticus stifles his laughter.

("A Summary of To Kill a Mockingbird, a Novel by Harper Lee.")

The main theme of the novel remains the morality of people. To put it simply, it is a battle between good and evil. Atticus is highly moralistic; he has a strong sense of right and wrong. He tries to ingrain this quality in his children. He tells Scout that you have to think from the other person’s perspective too. He doesn’t back down even when everyone is against him because he knows what he is doing must be done. Like I said before, Scout sees things in a very black-and-white manner; she is influenced by what she hears and sees. The narration does come across with a hint of innocence since Scout is six. It gave the story an evolving perspective, I felt. Scout’s understanding and experiences of her society shift during the story’s course.

Lee, H. (2010). To Kill a Mockingbird. Arrow Books.

To Kill a Mockingbird essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.