To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and A Separate Peace by John Knowles were two novels full of deception but in different ways. To Kill a Mockingbird was a novel with deceptive actions rather than deceptive character builds. The actions were necessary in the story to prove the honesty in other characters. Mrs. Dubose and Mr. Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird were characters based on deception towards the children, Jem and Scout. Miss Gates was never really open about her views on persecution and deceived Scout in the process. A Separate Peace has a deceptive character. The character Gene seemed almost based on deception towards every other character in the novel. Deception is the most important theme in A Separate Peace and To Kill a Mockingbird …show more content…
Dubose was not very important in the grand scheme of things but her actions towards the children taught them a lesson. Near the end of Mrs. Dubose's life, she made Jem read to her for varied amounts of time even though Jem did not want to because he felt as though Mrs. Dubose was not a very nice person. It was told to Jem later that, “Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict” (Lee 147), and that Jem reading to her was how, “she meant to break herself of it before she died” (Lee 148). This dishonest deception in the novel was how Jem came to realize that what his actions with Mrs. Dubose were not a punishment but a safe haven for Mrs. Dubose. She may have deceived Jem but it was for a good reason. It would have made her death a lot harder on Jem if he would have know about her addiction and how his actions were affecting …show more content…
Deception involving the accident of Phineas falling out of the tree was because of Gene and what he would or would not say about the event that took place up in the tree. “I couldn’t make the last confession” (Knowles 162), is what Gene said close to the end of the novel. Gene deceived Phineas about the accident every time it was brought up by not telling him the truth about how he really fell. Gene was very deceptive which caused his relationship with Phineas very difficult in Genes mind.
In To Kill a Mockingbird and A Separate Peace, deception was the main and focused theme because of how the characters reacted. In A Separate Peace, Gene was the most deceptive character and To Kill a Mockingbird had plenty of deceptive events that took place and the reaction rather than the characters. The characters Gene, Mrs. Dubose, Mr. Radley and Aunt Alexandra were all very deceptive in the novels because of the situations they were put in and how they
When Gene pushes Phineas out of the tree in a burst of jealous rage, he gains this profound meaning of friendship. Even after the incident, Phineas doesn’t blame Gene for pushing him out of the tree. Instead, Phineas chooses to believe that a gust of wind had jostled the branch causing his fall. This is the story that he tells people and he believes himself. When other students get suspicious of what really happened, they hold a mock trial in attempts to find the truth. Phineas continues to lie for his friend and conjures an elaborate story to clear Gene’s name. This evidently shows that Phineas would much rather lie to others and to himself, to protect the good name of Gene.
As the story continues, Gene starts to believe that Phineas is trying to sabotage him. He thinks that Phineas is doing this so that he can be better at everything. However, in reality, Phineas is honestly just trying to have fun with Gene. “You and Phineas are even already. You hate him for beating that school swimming record, but so what?
In the words of Joseph Stalin, “One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.” The death of Finny was a tragedy, but was one that probably could not have been avoided. In the book, there was sufficient evidence that strengthened the possibilities of Finny’s death. Those possibilities did not rid Gene of all consequence. It was partially his fault. Those possibilities, however, suggest that Finny’s life would not have been spared had Gene had a stronger identity. If Gene had had a stronger sense of self, then he might have not jounced the limb. Sufficient evidence suggested that Phineas would have been killed in the army, broken his leg a second time from a lack of caution, and fallen from the tree for the branch would have broken.
Gene is probably the most obvious to blame for part of Phineas’ death. Gene clearly feels guilty, that is why he returns to the tree fifteen years after the fact, for some sort of closure. As Gene and Finny were about to jump from a tree branch into the river together, Gene shook the branch causing Phineas to fall into the river unexpectedly and hurt his leg. Later on, when Phineas re-injured his leg and was having it set in a routine operation, he passed away. The doctor said that it was p...
Honesty being one of the topics in To Kill A Mockingbird appears in multiple major characters, Mrs. Dubose, Atticus and Tom Robinson are just a few, each one of these characters shows a different theme connected to the topic of honesty. Readers learn a lot more about not just honesty but other themes and can take what they have learned and apply it to the real world. Much like Scout does throughout the book readers grasp a further understanding of themes and the problems past and future societies
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is centered on the moral values and ideas of the people in Maycomb and how they react to things that go against their normal beliefs. All of the characters have their own senses of what is right or wrong, good or bad, etc. Aunt Alexandra's moral values are expressed throughout the book, especially in her feelings through her brother's case, but in public are confined to the indifferent and self-aware values of the county. While Aunt Alexandra has her set of displayed ideas and values shaped by the people in Maycomb, there are some hints to a hidden sense of justice in her throughout the story that gives her a sense of compassion for those discriminated in her world.
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.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the novel explains greatly about a famous phrase that starts with “Don’t judge a book by its cover. People aren’t who they seem to be because most people have qualities that they hide/fake about. This theme is the most significant aspect in the novel. Boo Radley is a character that does a perfect example of hiding his lifestyle the people in Maycomb heard rumors about him being a monster. Atticus is also another great example. In the beginning of the book, Jem refuses to eat dinner until his dad, Atticus, promises him to play football. When Atticus does not tolerate to do that promise, Jem calls/consider him a boring dad. Mrs. Dubose is considered to be a cranky lady, but she is a whole different person. Out of all
In the novel, To Kill Mockingbird some misunderstanding with children and adults were involved with some misunderstanding. Some adults think children nowadays don't know we are advancing. Towards time children are now advancing in many ways. We have now known and understanding life faster and seeing it easier in life towards time. Children now know easier ways to learn more easier with sometimes no help of a teacher as you can know they are the ones that teach us.
Do you not believe we need more compassion and tolerance in the world? Why can we not be like Atticus, Jem or Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee? These characters show great compassion and tolerance throughout the novel despite the society they live in. They have the courage to stand up for what they believe in.
Did you ever want to know what would be a great book to read? Well here’s a book that is about honesty. The book is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. One of the characters of this book is the Narrator (Scout) she’s learning many life lessons throughout the book but major ones at the end, Scout has a older brother named Jem and they get along with each other , her father is Atticus the best lawyer in town. Not because he wins every case but because he fights for what’s right. To Kill A Mockingbird should still be taught because it shows people what is right or wrong to do.
Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee the main conflict that arose most often was discrimination. Of course, there were others throughout the novel, but discrimination sticks out the most, especially through the use of characters. Two main characters Lee used to portray discrimination was through Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson. Both of these characters played an important role when discrimination was brought up, which will be further explained below.
Chinese novelist Mo Yan once said the following: “One of the biggest problems in literature is the lack of subtlety.” But trends tend to prove otherwise. In Harper Lee’s novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, which is often regard the best american novel ever written, subtlety is found rarely throughout. Whether it be in her characterization or allegory she fails to leave the reader with a shred of doubt about what or who she is talking about, through her incessant circumlocution, if it can be called that, she delivers a vivid and redundant recount of events through the eyes of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. If a section of the story (which encompass numerous almost unrelated shorter stories) were to be taken and examined, The Trial (chapters 17-22) would prove the most fruitful, and so it will serve as the subject of this essay.
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.
At the beginning and the first chapters of the book, Gene shows a very weak character accepting everything that’s offered to him by Phineas, not considering any other facts like his studies or anything he’s responsible of doing like the night he spent with Phineas in the Ocean when he couldn’t study for his trigonometry exam and almost missed it. Gene lacks self control until the last chapters of the book unlike Phineas who has a total control of himself and is pleased with the way he lives his life. Gene complains about the way of his life with Phineas and sometimes thinks Phineas is affecting his life in a bad way consciously whereas it’s his own fault not wording his thoughts to Phineas. Gene is never sure himself in many occasions and what his own properties are. He always thinks Phineas is good at everything and doesn’t give a second thought to what he is himself, a very successful student with a fine ability in sports. He becomes aware of his academic abilities when Phineas tells him s...