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Literature as the reflection of the society
Literature as the reflection of the society
Literature And Society
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To Kill a Mockingbird The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, depicted the harsh reality and injustice of the government system during the 1960’s. The author, Harper Lee, conveyed a story of a southern lawyer who defends an innocent colored man, named Tom Robinson, whom was found guilty because of the pigment of his skin, even though there was crucial evidence that proved his innocence. Harper Lee’s literary phenomenon, To Kill a Mockingbird, was influenced and based on actual events during her childhood. In the novel, the author provides symbols, gothic motifs, and distinct characters to display her ideas of innocence, justice, and fairness during this time. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the author illustrates characters and events that notably resemble …show more content…
Bob Ewell, a constant racial prejudice drunkard man, falsely alleged Tom Robinson, an innocent man, who was thoughtful and considerate to others, of raping his daughter in spite of his distaste for blacks. It was clearly shown that Mayella was not the victim of Tom Robinson’s but rather the victim of her own father during the trial. Atticus shows the jury and everyone else in the courthouse that Tom Robinson could not have harmed Mayella in the manner he was accused. Mayella had a black leav on the right side of her face, meaning the person who hit her would have to be left-handed. However, Tom Robinson could not have done this because of an injury incurred as a child. Tom injured his left arm when it was caught in cotton gin making his left arm twelve inches shorter and incapable of fully functioning. Atticus proved Mayella’s father was left-handed and exposed him as being …show more content…
The idea of killing a mockingbird as a sin represents the moral and innocent people (both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson) who are consumed and destroyed by evil. This equates to the dissension of southern society from the higher ground of social equality and fair justice. Boo Radley shows only pure kindness to Scout and Jem throughout the novel. Boo leaves them gifts in the hole of a tree, wraps Scout in a blanket during the fire, and most importantly, save their lives from the drunk Bob Ewell. Although showing nothing but kindness, Boo is battered from the abuse of his father and becomes the shadow in the dark. Like Boo Radley, Tom Robinson showed only kindheartedness to Mayella, which in the end cost him his life. Both caring and innocent characters were devastated by a disposition of
Boo Radley is more subtle in showing how he represents the mockingbird, as he is more of a quiet, shy character. Boo was confined to his home but is still aware of the people around him. The children view him more as a superstition than a person in the beginning of the novel but Scout realizes just how good of a person Boo really is when he saves her and Jem from Mr. Ewell. Tom Robinson represented the killing of the mockingbird. He was looked down upon by most of the community but he was an innocent man who had no intention of harming anyone, yet he was still convicted of the crime and sentenced to
It teaches them to not be prejudice and get to know a person before making a judgement. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley, was frowned upon by many people in the Maycomb community. He was rumoured to have been locked in the basement by his father and older brother after an incident involving scissors. Though never seen stepping outside his house, he intrigues yet also frightens Scout, Jem and their friend Dill. After different events in the novel, the children come to find that Boo Radley is not intimidating, but a man who due to his father, is emotionally damaged. Miss Maudie, a neighbour of the Finch’s, explains to Scout that "Mockingbirds don 't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don 't eat up people 's gardens, don 't nest in corncribs, they don 't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That 's why it 's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The mockingbird is a symbol for innocent people, who are judged for no reason. Like the mockingbird, Boo Radley has people prejudiced against him when he is an innocent man. By using this metaphor, the reader is able to understand the link between Boo Radley and the innocence and morality. As well as the mockingbird, he also symbolises goodness. By secretly watching over Scout and Jem, he protects them from later being attacked by Bob Ewell, a symbol of evil. When Jem and Scout begin to trust Boo, they are paying the highest tribute they could pay him.
It is acknowledged by many readers that there are many different social classes in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. One of the most obvious social class distinctions is between skin colors, which can be seen through this novel. Since most readers’ focal point of this novel is on the distinctions between skin colors, they are unlikely to pay attention to the difference in social class within the white community. Lee wants to illustrate a contrast in white society and how characters behave differently through the uses of character foil, characterization, and the theme of society inequality in order to emphasize the differences in social classes.
When the children were given toy guns for Christmas from their uncle, Atticus tells them that is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because mockingbirds are innocent creatures that only make pretty music and do not harm anything. Boo Radley is shown throughout the story as a gentile man when he covers Scout up with a blanket the night she was waiting on the sidewalk for the fire burning from Miss Maudie’s house to be put out. He also leaves the children presents in the knothole and saves their lives when Bob Ewell tries to kill them. His bad reputation comes from the idea that all people who isolate themselves from their communities are horrible, violent people who need to be shut off from everyone for their own safety, when in reality we are left to guess that he detaches himself from Maycomb because of some form of social anxiety or dislike of socializing. The comparison of him to a mockingbird is prominent at the end of the book, when Heck Tate is explaining to Atticus that it was Boo who killed Bob Ewell, and not Jem. He tells him that it would be best to pretend that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife because sharing the actual story would bring Boo into the spotlight, which Scout compares to being a sin as bad as killing a mockingbird. Tom Robinson also represents a Mockingbird because he is just as innocent as one. During the time when Mayella and Bob
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee sheds light upon the controversy of racism and justice in his classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The notion of equality in accordance with the law and the pursuit of justice are hindered by racial discrimination. The essence of human nature is pondered. Are we inclined to be good or in the wrath of evil? The novel reflects on the contrasting nature of appearance versus reality.
In the case of Scout and Jem, they believed that Boo Radley, who is an outcast of Maycomb, possesses a horrific appearance, and that he is a savage, "he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained." However, as the story progresses, it is revealed that Boo is actually a kind-hearted person who has not done anybody wrong, but unfortunately, he was ruined by the hands of his family. Thus, Boo is an example of a mockingbird, as mentioned by Atticus. The disclosing of the character of Boo demonstrates Scout and Jem's loss of innocence. They can no longer see Boo as a mysterious threat in their life, instead they saw Boo as a person. "...he's crazy..but Atticus I swear to God he ain't ever harmed us, he coulda cut my throat...but he mend my pants instead..." In a way, Boo serves as a symbol of the transition of Scout and Jem's maturity, as the kids exhibit their ability to empathize with
In the beginning of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch is a good-hearted, innocent five-year-old who has no experience with the evils of the world. However, throughout the novel, Scout has her first contact with the evils of the world in the form of prejudice. Arthur “Boo” Radley — one of the two cases — is a harmless human-being who falls victim to this evilness. Regarded as an evil person, Boo is the “ghost” of Maycomb and is used as the scapegoat for anything bad which happens. However, growing up in the house of Atticus Finch, Scout learns that humanity is evil at times, but there is also a lot of good humanity has to offer. Not only is there good, but what may seem evil at the time, if approached with an outlook
In Harper Lee’s fictional novel To Kill A Mockingbird, an African American field hand is falsely accused of raping a white women. Set in the 1930’s in the small town of Monroeville Alabama, Addicus Finch an even handed white attorney tries to shed a light on the injustice of this innocent black man’s conviction. Atticus feels that the justice system should be color blind, and he defends Tom as an innocent man, not a man of color.
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
In 1960, a novel was written to outline injustices and racism against those who were innocent, though unfairly judged because of social expectations and prejudiced beliefs. This novel not only presented these issues, but is also considered a revolutionary piece of literature, still being read by many people today, more than 50 years later. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, has caused some controversy about the intents of the book and the way certain people or groups are presented. Whether To Kill a Mockingbird as a narrative outshines the issue it presents is a debatable argument. However, I believe that the narrative of the novel supports the concerns exhibited for numerous reasons. In what follows, some of these are presented: the historical
When Bob Ewell came up to Atticus and spat in his face it showed great disrespect towards him, but he was intelligent enough to not step down to his level. He tells Jem “I destroyed his credibility at that trail. He had to have some kind of comeback. So if spitting in my face and threatening me saved Mayella Ewell a beating, that is something I will gladly take” (Lee 249). Atticus could have responded back to Bob Ewell but he did not because he knew that Bob Ewell needed to let out his frustration and anger in some type of way, and Atticus did not want Mayella Ewell to be harmed. Atticus’s intelligent is proven to be extremely helpful during Tom Robbinson’s trial. Atticus proves that Mayella’s injuries could only have been caused by a left-handed man; Tom’s left arm was crippled. Atticus asks ‘Will you write your name?”, Bob Ewell writes his name and then the Judge says “you’re left-handed” (Lee 201). His intelligence helped him prove that Tom couldn't have hurt Mayella. Atticus instigates that Bob Ewell might have been the one that hurt
Scout seeing Tom’s trial and learning that african americans are unaccepted. Witnessing Tom, an innocent man getting killed and never raped Mayella. Scout learning that Boo Radley is not a “malevolent phantom.” (8) Growing up seeing these things shaped Scout into a more mature young woman. There are common themes and ideas in the two storylines. The common ideas and themes are that Tom and Boo are mockingbirds, also that exploration of the moral nature of human beings. Exploring whether people are essentially good or essentially evil.To elaborate, both men are really mockingbirds, but are looked at as evil in many people’s eyes. “Mockingbirds do not do one thing but sing their hearts for us, that’s why it’s a sin To Kill A Mockingbird.” (90) Although this quote does not mention their specific names, it associates with them. As stated before, Boo is considered a mockingbird because he meant no harm in society and wants to help the children. Boo not having any barbaric intentions towards society, therefore, it would be a sin to harm him. The same statement would be fetched at Tom, he is an innocent man pronounced guilty. As he tries escaping jail, he was shot 17 times. It was a sin to harm him, he only wanted to help Mayella Ewell with a job at home, and turns it into a full scandal claiming and accusing Tom Robinson of raping a white woman. It is a sin to hurt someone who
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, injustice is a main theme that is reflected towards many characters. To Kill a Mockingbird, is a novel written by Harper Lee and published in the nineteen-sixties. Many characters in the story are treated unfairly in society due to racial or prejudicial attitudes. Overall these characters are innocent victims of injustice. Atticus, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson are considered to be mockingbirds in the novel. A mockingbird was defined as a bird that did nothing wrong, but sang beautiful music for us to hear. These characters did nothing wrong and were treated unfairly in their town. In this different society, there are many factors that have had an influence on people’s perceptions towards others.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and oppressive events that actually took place in the south during the time period in which the novel is based. In addition to actual historical events, events and examples from the book that clearly illustrate the overpoweringly high levels of prejudice that were intertwined in the everyday thinking of the majority of the characters in the book supports the fact that Tom Robinson never stood a chance of getting a fair trial.
When Lee was ten years old, there was a case of a group of boys who were falsely charged of raping two white women. This affected Lee by leaving a dark impression on her mind (Why Did Harper Lee Write “To Kill A Mockingbird”). At the time, Lee wanted these boys to have justice and equality. She was an innocent young girl and understood that the case was wrong. This relates to her novel To Kill a Mockingbird because the characters have an American dream of equality. In the story Tom Robinson is accused of rapping a white 16 year old girl. He did not commit the crime, but was falsely convicted and killed because of the color of his skin. “Lee criticises the 'dream's' ideas about equality through the use of social prejudice and the Tom Robinson case” (“The American Dream”). The way Harper Lee incorporates the American dream into To Kill a Mockingbird contrasts to other authors and how they incorporate the American