Mythology and Archetypes in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird
Of all the various approaches to criticism, the Mythological/Archetypal achieves the greatest impact over the entire literary scope, because the themes and patterns unearthed apply universally to all works, yielding results that can be applied to a great many texts. This is because the very nature of the Mythological/Archetypal approach is the exploration of the canon for widespread and pervading symbols, plots, and characters. These are all greatly extant in Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, an extraordinary examination of the Depression-era South through the eyes of a young girl with rare intelligence and insight, living in a small town which is filled with these archetypal images. To Kill a Mockingbird, when approached from the Mythological/Archetypal viewpoint, is a prime example of the three primary elements that the method of criticism inspects: universality in character, symbol, and plot.
Universal characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are present, and well documented. For example, Jem and Scout embody the ideals of youth and the naivety of innocence, while Tom Robinson with his withered arm symbolizes the crippled powerlessness of the black community.
The scene where Tom is revealed to be physically handicapped is particularly strong:
Tom Robinson's powerful shoulders rippled under his thin shirt. He rose to his feet and stood with his right hand on the back of his chair. He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled han...
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...d proves to be a novel rich in allusions to other characters, symbols, and plots in the literature.
Work Cited
Anglin, Laura. "Allusory Justice: Ramblings in a Mythogenic Zone." May 5, 2000.
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/HarperLee/laura.html
Bruccoli, Matthew J., ed. The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Scribners, 1989.
Johnson, Claudia Durst. To Kill A Mockingbird: Threatening Boundaries. New York: Twain, 1994.
---. Understanding To Kill A Mockingbird: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994
Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Harper & Row, 1960.
Margaritopoulou, Cleopatra. "Symbolism and Allegory in To Kill A Mockingbird." May 5, 2000. http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Culture/HarperLee/cleo.html
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in Alabama in the 1930s, and concerns itself primarily with the interrelated themes of prejudice and empathy. These themes are explored as the story follows Scout Finch as she learns lessons in empathy, ultimately rejecting prejudice. While all characters in Lee’s novel learn from their experiences, not all are able to grow in the same manner as Scout. The idea of a positive role model, typified by the character of Atticus Finch, and the ramifications of its absence, is a concept that Lee places much emphasis on. The isolated setting is also pivotal in the development of characters. Lee uses the contrast between characters that learn lessons in empathy and compassion, and characters that cling to the ideals of a small town, to explore factors that nurture or diminish prejudice.
Heroes and villains, your usual story right? Well Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is far from it. In this novel Harper Lee uses southern gothic literature to tell the story. Gothic literature is a genre of southern writing. The stories often focus on grotesque themes. While it may include supernatural elements it mainly focuses on damaged, even delusional characters. In her novel Harper Lee utilizes the gothic archetypes of the hero, the monster, and the innocents to portray Maycomb’s crisis of conscience during the trial.
The. Fitzgerald, F. S., and Matthew J. Bruccoli. The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald: A New Collection. The. New York: Scribner, 1989.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses characterisation to convey how people are misjudged by others in society. The character of Dolphus Raymond is thought to be a drunk with confused morals. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley does not get a chance to express his personality, but as the novel progresses Boo’s personality evolves. Tom Robinson’s character in the novel is misjudged by underlying prejudices in society. Through the technique of characterisation the reader is lead to see how society misconceives others.
To Kill A Mockingbird is a heroic tale of leadership and courage during racial times. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus, To, Jem and Scout are unfortunately exposed to a really racist and prejudiced society and town. Which ends up causing them to lose a case and really confuse Jem and Scout when they are young. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, it uses characterization to help show a theme of loss of innocence when people are exposed to surprising and unfair situations.
Mizener, Arthur, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Rene Descartes uses the Skeptical method to re-examine everything he knows and form concrete beliefs in the process. In some of his meditations he touches on the body verses mind dichotomy. First, the “body” and “mind/soul” need to be differentiated. Rene Descartes and Simon Blackburn lace definitions of these two entities through their writings. In his second meditation Descartes briefly discusses the difference between the mind and body. Descartes notes that he pulled this thought from his old, misguided days, but it is still useful for defining these two terms, as it gets the essence of difference between them. He writes, “I had a face, hands, arms, and the whole structure of bodily parts that corpses have – I call it the body. The next belief was that I ate and drank, that I moved about, and that I engaged in sense perception and thinking; these things, I thought, were done by the soul” (4). Basically, the main activity of the body is movement and sustenance, while the mind is used for sensing and thinking. Blackburn calls him a substance dualist. He further explains this distinction in discussion Descartes dualism, “thoughts and experiences ate modifications in one kind of stuff; movement and position belongs to the other” (51). The body’s basic function is movement and the mind’s basic function is sensing – one is tangible, while the other is
[5] Petry, Alice Hall, Fitzgerald’s Craft of Short Fiction: The Collected Stories, 1920-1935 (Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1989), 9
In 1960, a novel was written to outline injustices and racism against those who were innocent, though unfairly judged because of social expectations and prejudiced beliefs. This novel not only presented these issues, but is also considered a revolutionary piece of literature, still being read by many people today, more than 50 years later. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, has caused some controversy about the intents of the book and the way certain people or groups are presented. Whether To Kill a Mockingbird as a narrative outshines the issue it presents is a debatable argument. However, I believe that the narrative of the novel supports the concerns exhibited for numerous reasons. In what follows, some of these are presented: the historical
In arguing for the distinction between mind and body, Descartes seeks to show that the two are independent substances and can exist separately. It will be useful to outline Descartes’ argument based on clear and distinct perception by listing his premises and conclusion. The essay will then analyse each premise in turn, arguing that the argument fails because his premises are faulty. The argument, found in the Sixth Meditation, runs as follows
One of René Descartes’ major contributions to psychology was his understanding of the mind-body interaction. For thousands of years leading up to the seventeenth century, scholars had been arguing that the mind and the body are unlike one another. These individuals also believed that the interaction between mind and body went in only one direction—while the mind could exercise a substantial influence on the body, the body had very little effect on the mind. In his interpretation of the distinction between mental and physical qualities, Descartes did agree with the belief that there are differences between mind and body. However, Descartes also believed that the body can exercise a greater influence on the mind than previously thought. In other
Ultimately, the minor characters in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are crucial in rendering the novel a masterpiece. Their individuality is refreshing yet meaningful, as they break the stereotypes that attempt to limit a prejudiced society. Scout herself is deeply influenced by the characters she meets, and the experience only increases her wisdom. Also, the symbols portrayed through minor characters speak volumes about humankind- not only of our flaws but of the promise of change and redemption. In truth, minor characters are of utmost importance in any story, because the world an author creates is only as good as the characters that populate it.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's only novel, is a fictional story of racial oppression, set in Maycomb, A.L. in 1925 to 1935, loosely based on the events of the Scottsboro trials. Unlike the story however, the racial discrimination and oppression in the novel very accurately portrays what it was like in the 1920's and 1930's in the south. Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a poor low class white girl of 19, never stood a chance of getting a fair trial. This can be supported by giving examples of racially discriminatory and oppressive events that actually took place in the south during the time period in which the novel is based. In addition to actual historical events, events and examples from the book that clearly illustrate the overpoweringly high levels of prejudice that were intertwined in the everyday thinking of the majority of the characters in the book supports the fact that Tom Robinson never stood a chance of getting a fair trial.
What is the mind-body problem? The mind-body problem is the main question of trying to distinguish between the qualities of the mental and physical (Schulz & Schulz, 2016). Many scholars seemed to always argue about the mind and body as to whether they were separate or essentially the same thing. Descartes decided to tackle this question head on and he came up with some interesting answers to
The idea a classic novel introduces should be able to be understood on a universal level, regardless of the period and circumstances in which the work was written. The idea that is being presented in the work should be able to be applicable to any type of situation. To Kill a Mockingbird is a considered a classic of modern American Literature, but its message is understood and taught on an international level. It teaches the vice of racial prejudice and that morality can triumph over evil. The use of a child narrator with a grown woman’s wisdom appeals to many, making it a treasure to millions of people worldwide. Peac...