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Literary analysis essay on the movie to kill a mockingbird
Critical appreciation of killing the mockingbird
Critical appreciation of killing the mockingbird
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My mom once told me when I was young I went up to the church donation basket and took a twenty out and brought it back to her. I was reminded of this when I read the first few chapters of To Kill A Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM), is about a young girl, Scout, learning to respect people from her father, Atticus, as the story progresses, she displays more and more respect to people around her. One of the main points in TKAM is that respect is not natural, it has to be taught. Early on in the book, Scout is introduced as a tomboy with little disrespect. A good example of the amount of disrespect she has for people is when Walter Cunningham is invited over for dinner. She says that “[Walter] ain’t [sic] …show more content…
Around half way through the book, Dill asks if Scout would like to go poke around the Radley Place, she tells Dill, “I did’t think it would be nice to bother [Boo]” (Lee 198; ch 15). Scout is learning that it is not okay to poke around the Radley Place, or any place for that matter. She is catching on, but sometimes she temporarily forgets what Atticus has taught her; respect everyone, even if they do not respect you—the overall goal of respect. In the very last chapter, the reader sees Scout show full respect, whether they realize it or not. Scout is out on the porch with Arthur when Arthur asks Scout to walk her home. The reader gets a glimpse into the mind of Scout, and her mind tells her, “I would lead [Boo] thought the house, but I would never lead him home” (Lee 372; ch 31). Scout knows to show respect to Boo; even if he doesn't know she would be disrespecting him. Scout knows that leading him home would be disrespectful, but wants to make it look like she is not leading him home, so she instructs him in such a position that would solve the
The first way Scout developed throughout the book was when she became less aggressive. In the beginning, Scout was aggressive when she beats up Walter Cunningham up on the playground on her first day of school. She beats Walter up because he got her in trouble with the teacher. Walter got Scout in trouble because when the teacher asked who had lunch, Walter didn’t raise his hand and when the teacher, Miss Caroline, tried to give
When she was younger and knew less of the world, Scout responded in an immature way to practically everything. In the schoolyard, after Scout was reprimanded for standing up for a boy in class, she thinks “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure… I stomped at him to chase him away” (Lee 22-23). This quote shows how Scout would
Slowly throughout the book, Scouts’ matureness increases and one way you can see this is because she starts understanding the way people think and she puts herself in another's shoes. Atticus gives Scout some advice that she needs to use throughout her life and it changes how she reacts to
Society thought that women should always look presentable, and act modest. Before Boo Radley was confined, Boo was in an alleged gang. In court the group of fifteen year-old boys got in trouble for “using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female...Mr.Conner said they cussed so loud he was sure every lady in Maycomb heard them”(12). Since females were supposed to be modest, Scout had many things she had to fix. For example, Scout started to curse early in the book. Women, including young women like Scout, are expected to become modest, and stay pure , but Scout always denies anyone who trys to change her. This leaves many of the people around her hopeless, realizing that Scout won’t
Her comment embarrasses Walter. Calpernia, the housekeeper, brings her into the kitchen and tells her that she should never comment on the ways of their guest's eating habits or otherwise. To drive home her point, Calpernia not only informs Scout of her mistake, she slaps her. & nbsp; Prior to these events happening, Scout had never known that it was improper to make fun of or judge a guest of the house. In her innocence, she had never before realized this behavior was inappropriate. The hit as well as the scolding have removed her innocence.
In the beginning of the book Scout viewed the world in a very childish way. She thought that everything is fair and perfect and that nothing can go wrong. Scout played very childish games and didn't understand what things meant. For example she tried to get Boo Radley to come out because she thought that he was a monster. She didn't know that he just wanted to be alone. She also didn't explain her way of thinking and thought that everyone knew what she was talking about. For example she told Miss. Caroline that Walter was a Cunningham and she thought by just saying that, Miss. Caroline should have known what she meant. Scout saw the world as a play place so she took nothing serious.
Scout first learns to show compassion and tolerance by refusing to go to school because she hates Miss Caroline. Atticus tells her that, 'First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it'; (30). When Atticus told her this, she began to accept Miss Caroline as well as other people's differences and opinions.
When Aunt Alexandria is asked if Scout can have Walter Cunningham Jr. over for dinner again, Aunt Alexandra explains that since Walter is of lower status than them, he cannot come over. This makes Scout react in the following way: “I don’t know what I would’ve done, but Jem stopped me. He caught me by the shoulders, put his arm around me and led me sobbing in fury to his bedroom” (Lee 301). This kind of aggression shows Scout’s emotional confusion about societal discrimination, and she believes that she should be able to play with him regardless of societal status. Also, her physically aggressive reaction to discrimination shows that the only way she knows how to resolve problems is with physical aggression to things she does not understand. Additionally, Scout’s cousin Francis calls Atticus a “nigger-lover” multiple times. This causes Scout to react very aggressively as shown in the following passage: “This time, I split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth. My left impaired, I sailed in with my right…” (112). Scout’s physical response reveals that when the honor of someone she loves is at stake, she will defend it as best as she can even though she does not fully understand the accusations in the first place. Also, her reaction displays that she believes in Atticus and therefore, she believes in what he does. She has been exposed to the Tom Robinson case enough to understand that it is defending a black man, and the fact that she defends her dad’s actions shows that she believes it is right as well. Scout’s aggressive reactions to the discrimination she faces in her town demonstrate her moral
Many of the scouts learning experiences are in clearly insignificant scenes. Ultimately she must learn to respect the difference in behavior between vastly different people, especially when the behavior differs from the normal as radically as in the cases of Boo Radley, Mrs. Dubose, and the Cunninghams. So early in the novel, Scout in the novel, Scout is faced with some confusing experiences at school, where she confronts a teacher who doesn’t understand why she can read and where she meets Walter Cunningham. Later, Atticus explains to her that to judge a person, you must try to see things from that person’s point of view. You must learn to walk around in his skin.
Respect is something you earn by being a good person or doing something admirable. All of the citizens of Maycomb look up to Atticus and see him as a respectable person. Atticus is the character in the novel that has the most respect. He is a caring, loving father, the only member of Maycomb who will actually defend a negro, and he always displays respect for other people.
In the beginning, Scout was terrified to go past the Radley house let alone stand on his porch, but as she grows, she learns that there is not anything to be afraid of. She was naïve and believe the rumours. Throughout the novel, Scout has matured, grown, and learned many moral lessons. Atticus told Scout “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — […] until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (30, Lee) so she could be compassionate towards others. This time, she literally steps onto Boo’s porch where he had been isolated. As she stands on his porch Scout can imagine the world from Arthurs Radley’s point of view.
As a growing young girl, Scout was learning and experiencing things just like any other child would though growing up. She got older and was able to understand things a lot better as well as being able to apply lessons she had learned in her everyday life. She began to act slightly more grown up in situations such as Aunt Alexandria's dinner party. Scout forgot how much she despised her Aunt and how much she disliked dresses and joined the group of women in their conversations. Despite how she didn't want to "act more like a lady", she played along with her Aunt's "campaign to teach me (Scout) to be a lady" made an exception to please her Aunt and to create some peace between them. Upon hearing the news of Tom's death she concludes "if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I." This shows how Scout was beginning to act more ladylike for her Aunt.
Scout is the narrator of the whole book. She is the young daughter of a lawyer, Atticus. They live in Maycomb County with Scout's brother and Aunt in the 1930's. At the beginning of the book, she doesn’t know much about the prejudice of Southern America. She basically knows nothing about prejudice. She thinks every person is the same as her. But she finds that out at last. She also finally finds out that most people are nice. She just has to put herself in those people's situations. "As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much else left for us to learn, except possibly algebra" (Lee pg. #). This statement shows that she understands the prejudice and people's thinking, at last. That makes her life a lot different.
I think that over the course of this novel Scout comes out to be quite clever and forever learning new morals and ways of life. By the end of the novel she has learnt one key lesson. That she must see thing's from other people's views. She shows this in the book in the last chapter when she is standing on Boo Radley's front porch. Here is the quote on what she said: "Atticus was right.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Atticus tells Scout this morsel of advice that paves the way for her character development throughout the rest of the book. Scout, as young children often do, tends to not guard her speech or live with sympathy. As the novel progresses she takes Atticus’s words and applies them to the people around her. She begins to see the world as Boo Radley would see it, while on the steps of his front porch. Boo embodies the metaphor of a mockingbird, both innocent, pure creatures, marred by the elements around them. Scout learns not to immediately judge people, and once she learns this lesson, concludes, “‘When they finally saw him, why, he hadn’t done any of those things… Atticus, he was real nice.’ His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me. ‘Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”’ In modern times, it is too easy to assume things of someone you have never met or even known, and the results can oftentimes be hurtful. What seems like such a simple principle can be forgotten, and To Kill a Mockingbird reinforces this lesson in a powerful, yet slightly subtle way that even now has impacted our society.