More handpicked essays just for you.
harper lee brief biography American writer
college literary analysis to kill a mockingbird
to kill a mockingbird analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: harper lee brief biography American writer
Sometimes we are in the situation in the society where you have to take a case of a person, which no one have support of and have lots of prejudice around him and you know that that person is in innocence if you take the case because it simply right thing to do somebody might who is experiencing this can come to age and can be an example of social justice. The same thing can be seen in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Harper Lee was trying to say that it takes courage to for Atticus to help Tom Robinson and because of the case experience and problems faced scout come to age and also that some people that are innocent like Tom Robinson are assumed guilty even though they have no evidence supporting it. Atticus Finch who was
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.
In the 1930’s, many African American men were wrongly accused of rape and murder. The issue of racism is brought up in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” when Scout overhears her teacher saying that it’s a great thing that this is happening to Tom Robinson because the black men are getting too comfortable thinking that they’re mighty. Racism didn’t only affect Tom Robinson, but it also affected those who supported him. The lives of Scout and her family are changed when Scout's father, who is a lawyer, steps in and defends Tom Robinson. Atticus’ lawsuit affects Scout and his children in several ways.
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.
Social Justice There are many responsibilities and duties that one should fulfill to rid the world of social injustices and inequalities but if no one doesn’t step in then how is this issue supposed to be put to rest? In To Kill a Mockingbird, the fictional town of Maycomb County isn’t a perfect little town but one that is filled with racist, critical, and judgmental people with no morals. On the other hand, there are people like Atticus Finch who do what they believe is right. Atticus filled his responsibility for this issue by defending Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell. This was a pivotal moment in the book because Atticus took the case when no one else in Maycomb would because they are too afraid and racist to defend a man like Tom Robinson, an African American.
Throughout History, men have looked down on blacks and women. But this does not justify the view that blacks and women are below white men. When people look down on blacks and women, they preform injustice. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is full of injustice. During this time period, everyone looked down on blacks and women, which makes Maycomb one in the same with the discriminators. In particular, the people in Maycomb looked down on Tom Robinson, and many others looked down on Scout. Around the Finch household, Aunt Alexandria always tries to do away with Calpurnia, the black housekeeper and cook as Alexandria says, “We don’t need her (Calpurnia) now.” (182). Injustices in Maycomb include the case of Tom Robinson, the way Aunt Alexandra treats Calpurnia, and the way people treat Scout.
The story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee portrays many different scenarios of racial discrimination. Discrimination occurs in the book and many people are affected by the racial slurs and other occurrences. In the story, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, Atticus Finch, and Tom Robinson are all people that are discriminated against or are affected by discrimination. Racial discrimination is a major part of To Kill a Mockingbird.
In the early twentieth century, the United States was undergoing a dramatic social change. Slavery had been abolished decades before, but the southern states were still attempting to restrict social interaction among people of different races. In particular, blacks were subject to special Jim Crow laws which restricted their rights and attempted to keep the race inferior to whites. Even beyond these laws, however, blacks were feeling the pressure of prejudice. In the legal system, blacks were not judged by a group of their peers; rather, they were judged by a group of twelve white men. In serious court cases involving capital offenses, the outcome always proved to be a guilty verdict. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the plot revolves around a Depression-era court case of a black man accused of raping a white woman. The defendant Tom Robinson is presumed guilty because of one thing alone: the color of his skin.
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
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Atticus Finch, a well-respected defense attorney in Macomb County, made a life-altering decision to whole-heartedly defend a benevolent black man, Tom Robinson, who was wrongly accused of rape. Many conflicts arose because of Atticus’s choice to defend a black man against a white man’s word. Despite the towns cowardice and ridicule, Atticus stays true to what is right. “They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience” (140). Throughout the story Scout, Atticus’s daughter, transforms from a trouble maker always looking to pick a fight with anyone she disagreed with, into a young lady who was able to follow her father’s example and “consider things from his point of view... you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it” (30). Through Atticus’s wise, unchanging character, the theme is revealed. The bond between Atticus and Scout teaches her the one thing that he was trying to do all along: Don’t just fight; stand up and fight for what is right, no matter what the cost.
In a desperate attempt to save his client, Tom Robinson, from death, Atticus Finch boldly declares, “To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white” (Lee 271). The gross amounts of lurid racial inequality in the early 20th century South is unfathomable to the everyday modern person. African-Americans received absolutely no equality anywhere, especially not in American court rooms. After reading accounts of the trials of nine young men accused of raping two white women, novelist Harper Lee took up her pen and wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, a blistering exposition of tragic inequalities suffered by African Americans told from the point of view of a young girl. Though there are a few trivial differences between the events of the Scottsboro trials and the trial of Tom Robinson portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird, such as the accusers’ attitudes towards attention, the two cases share a superabundance of similarities. Among these are the preservation of idealist views regarding southern womanhood and excessive brutality utilized by police.
For example, Tom is put in a court case for a crime he does not commit. Mayella Ewell, a young white women, accuses Tom of sexual assault. This man is unfortunately victimized since his society does not believe he is innocent due to the color of his skin. Being the black man that Tom is, it is clear that “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella opened her mouth and screamed” (241). There is no way that a black man’s word would override the voice of a white person. No testimony, evidence or speech can help Tom prove he is not guilty. Atticus understands that Tom is victimized by racism, so he explains: “When it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins” (220). It is both corrupt and cruel but that is how the injustice system works. Tom Robinson is powerless. Tom’s word has no power since his society will never believe him. His case is lost even though Mayella was the one to take advantage of his kindness. Plus Tom is never a real harm to the world for he is at a physical disadvantage. With his right arm missing it is almost impossible to cause destruction. As a matter of fact, Tom dies because of his disability. Since he knows he has no power to win his case he loses hope and attempts to escape prism. Tom is then shot multiple times and Atticus explains: “They got him just as he went over the fence…if he’d had two good arms
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest” Ellie Wiesel. Readers may find the amount of injustice in Harper lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird a little shocking. This could be why it’s such a popular book. People like the suspense of knowing someone’s right, but still being found guilty for something they did not do. There are many times throughout the book when people are powerless to prevent injustice but they still protest it. This shows that even when people unjustly punish there should always be someone to protest it. The theme of injustice is a common one in harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, whether it be through racism, misinformation, or Arrogance.
"Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among stones"- Charlotte Brontë. Nearly every problem and unfortunate mishap in Harper Lee's, To Kill A Mockingbird, has been somehow revolved around prejudice or discrimination. Many different forms of prejudice are found throughout the novel, with racism, sexism, and classicism the most common. The residents of Maycomb have discrimination running through their veins and were raised to be racist and sexist, without realizing. They see nothing wrong with judging other people and treating people that they find inferior harshly. Prejudice is a destructive force because it separates the people of Maycomb, both physically and mentally.
Were you put out of a job just of your gender or because you were not confident or strong enough like everyone else? In the 1920’s and 1930’s they had specific gender roles for men and women. Women had to cook, clean, and stay home with the kids while the men work all day. The children had to experience this at a young age to be ready for adulthood. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird have many social inequalities that occur and in our society today.
Injustices There have been many famous pieces of literature, but one that stands out is the 1960's classic To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. Lee, who only wrote one book in her life time, wrote of prejudice, injustice, and racism in the 1930's. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the Deep South in the 1930's. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story in which a black mad is accused of doing something he didn't do. During the whole story some of the two of the main characters, Jem Finch and Jean Lousie Finch, grow up in there mind