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Compare and contrast killing a mockingbird with another novel
Similarities and differences between to kill a mockingbird
To kill a mockingbird analysis
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Would you rather read a boring novel that contains static characters or would you want to read one that takes you on a journey through a dynamic character's life? In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout's personality greatly changes as she matures and learns more about life. This novel takes place in the 1930's in a typical southern society. Once Atticus chooses to defend Tom Robinson, a black man, Scout faces many challenges and she discovers numerous facts about life. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Scout grows up and learns that one should not be prejudiced toward others, the true meaning of courage, and that it is wrong to harm the innocent and kind.
At the conclusion of the novel, Scout understands that you should not be prejudiced toward anyone. After Scout beat him up, Jem invited Walter Cunningham to their house for lunch. While they were eating he put molasses all over his meat and vegetables. Instantaneously, Scout became outraged and she criticized him. In this act she was prejudice because she quickly condoned his actions without thinking about the situation from his point of view. Walter's family is poor and he barely gets any food to eat so he acted this way. Atticus tells her of her wrongdoings and says this: "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)." Atticus tells Scout prejudging someone is wrong and that to truly profile someone and understand their actions you must look at their life from their point of view. Furthermore the white townspeople are prejudice against Tom Robinson. They see that he is black and they automatically assume he is guilty. They prejudge him and do not even care about the evidence Atticus presents. They also do not take into account Tom's testimony; they have already made up their minds on the verdict. Scout sees how Tom's guiltiness affects Jem; Jem is in tears and he cannot believe that this happened. Scout sees that prejudice is wrong because it caused Tom (an innocent man) to be convicted and eventually die. Scout discovers that prejudice is wrong because it harms people and hurts them emotionally.
Through Atticus's teachings Scout realizes what courage truly is. Atticus stated that Mrs. Dubose was the bravest person he ever knew because of what she did before she died.
Scout’s family is completely against racism and prejudice. In the town of Maycomb, prejudice is a disease, but Jem, Scout, and Dill are immune to this illness because of the people who raise them. For example, when Cecil and Francis tell Scout that it is a disgrace for Atticus to defend Tom, even though Francis is Scouts cousin, also when Scout and Jem hear the verdict of Tom’s case they both cry and are angry about the sentence while the rest of the town is happy. Scout doesn’t want Walter Cunningham to come over for dinner because she thinks that he is a disgrace. For all of these reasons it shows that the Scout, Jem and Atticus must not be racist or prejudiced.
Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.
On her inevitable death bed, Mrs. Dubose is honest with herself, and the Finch children, which leads to Scout’s realization of how she must act: “We could do nothing to please her. Lee uses Atticus’ good nature and respect for people to promote the theme; being strong in one’s beliefs and honest sets a good example for society: “‘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,” (Lee 39) Atticus indicates.
'' You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view''; (30). Atticus Finch, a popular lawyer, and the father of the main character in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, teaches this lesson to his children. This idea does not just apply to Maycomb County in the 1930s, but to everyone everywhere. This story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression. Most whites are very prejudiced and don't care to hear a Negro's opinions or thoughts on anything. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee explains that a person has to try to see a situation from the other person's point of view before they make a judgement.
First, the trial of Tom Robinson is an eye-opening experience for Jem and Scout; there they discover hatred, child abuse, and lying. Seeing pure hate is new and strange for Jem and Scout. They know that prejudice does exist, but listening to and watching Bob Ewell during the trial is astounding to them because Bob Ewell abhors all blacks, especially Tom Robinson. Bob’s daughter, Mayella, makes an advance on Tom, which is absolutely unspeakable and shameful at that time. In addition, Bob Ewell’s hate grows (especially for Atticus) because after the trial his reputation and respect is ruined, even though he does not have a high degree of integrity to begin with. Also, through the
Mood helps in creating an atmosphere in a literary work by means of setting, theme, diction and tone. Throughout the book To kill a mockingbird the author wanted the mood to be sorrowful or vexed or just fret about how the people are acting because seeing how things were being treated or how people acted would be enough to make you feel angry or sad or worried for the people who were in the book. You always wanted to know what was going to come next or how something would end. Vex was a very prominent mood in this story and is definitely the most relevant.
In the opening chapters of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Harper Lee introduces several subtle instances of racism. However, when Jem and Scout are welcomed into Cal’s Church in chapter 12, the reader really gets to travel behind the false disguise of Maycomb County’s white society to see the harsh realities of the injustices suffered by the blacks. The black community is completely separate from the whites -- in fact, Cal lives in a totally different part of town!
Scout learned a number of things in the book, but most of them all refer back to a statement that Atticus and Calpurnia said, which goes, “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do is sing their hearts our for us.” (Lee, pg. 90). Scout learned that about people, too. She learned that some people don’t do anything to you, so it would be a sin to do something mean in return. Over the course of the story Scout becomes more mature and learns the most important facts of life. She was living through a very difficult time and most of that helped her get through.
Then Scout encounters the seeming vindictiveness of Mrs. Dubose. After this she dies, Atticus explains to them how courageous the lady was because she knew she was dying but was determined to die free of morphine which had preciously controlled her. She fought against great odds, even though she knew that she would lose. The above lesser experiences prepare Scout for the greater test of Courage: the is Atticus’ fight for Tom’s life even though he knows that he will lose the case and even though he knows that he is fighting against tremendous odds. This realization forces Scout to quit fighting with her fists and try to combat others opinions with her head rather than her physical violence.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee seems like a complete replica of the lives of people living in a small Southern U.S. town. The themes expressed in this novel are as relevant today as when this novel was written, and also the most significant literary devices used by Lee. The novel brings forward many important themes, such as the importance of education, recognition of inner courage, and the misfortunes of prejudice. This novel was written in the 1930s. This was the period of the “Great Depression” when it was very common to see people without jobs, homes and food. In those days, the rivalry between the whites and the blacks deepened even more due to the competition for the few available jobs. A very famous court case at that time was the Scottsboro trials. These trials were based on the accusation against nine black men for raping two white women. These trials began on March 25, 1931. The Scottsboro trials were very similar to Tom Robinson’s trial. The similarities include the time factor and also the fact that in both cases, white women accused black men.
By fighting with her head, it can save Scout from a lot of trouble. One of the most valuable life lessons in To Kill a Mockingbird is about courage. Courage is not always physical, it can be mental too. After Mrs. Dubose passes away, Atticus tells Jem she was the bravest person he knew. Atticus says," According to Mrs. Dubose views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody” (page 149).
Racial discrimination, although not the main focus of To Kill a Mockingbird, plays a large role throughout the novel. Many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are affected by racial discrimination, whether they are the cause or not. Throughout the novel, three characters stand out as being affected by racial discrimination the most. These characters are Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee contain a very engaging family who are the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams are very poor; they are people who live in the woods. They are a family who depend highly on crops. Walter Cunningham, the 'father' of the family has to work hard on the cultivation of crops because crops is the only form of wages for them. The Cunninghams have no money. Their only way to survive is through paying others with their crops. The Cunninghams are not main characters in the book, but they are characters who 'brought out' other characters' personality. Harper Lee displays that there is a lot of prejudice going on in Maycomb by putting the Cunninghams in the book. "The Cunninghams [were] country folks, farmers"(21) who are very honest people in Maycomb, they "never took anything they [could not] pay back"(23), but they are unfairly mistreated by part of the society in Maycomb.
A small city nestled in the state of Alabama, Maycomb has got its faults, just like any other place in the world, but one of its main faults or (pg.88) “Maycomb's usual disease,” as Atticus calls it in the book is prejudice. Jem and Scout learn a lot about prejudice when a black man named Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell and their father, Atticus, is called on to be his lawyer. They realize the hate that people have buried deep within their heart when they see a black man accused of doing something only because of his color. On pg.241, Scout starts understanding this and thinks, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” As the case continues, up until the death of Tom Robinson, Jem and Scout learn more and more about prejudice and how the hate that people have towards others causes them to take wrong actions. They also see how unfair it is that a white man can get treated better and think of himself better than a black man only because he was born white. This prejudice and the trial cause Jem and Scout to get in argum...
On the way back Atticus just walked by and told Mrs. Dubose, ? you look as pretty as a picture? Mrs. Dubose was so stunned that she could not say a word back to him. Later Jem and scout leaned how courageous Mrs. Dubose really was after Jem cut up her camellia bushes, the kids found out that she was a morphine attic brave enough to get off the drug that killed her. Atticus was incredibly courageous taking on tom Robinsons case against the prejudice of Macomb County and he shows incredible courage when he says, "Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try and won.