Fear is a problem we all deal with in life. Fear is something that can be hard for some people to explain. But in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, fear is seen at many points throughout the book. This includes the children's fear of the Radley house and the rumors surrounding, The fear shown in the community during the Tom Robinson trial, and the fear that Tom discussed during the trial.
The Radley house and Boo Radley himself is a topic of interest and fear for the citizens of Maycomb. There are many rumors surrounding this house and its inhabitants mainly all started by the town gossip Miss Stephanie Crawford,”She once told me she woke up in the middle of the night and found Boo Radley standing over her.”(Lee 60). This shows how the townsfolk and children get their information on people through gossip that is mainly untrue but being young in age the children will believe anything that sounds true. The house is a thing of fear of the children,” The Radley place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description of was enough to make us behave for days.”(Lee 10) This shows how the children pictured the house as a kind of boogeyman making them fear it. This can be related to us in our younger age fearing
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He says one of the most thought-provoking lines of the book saying,”But you weren't in a fix—you testified that you were resisting Miss Ewell. Were you so scared that she'd hurt you, you ran, a big buck like you? No suh, I's scared I'd be in court, just like I am now. Scared of arrest, scared you'd have to face up to what you did? No suh scared I'd hafta face up to what I didn't do."(Lee 265) This shows how Tom doesn't fear the court because he’s scared of going to jail. To him, the part that scares him is having to own up to something he didn’t do. Knowing and fearing that he will be convicted because he is black and nothing will change that in the eyes of the
In the beginning of the novel, many falsehoods by the townspeople portray Boo Radley as a villain. These misleading opinions, very apparent in the adult community, are well illustrated by Miss Stephanie Crawford. She helps skew the children's impressions. Since Atticus, although often interrogated, does not want to create a breach of etiquette, he refuses to speak about the Radleys. Therefore, Jem receives most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighborhood scold, who insists she knows the whole truth about the Radleys. It is from Crawford that the children learn of Radley's scissor attack on his father and other such interesting rumors. Thus, Arthur Radley is labeled as a "hant", a possibly insane and dangerous man, and the "malevolent phantom” (Lee, pg. #). The latter comes from the fact that Radley had not been seen for many years, and was beli...
In Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" shows and teaches many lessons throughout the passage. Some characters that learn lessons in this passage are Scout, Jem, and Dill. Scout and Jems father Atticus, is taking a case that affects their lives in so many ways. They all learn new things throughout the story and it impacts their lives greatly. There are lots of things including the trial mostly that change the perspective of the world they live in. The kids are living in the Great Depression and it shows just how bad things really where. Scout, Jem, and Dill have experiences that force them to mature and gain new insight.
The narrator of the story, Scout Finch, is a curious young girl who is surprisingly mature for her age. When her older brother Jem, and shared friend Dill go to the intriguing Radley house to deliver a note to Boo Radley, whom Macomb County hasn’t seen in 15 years, Scout is
In the beginning of the story, Boo represents the unknown. The children wonder about Boo and his strange way of life, but really have no concept of who he is. At first, the children ask questions about Boo with regards to his "weird" living style. When this does not satisfy their curiosities, they make up games and stories about Boo which present him as being a monster. At one point, the children invade the Radley property in hopes of finding some clue which will better explain Boo's character
Harper Lee gives several points that make it evident in To Kill A Mockingbird that moral courage is greater than physical courage. She demonstrates this mainly by using a child’s point of view. Although there is some evidence of moral courage by adults in To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee decides to lead this evidence mainly by the children in the story.
Keeping a mouth shut doesn't hold the world shut out, it opens up new doors to things that would never be expected. In To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, there is are two character that is are an eternal mystery for the readers. Boo Radley, though the reader nor Scout and Jem know anything about the character all they want is to learn about him. Boo becomes a mysterious figure that many see as creepy, ghostly, but also reasonably wise. The one-time Boo appears the readers learn he is a sagacious, powerful man. Little do Scout and Jem know is that their father is also a rational being as well. The two crucial character in the story helps support the
To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is an excellent story that gives a profound meaning to many essences in life. The story showcases many cases of great qualities such as fear and courage. Also this book contains characters with impressive personalities, but in contrast there are many characters with poor qualities and personalities. Back in the 30s, when a negro faced a white man in a courtroom, the white man will win whether he is lying or not. This would give many negros tons of fear. In addition to this book, there is a lot of mystery within the story. For example, there is a very mysterious character in the story. In the form of courage, there are many situations where characters defy odds and take huge chances for little reward. There will be 3 subjects about qualities or feelings of fear and courage. They are about the Radley family, Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson.
Another very crucial point to the overall story is the mutual fascination between the children and Boo Radley (Arthur Radley). Boo constantly leaves objects (a watch, two soap dolls, a knife…etc) in the hollow of a tree on his property. Just as Boo does this, the children are constantly devising plans to look in the windows of the Radley house, to sneak into the back yard…etc. This was largely important to the story because it built upon the viewer’s opinion of the children, leading us to believe them having large capacity for imagination from their stories on Boo eating only squirrels and any cats he can get his hands on, and having them believe the stories as well! And all of these instances, the children’s stories, the fact that Boo never comes out of his house in sight of others, the stories of others concerning the Radley’s, the gifts in the tree hollow, lead us to believe Boo to be some sort of...
“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but just as much to stand up to your friends,” remarks J.K. Rowling in her book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Jem Finch, a boy from a small town in the South struggles to fully understand this idea. To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that real courage is standing up for others regardless of the what it may cost you. As a young boy, Jem’s understanding of courage and bravery are wrapped up in how others might view you, rather than who you really are inside. A little later he sees courage as having a clean record with others. Then Jem learns that courage is not giving up on someone or something even if you know you’re probably not going to win. Finally, Jem uses
Fear in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Fear is an important force in the novel because it is the cause of most people's actions. The main theme in the book is a result of fear. such as the Tom Robinson case and Boo Radley. Ignorance breeds fear which in turn breeds prejudice. Fear is infectious, and each character.
The author George Elliot once said “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Appearance can be very misleading, and you shouldn't prejudge the worth or value of something by its outward appearance alone. This philosophical idea has been included in many works of literature, including the timeless classic To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. The novel takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Many citizens of Maycomb tend to make judgements based on outward appearances alone. In the novel, Lee uses minor characters such as Boo Radley, Mrs. Dubose, and Tom Robinson to convey the book’s theme of prejudice.
The changes in the Radley house were dramatic from the beginning to the end because the book was constantly changing and new things would pop up or change in the story. One thing To notice about the Radley house is that the doors are only closed when it is cold or Boo is ill. Another thing that makes the place superstitious is that the shutters and doors on the house were always and only closed on Sunday. This maybe people believ that it was alien or that the house had a superstitious figure living in it and people thought that Boo didn't exist. The only one that didn't believe it was Scout because he was unsure of Boo's existence. Boo also carried the name of being the "malevolent phantom" of Maycomb. The house had changed before for instance the one time someone asked Atticus if the house ever had screen doors and it was before even Atticus was born.
To many people, courage means bravery and admiration. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, it teaches us there is a different type of courage – moral courage. Moral courage means doing the right thing even if it risks disoblige, reputation, punishment, or being laughed at. The theme of moral courage seems underlying at first in the book, but through the actions of some characters it becomes apparent. Atticus Finch a lawyer, widower, and father shows this theme by defending and guarding a black man. Another character that shows the theme of moral courage is Ms. Dubose, a frail old lady, who was a drug addict fighting a battle with morphine. Through the interactions with these characters, Scout and Jem learn that courage is different than they expect it to.
The novel of To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the timeline and era of the 1930s which was synonymous for the renowned Great Depression. A tragedy in which social and economic change was urgently required yet old traditional beliefs and racial hierarchies including the Jim Crow laws were kept firm in position. These beliefs along with other aspects including behavior are clearly represented in the novel which leads the reader to infer that the time and setting of To Kill a Mockingbird is the 1930s. There are various methods and pieces of evidence that we draw upon that leads to the conclusion that the setting of the novel takes place in the
The literary elements tone, voice and characterization help develop the theme that growing up is not easy and that it can be painful. Jem loses his innocence; there will be no one to take care of him when he grows up, so he needs to learn how to take care of himself in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. These elements highlight the conflict of Man vs. Self in to Kill A Mockingbird; repeatedly, Jem is struggling with the choice between being responsible for the children or saving himself. An example of this is when the children decide to go to the Radley property to see what Boo was doing. When Jem saw a shadow on the porch he got scared and “leaped off the porch and galloped towards us.