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Important lessons from killing a mockingbird
To kill a mockingbird lessons the children learned
Don't judge a book by its cover
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A theme from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” This is an important lesson learned in the book. It also involves us in our world today with how we shouldn’t judge others based off the little information we know. When the trial starts in chapter 16, an example is when Tom was accused of being the murder because he was black. They are judging Tom by his skin color that he was born with, not by who the person he truly is. Another example is when Jem and Scout thought Boo Radley was a bad person. The children judged Boo even when they hadn’t even met him. This could also go with the quote, “Don’t judge others until you have walked in their shoes” (pages 13-16). Jem and Scout didn’t know Boo at all besides
It is very common among people to misjudge others prematurely, which are changed once the individual being judged is gotten to know better. Once, Walt Whitman said, “Be curious, not judgmental”. This can be a lesson to a vast number of persons, not excluding Jem and Scout. They are two of the most important characters from the most fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which takes place in the Great depression, in Maycomb, Alabama. Two of the most misunderstood characters in the whole book are Dolphus Raymond, the town drunkard, and Atticus Finch the town lawyer as well as Jem and Scouts “boring” father. Jem and Scout both misjudge Dolphus Raymond and their own father, Atticus, fate decides to oppose them with two events the trial of Tom Robinson, and the disposition of Tim Johnson, and they are forced to change their absurd opinions.
Living in Puerto Rico, I remember when I, being less than 10 years old, used to provoke my brother (9 years older than me) to get him mad for childish enjoyment. He would get so mad that we would engage in physical fist fights. My mom would furiously snap at my older brother, even calling him abusive. I knew I started, but I could not say that I did to avoid the punishment. Enraged, he would stare at me and call me out without succeeding in convincing my mother. It was then, when he would conclusively yell either “Of course, because I’m the black one,” or “Yeah, he’s the whiter one. That’s why!” Even though, I am, indeed, of a lighter skin tone than he is, that was not the reason why he was blamed. For my mother, the reason was the age difference
“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is what been told around and what most people still don’t do. How we decide how something is worth by just looking at it without getting to know someone or something even closer. John Steinbeck wrote a book in 1937 about two farm workers moving place to place trying to find their happiness. By going through things together and keeping each other’s hope by reminding one another about their motivation on even trying and ways how the farm workers, Lenny and George are more different than similar. Lenny and George are more different because of their maturity, their attitude towards Curley’s wife, and behavior.
Today’s job seeker has tough competition. In the textbook reading “Judging by the Cover” by Bonny Gainley, she argues that job seekers ought to be careful when they make personal choices that initially will affect their chances of entering the workplace. People have a need to be accepted by others just the way they are, but many of us were taught as adolescence that we should not judge a book by its cover, yet people judge others solely on their personal appearances. That goes for businesses as well, “[t]he bottom line is that businesses exist to make money. Whether it seems fair or not, generally employers do care about the personal appearances of the people they hire because those people represent the business to its customers” (5). Maybe
First impressions of people are often lasting impressions, especially in the minds of children. Many times these impressions, aided by misunderstanding and prejudgment, cause unjust discrimination against an individual. To kill a Mockingbird depicts the themes of misunderstanding and prejudice that portray Arthur (Boo) Radley as a villain. Through the progressive revelation of Radley's character, the children realize that their negative impressions and fear of him were unfounded. Through gradual stages of change, from total misunderstanding of Boo, to a realization of an error in judgment, to a reevaluation followed by a change of heart, to a growing trust and acceptance of Boo, and finally to an appreciation of his true character, Jem's, Scout's, and Dill's impressions of Radley are dramatically altered.
Have you ever wondered what life was like for a maid in the 1960’s? Well, the book The Help, written by Kathryn Stockett, gives the reader a somewhat fictional and interesting view on the lives of maids who work for white women. The book follows the points of view of three different women, Ms. Phelan, a white women, Minny and Aibileen who are both black. Many things are happening in the town of Mississippi that they live in, like how many people were building bathrooms for the blacks because they did not want to use the same one. Or how the blacks were being treated horribly. Ms. Phelan decides to write a book about what it’s like to for black maids to work for white women. She was inspired to
In the book “look me in the eyes” by John Elder Robison, he talks about his life with Asperger’s and the challenged he faced as a kid. The first thing I noticed when reading the book that John Elder had a hard time looking people in the eye. Which is very common with kids with Asperger’s. During the time her was a student teachers didn’t know what this was so they handled the situation differently by yelling at him trying to force him to look them in the eye. If I was the teacher I would go about this situation differently I would try to figure out why he can’t look me in the eyes. By yelling at the student the teacher may be causing them to have anxiety which can cause any student to want to look away. Students sometimes think if a situation
Sometimes, people discriminate one thing, but strongly oppose the discrimination of another thing. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, this issue is very much expressed throughout the story. This thought-provoking story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during a time when there’s a rape trial against a falsely accused African American named Tom Robinson. There is also a discrimination, of sorts, towards a man named Boo Radley, by three young children named Jeremy “Jem” Finch, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Charles “Dill” Baker Harris. Both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are similar in their own ways through their inherent goodness.
Growing up in a prejudiced environment can cause individuals to develop biased views in regard to both gender and class. This is true in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, where such prejudices are prevalent in the way of life of 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. The novel is centered around the trial of a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The narrator, a young girl named Scout, is able to get a close up view of the trial because her father is defending Tom Robinson, the defendant. The aura of the town divided by the trial reveals certain people's’ prejudices to Scout, giving her a better perspective of her world. Throughout the story, Aunt Alexandra’s behaviors indirectly teach Scout that prejudice is a disease with deep and far reaching roots.
Throughout the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird", written by Harper Lee, published in 1960, characters Scout Finch and brother Jem Finch learn many important lessons. Three of them being, that the justice system in Maycomb; their home town, is not fair, to not judge anybody without walking in their shoes first and last of all that racism breeds hate and unhappiness.
Atticus teaches Scout to think about things in other people's perspectives after her first day of school. "First of all,” he said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot 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.” (22). When Jem and Scout recieved air rifles, Atticus tells them they can kill any birds they want, but never kill a mockingbird as it is a sin. “Your father’s right. 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 is a sin to kill a mockingbird.”[Maudie to Scout](74-75). This can be seen as symbolic, that mockingbirds actually represents innocence. This means that to never kill a mockingbird means to never destroy or take advantage of people who are innocent and weaker than you. At the end of the novel, when Bob Ewell is killed by Boo Radley after he attacks Jem and Scout, Atticus wants to say that Jem killed Bob Ewell in self defense to clear his name. The Sheriff, Heck Tate, refuses and says that their story will be that Bob tripped and fell on his own knife, killing himself in the process. The reason the Sheriff says this is because if people know that Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell, he would be treated like a hero, which would be devastating for a recluse like Boo. Atticus does not want to do this because he believes that his children will lose respect for him. “If this thing’s hushed up it’ll be a simple denial to Jem of the way I’ve tried to raise him… if I connived at something like this, frankly I couldn’t meet his eyes…”(232). Scout then reassures Atticus, saying “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”(234). This show that Scout has absorbed the lesson about
Atticus is a great leader of his family, teaching his children morals and life lessons. He makes them better people by showing them how to deal with the trial and people making fun of them. Atticus teaches Scout how to respect other people. First, Scout learns to respect Atticus, then to respect "Boo" Radley, and finally to respect a whole race of people, negroes. He makes it a common practice to live his life as he would like his children to live theirs, and thus displays the attributes of an honest, respectable, and kind man. Throughout the trial process, Atticus shows Jem and Scout that true courage is standing up for what you believe in and that all human beings, despite their race, deserve respect. "You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." This quote shows that Atticus wants his children to get along with people, and so other people will respect them for whom they are.
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.
Atticus, the father of Jem and Scout, was right when he said, ¨you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.¨ Scout realizes that Boo Radley is not who everyone rumors him out to be. Scout learns that you need to spend time with a person to find out who he truly is. She learns this after walking Boo Radley home after the disturbing experience the Finch kids had been in. Scout finally understood what life looked like from Boo Radley's perspective when she is standing with him on his front porch. Also, when Scout talks to Atticus at the end of the book he shows her how she has turned into a wonderful young lady. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee develops the theme that believing rumors will lead you to false assumptions unless you have walked in that person's shoes through imagery, characterization, and point of view.
In To Kill a Mockingbird the main protagonists Jem and Scout finch father is assigned the case of a black man Tom Robinson who has been wrongfully accused of raping a white woman by the name of Mayela Ewell. The theme you shouldn’t judge someone until you walk around in their shoes is mostly evident in the movie. Although the theme it is a sin to kill a mocking bird, it isn’t presented as well as the other themes. The theme it is a sin to kill a mocking bird is more apparent in the novel than in the movie because the novel focuses more on boo Radley than the movie did. The theme you shouldn’t judge someone until you have walked around in their shoes is present in the novel but isn’t really focused on like in the movie.