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Now and then character analysis
123 essays on character analysis
123 essays on character analysis
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Kelley Armstrong once said, “I want you to have big dreams, big goals. I want you to strive to achieve them. But I don't want to see you beating yourself up every time you make a mistake.” This relates to the relationship that Scout and Miss Maudie have in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. Some people may think that Miss Maudie didn't have a significant purpose to the story or that she was simply there as a minor character. This is not true. Multiple times throughout the book, Miss Maudie helps Scout through some tough times with insightful counsel and advice about how to view other people, no matter their status; the help and guidance Scout receives helps her get through some tough situations and makes her a better person. The first time we hear Miss Maudie near the beginning of the book, Scout mentions that during the summer Jem and Dill had excluded her from their activities. Without anything else to do that evening she went over to chat with Miss Maudie on her porch. While talking, Scout brings up the topic of “Boo” Radley. Miss Maudie shares her knowledge of him (she is quic...
During our lives, we develop morals and values through life experiences. They can be influenced by our society and the people we surround ourselves with. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates courage, social inequality and prejudice through the characters and events in the book. We experience life lessons through the protagonist Scout Finch as she develops her own values. This is displayed through a variety of life lessons and values throughout the novel.
This highlight's how prevalent and ordinary racist discrimination was. The way Scout felt it was wrong to be talking to Mr Raymond also indicates how he was omitted from the community. Racial prejudice divides the town and allows people to be excluded and discriminated against. When Miss Maudie says, "You are too young to understand it." she is discriminating against Scout's age. The use of this cliché illustrates how common it was for adults to not explain things to children because they assumed they would not understand. It also displays how age discrimination was something that happened regularly. Scout often has different views on topics and if she was included in more conversations people within the community could see things from a different vantage point. In this way To Kill A Mockingbird outlines how gender, age and racial prejudice impacts individuals and communities in a damaging
"Let the dead bury the dead." This quote from the Classic American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, sums up what we will be talking about today. My understanding of this quote is that what's done is done, one man is dead for no good reason, but the one who killed him is with him in death. No harm, no foul. But is this really right? The first thing we need to look at is the actual problem, then the question posed. So without further ado, I present my essay:
The Ideas of Hypocrisy, Prejudice and Dignity in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird In Maycomb, the town in which Harper Lee's book 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is set, hypocrisy and prejudice are prevalent in most of its citizens. Although many of the characters morals are admirable, you soon realise that what people say and what people do are not always related. Mrs Grace Merriweather falls into this category. She is seen to be 'the most devout lady in Maycomb' and her eyes 'always filled with tears when she considered the oppressed' yet she is just as prejudiced to the black citizens or 'darky's' as the majority of the ladies of the 'Maycomb Alabama Methodist Episcopal Church South' are. Mrs Merriweather appears to be the most hypocritical character in this chapter.
How far would you go to do the right thing if it had the potential to hurt you in the long run? In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, that was a question that the characters had to ask themselves when they knew they had to do the right thing but did not know how far they should go. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates moral courage throughout the book by using the literary elements such as conflict and characterization.
Long ago, everyone lived in harmony. Then everything changed when people from Europe took slaves from Africa which ended up in America. Only Harry S Truman, angry from lynching events, could stop inequality in the 1930s. But when he was needed the most, his term hadn’t started yet. “I believe in brotherhood….of all men before the law….if any (one) class or race can be permanently set apart from, or pushed down below the rest in politics and civil rights, so may any other class or race……and we say farewell to the principles on which we count our safety…….The majority of our Negro people find but cold comfort in our shanties and tenements. Surely, as free men, they are entitled to something better than this” (Harry Truman and Civil Rights). To
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.
...if she has instances where scout is hurt or needing help she is always their to support her. Miss Maudie does not ridicule and Judge Scout like Alexandra does instead she creates a supportive environment for scout to thrive and become a modern women.
Children look up to their elders for wisdom and advice. They rely on someone experienced and with authority for guidance on how to live their lives. However, sometimes the people who are accountable for youth mislead them; they may have good intentions, but are not mature enough to exemplify their values and morals, or they simply are ignorant. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Aunt Alexandra plays a negative role: she is a proper, southern lady with a strict code of behaviour and etiquette, but is too closed-minded and obstreperous to change her ways or view the world from others’ perspectives. Calpurnia takes on the position of a positive role model by disciplining the children in the Finch household. Miss Maudie takes on the role of a motherly companion, who shares warmth and words of wisdom with Jem and Scout Finch.
Boo Radley is thought to be a malevolent, soulless, deceitful person, but he proves to be a caring, good-natured person. In Chapter 1, Jem offers his perception of Boo Radley to Scout and Dill: " ‘Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time’ " (16). Jem perceives Boo Radley as being a “monster” instead of being a man. Jem comes to this conclusion despite having never even seen Boo Radley in person. Jem’s understanding of Boo Radley is based on the rumors that he has heard about him. In Chapter 8, after the fire at Miss Maudie’s house, Scout notices that she was wrapped in a blanket that she did not have with she left the house. Scout asks Atticus who was the person that put the blanket around her. Atticus tells Scout, "Boo Radley. You were so busy watching the fire you didn't know it when he...
Clearly, Miss Maudie Atkinson proves very influential in Scout’s life. Scout learns many lessons and morals from her, which ultimately help her become a better person. The lessons and morals Scout acquires provide her with many of the tools necessary for success in life and for improving her character. Among many things, Scout learns from Miss Maudie that she should not judge people or believe rumors, act humbly about any skills she possesses, and always maintain a good and positive attitude. However, not only Scout can learn from Miss Maudie. All individuals can take a lesson from Miss Maudie and become a better person in the process.
Black and white, right and wrong; do decisions that simple and clear even exist? Does a decision ever mean gaining everything without giving anything up? Many characters in To Kill A Mockingbird are forced to make difficult, heart wrenching decisions that have no clear right answer. Harper Lee presents many of these important decisions in To Kill A Mockingbird as ethical dilemmas, or situations that require a choice between two difficult alternatives. Both of these alternatives have unpleasant aspects and question morals and ethics. A person is put in an awkward position, with their mind saying contradicting things. These dilemmas are presented in many different ways. The decisions in the beginning of the book are simple and can be solved quite easily, yet they are symbolic of later decisions. Other dilemmas place adult-like decisions in the lap of a child. One dilemma concerned a man burdened with the strict traditions of the South. Then there are the two biggest dilemmas, Atticus' decision to take the case and Heck Tate's choice between truth and the emotional well being of a man. Lee's ingenious storyline is established by these crucial and mentally arduous choices faced by the characters.
Morality is knowing the difference between right and wrong.The mind chooses what makes sense and what does not, not right and wrong.In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird,uses the setting to show how the characters behave and interact with each other. The setting in the story affects the characters she does this so she can show how people behaved in that period of time. She also shows multiple conflicts on top of each other but connects in the end.
No matter where or who a person is, they are always learning something, either about themselves or about the environment around them. In Harper Lee's heartwarming novel titled To Kill A Mockingbird, the main characters Jem and Scout grow and mature throughout the story as they learn both more about themselves and the world around them. As the story progresses, they learn many life lessons including those about prejudice, people and how they have been categorized and judged, and, last but not least, gender issues.
He states, “Scout, you never really understand people until you consider things from their point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (39). This means how sometimes unless you are someone you can’t fully understand them and how they feeling and behaving. Atticus explains to Scout that caring about others will help Scout understand them more. It will help Scout further understand why something may be happening. Also, Miss Maudie also explains how the Mockingbirds in the trees help further understand life lessons. Miss Maudie states, “Mockingbirds don’t do nothing but make music for us to enjoy… they don’t do one thing but sing our hearts out for us” (119). This means how in life, people shouldn’t naturally hate someone or something. People need to be able to care and have empathy for others. People in the book become the characteristic of mockingbirds. For example, Boo Radley. Boo doesn’t do anything to annoy or harm people, but the children decide to