More handpicked essays just for you.
Critical analysis of how to kill a mockingbird by Harper lee
Harper lee to kill a mockingbird critically analysis
Chapter 1 - 5
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In the beginning of chapter 10 Scout thinks that her father, Atticus is boring and old. That he doesn’t do things that children her age fathers do. When Jem and Scout asked him why he was so old and he responded “He got a late start, which we felt reflected upon his alilites and manliness.” Later in the chapter Jem and Scout notice something is wrong with an old dog down the road. The neighborhood gets told to stay inside and not come out, because there is a mad dog on the loose. Atticus and Mr. Tate take over and plan to shoot the dog. Mr. Take yells at Atticus to shoot the dog, but he is nervous he will miss considering he hasn’t shot a gun in almost 30 years. He knows it is up to him, before you know he shoots the dog and in relief the neighbors
Jem and Scouts’ father, Atticus, is very misjudged by their children. They believe that Atticus is a very semantic man that goes to work, comes back, and has no skill whatsoever in sports. Scout criticizes Atticus by saying “Atticus did not… or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone”(118). This demonstrates that Jem and Scout are not satisfied with Atticus’s physical and amusing skills. They thought of him as an old man in his fifties that had no energy left, and had a routine of going to bed and reading in the living room instead of running around. Later, they visit there across the street neighbor, Mrs. Maudie to talk about how boring their Dad is, when Mrs. Maudie says” ‘Well, he can make everybody’s will so airtight can’t anybody meddle with him’… ‘Well, did you know he is the best checker-player in this town? Why down at the Landing when we were coming up, Atticus Finch could beat everybody on both sides of the river”(120). This establishes that they find out that their Dad isn’t so useless anymore. Even though the children find out all these activities he is excellent at, sometimes even the best, they are still not overly impressed. After Calpurnia calls the cops on the dog, Tim Johnson, The sheriff and Atticus arrive at the scene “ ‘Take him, Mr. Finch’. Mr. Tate handed the rifle to Attics; Jem and I nearly fainted…’’d you see him, Scout? ’d you see him just standing there?...’n’ all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an’ it looked like that gun was a part of him’”(126-129).
To begin, one of the losing battles in the novel was the mad dog incident. This event started on page 96. Jem and Scout encountered Tim Johnson, a "liver-colored bird dog, the pet of Maycomb" (pg. 96). He was sick and was pretty much crawling. The children ran to Calpurnia, their cook who identified the dog as a mad dog and after that, people immediately rushed home and the street the Finches lived on was deserted. Atticus (Scout and Jem's father) and Heck Tate (the sheriff) soon arrived to see what was going on. The dog was shivering, its jaw opened and shut and was advancing slowly towards Atticus, Heck, and the kids. Heck immediately handed his rifle to Atticus who had hesitated to shoot at the dog. "I haven't shot a gun in thirty years" (pg. 100) was Atticus's response. Heck gave Atticus his rifle and told him "I'd feel mighty comfortable if you did now," (pg. 100). Atticus took the gun and slowly took aim at the dog with tough concentration. His glasses slipped off his nose and broke but he paid no attention. "With movements so swift they seemed simultaneous, Atticus' hand yanked a ball-tipped lever as he brought the gun to his shoulder. The rifle cracked." (pg. 100). Atticus shot at the dog and ended its life and the dog "didn't know what hit him" (pg. 100). This shows that the incident was a losing battle to the dog because the dog couldn't stop itself from dying. It pretty much had to die since it was ill and was in great pain. Atticus didn't want to shoot the dog at first but he knew he had to protect the town and free the dog of its pain. Because the dog didn't have a choice about whether or not it was going to die, it is an example of a losing battle.
Atticus continuously tells her that this is wrong and that she needs to learn to control her anger, “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat? Try fighting with your head for a change” (Lee 101). The day after this discussion with Atticus, Scout is approached by a fellow student who had previously made a mean comment about her father. “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away.it was the first time I ever walked away from a fight” (Lee 102).
It was her only piece of writing, and she wrote it when she was 34
I have two questions about chapter fifteen. First of all, why did the mob leave? One answer that has come to mind is the fact that Scout talks to Mr. Cunningham. Scout notices Mr. Cunningham next to herself and she starts talking. Scout mentions stuff about how Scout knows his son and that she beat him up once, but he was cool about it. Mr Cunningham seems as if he is not even hearing one word Scout is saying. Even though Mr. Cunningham is not paying wonderful attention, Scout continues to talk to Mr. Cunningham. It is like for example, when a parent is talking to another parent and one of the parents children keeps whining for something. The adult continues to talk to the other parent, and just acts like they are hearing what the child is
Scout Finch, the youngest child of Atticus Finch, narrates the story. It is summer and her cousin Dill and brother Jem are her companions and playmates. They play all summer long until Dill has to go back home to Maridian and Scout and her brother start school. The Atticus’ maid, a black woman by the name of Calpurnia, is like a mother to the children. While playing, Scout and Jem discover small trinkets in a knothole in an old oak tree on the Radley property. Summer rolls around again and Dill comes back to visit. A sence of discrimination develops towards the Radley’s because of their race. Scout forms a friendship with her neighbor Miss Maudie, whose house is later burnt down. She tells Scout to respect Boo Radley and treat him like a person. Treasures keep appearing in the knothole until it is filled with cement to prevent decay. As winter comes it snows for the first time in a century. Boo gives scout a blanket and she finally understands her father’s and Miss Maudie’s point of view and treats him respectfully. Scout and Jem receive air guns for Christmas, and promise Atticus never to shoot a mockingbird, for they are peaceful and don’t deserve to die in that manner. Atticus then takes a case defending a black man accused of rape. He knows that such a case will bring trouble for his family but he takes it anyways. This is the sense of courage he tries to instill in his son Jem.
The passage I have chosen is from the book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In this passage Atticus Finch is trying to teach his children, Scout and Jem, the real or his definition of the word courage. He is explaining to his children that courage is more than just men with guns. He says to not connect courage with fighting, but to associate it with standing up for what you believe in. It takes little character to point a gun and pull a trigger, but it takes a whole lot of courage to accept a difficult challenge in which you can ultimately be defeated in. It made me realize that courage goes beyond a physical act, it shows one's integrity and strength. I learned that a person is courageous when they follow their own beliefs and stick to
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an emblem of racial jurisdiction. All throughout the book it shows how the law applies to blacks as opposed to whites. Lee shows how unjust the treatment of blacks is and the disregard for their human rights. Though through the actions of the characters in the book; it can be said that their actions show a glimmer of hope for this very prejudiced society.
Although Atticus would play keep away in football, he wouldn’t allow Jem to tackle him. Jem felt that his dad should allow him to tackle him, but Atticus responded with the statement that he was too old. "Jem was football crazy. Atticus was never too tired to play keep-away, but when Jem wanted to tackle him, Atticus would say, I 'm too old for that, son."(pg.118). As the story progresses, they begin to see their dad in a different view. After Atticus shoots the rabid dog, Scout and Jem starts to respect and admiration for him increased dramatically. They gain a new respect for him as the novel closes. Both Jem and Scout realize what a great man Atticus is. They realize that he is a good person who works hard to defend Tom Robinson and overall on his job as well. They soon have a great amount of respect for their father when he was defending Tom Robinson. He sets a good example and cares about his
Love and Life are the Best Teachers “The one thing that doesn’t abide by a majority rule is a person’s conscience.” Dalton Hare To Kill a Mockingbird The great literary classic, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is about the ageing and maturing of two children in the old town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. Basing this novel off of her own childhood Lee was able to bring the reader deep into the book with her detailed descriptions and realistic plot.
d you see him just standin' there? ' n' all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an' it looked like that gun was a part of him.an' he did it so quick, like. I hafta aim for ten minutes fore I can hit somethin'.(97).' " Jem no longer felt that his father was useless. & nbsp; The middle section of the book shows many different sides to the relationship between Atticus and Jem. Atticus does not like to tell his children how to behave.
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, the author, wrote about the journey of a little girl, named Scout, as she grows up. Scout’s father Atticus serves as a grand part of her aging because he teaches her many life lessons. The most significant of all the lessons and a pivotal moment in the novel occurs when Atticus tells Scout that “you never really a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them,”, which contributes to one of Scout’s intellectual changes and the theme, understanding requires time (Lee 372).
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.
In the Book, Calpurnia calls all the neighborhood and warns them about the dog, then calls Atticus and comes over with the Sheriff. The Sheriff is going to have to shoot the dog, but he is cautious about his aim and nervous of a mess-up. So he insists on Atticus having to kill the dog, Atticus has to remove his glasses but ultimately drops them on the ground and cracks. He waits tries to aim and shoots Tim dead. While this happens Jem and Scout are surprised by their Fatherś amazing aim and shooting skills.
While Scout and Jem discover a sick dog, they alerted their neighbors about it. Atticus took his rifle and shot the sick dog. Staying close to Miss Maudie, Scout listens to Miss Maudie’s story about Atticus. She tells him how he had a great shot and almost never missed. Scout wondered why he didn;t go hunting anymore. Miss Maudie explains to her by saying, “Maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things” (130). Miss Maudie means that because of the advantage he has on wild animals, he found it unacceptable to kill things that couldn’t fight back. This shows how Atticus is, that he is honest with himself and shooting for sport is not ok.Atticus showed an example of his integrity. Scout sees this and understands the lesson of being fair and sticking to your principles. Also, Atticus has a different opinion than the majority in Maycomb. Being a lawyer, he defends Tom Robinson. Scout talks to Atticus and talks how lots of people in Maycomb believe he is wrong, while Atticus believes he is right. Atticus the states, “The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person conscience” (140). Sticking to what he believes, Atticus shows his person integrity. He doesn’t follow something because everyone else believes something, it is more because he sticks with and is strong with his principals.