Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee expresses the use of symbolism to build different themes. She contrasts the good and bad sides of the small town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Lee uses specific detail to express how justice, morality, and ethics are amongst the people in the town of Maycomb. To begin, Bob Ewell is a drunkard, beats his children, and forces them to care for themselves. With no job, Bob gets a relief check every month; instead of spending it wisely, he spends all of it on green whiskey. Having no money left, he hunts out of season to feed his children (Lee, 41). Also, the novel implies that Bob was having incestuous relations with his daughter Mayella. When Tom Robinson gives his testimony, he says, “She says she never kissed a grown man before an’ she might as well kiss a nigger. She says what her papa do to her don’t count” (260). These actions of Bob Ewell exemplify his lack of morals. *PUT QUOTE* Next, Atticus Finch is the most prominent figure of justice throughout the novel. The example that stands out most is Atticus defending Tom Robinson despite the odds stacked against them. Discrimination against blacks in the 1930’s is raving. Although having citizenship for …show more content…
Scout’s third grade teacher, Miss Gates, is having a discussion with the class during school one day. She replies to a student saying, “Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced” (329). Scout goes home after school to talk to her brother about something she remembers about Miss Gates. Scout says, “I heard her say ‘It’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were gettin’ way above themselves an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us.’ Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad and then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home-“ (331). Mrs. Gates contradicting herself reveals how ethics are not upheld among the people of the
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is based during the era of racism and prejudice. This era is commonly referred to as The Great Depression and is during the mid-late 30’s. The novel is set in a small town and county called Maycomb, Alabama. The novel follows the story of the Finch’s and their struggle before, during, and after a rape trial that is set against an African American by a white woman and her father. To Kill A Mockingbird has many symbols that have a thematic significance. Flowers and “Mockingbird” type characters are the main types of symbols.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, the most important character trait portrayed by Bob Ewell is prejudice. Throughout the book, Bob Ewell demonstrates how prejudice has been kept alive through ignorance and fear. First, by blaming Tom Robinson for beating Mayella. During the trial, Bob Ewell stood up and pointed his finger at Tom Robinson "I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella"(84)! Bob Ewell emphasizes Tom’s race over everything else. He doesn’t care who he is as a person all he cares about is the color of his skin. Towards the end of the trial, Atticus has one last chance to prove the Ewells wrong. Atticus asks: “About your writing with your left hand, are you ambidextrous, Mr. Ewell? I most positively
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the main plot, the Tom Robinson case, parallels that of the Boo Radley subplot in many ways. In the Tom Robinson plot, Tom, a black man, gets falsely accused of savagely beating and raping Miss Mayella Ewell, a 19 year old girl who lives in poverty with her father, Bob Ewell, and her many younger siblings. Though the evidence points to Bob Ewell as the abuser, the townsfolk, including the jury, take the Ewell’s word over Tom’s purely because of his skin color. The subplot in this novel is focused on Arthur “Boo” Radley, the mysterious neighbor of the Finch family. They know very little about him, as he hasn’t left his house in many years. In the midst of the Tom Robinson case, the Boo Radley subplot trails off, almost
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main characters: Atticus, Scout and Jem were faced with many losing battles such as Tom Robinson's case, the "mad dog incident" and Mrs. Dubose's addiction to morphine. This builds on the theme of there are things in life that won't go your way. The book takes place in the 1930's or 1940's in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb. The novel takes us through the life and perils that the main characters undergo and teach us about growing up and being mature.
One of the storylines in the novel is the Robinson-Ewell trial. Tom Robinson is an innocent African-American, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a lower-class white girl. At the trial hearing, everyone is able to tell his or her side of the story before Tom is allowed to speak. All stories, however, offer two different versions of Tom and Mayella’s relationship. Moreover, Mayella and Bob Ewell tell the jury what they expect to hear, about Tom being a monster. They explain that there was no reason for his actions against Mayella. According to them, along with the rest of Maycomb, it's just expected that a black man would rape any white woman if he had the opportunity. The Tom spoken of by the Ewells shows the stereotypes that justify whites to be superior to blacks. However, Tom tells the jury about his innocence. He pr...
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a range of both major and minor characters which are portrayed with varying personalities. These character's interactions help to explain the issues that this text is concerned with. In the novel, the protagonist, Atticus Finch, is a defence lawyer who is appointed to represent a black man, Tom Robinson, who is charged with raping a white woman. The novel is set during the 1930s in America, which was when segregation of blacks and whites was well manifested into the society of those days. A black person had no right to defend himself if accused of a crime by white men. The author depicted several minor characters which helped to build up and expose the personality of the text's protagonist, Atticus Finch.
Bob Ewell’s understanding of justice is seen in a bad light when he threatens Atticus. The first clear sign of Mr. Ewell wanting to get revenge on the Finches is when he spits in Atticus’s face. Mr. Ewell approaches Atticus “cursed him, spat on him, and threatened to kill him” (291). Atticus simply takes the abuse to protect Mayella from her dad, Bob Ewell. Mayella, being the reason for this conflict, gets abused by her dad from her mistake of kissing a black man. Mr. Ewell simply lets his anger get to him and releases it on people around him. Like he did
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is set in the 1930s, a time when racism was very prominent. Harper Lee emphasizes the themes of prejudice and tolerance in her novel through the use of her characters and their interactions within the Maycomb community. The narrator of the story, Scout, comes across many people and situations with prejudice and tolerance, as her father defends a black man.
INTRODUCTION: Tom is a nice, kind man and has been sent to court because of Bob Ewell accusing him of raping his daughter. Mr. Ewell has brought his daughter to his side but the reality is, Bob Ewell abused his daughter Mayella and began placing the blame on Tom because he is a black man, and Mr. Ewell assumes he will win in court. Considering that Tom is a black man and Bob is a white man, it’s nearly guaranteed that Bob would win because of his race. Bob accuses Tom Robinson of rape, when in reality Tom was a helpful man around the house for Mayella; she used that to her advantage in order to prevent her dad from going to prison.
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, takes place in the 1930s in a small Alabama county called Maycomb. The novel is about the Finch family of three. Atticus, the father, Scout the older brother and Scout the younger sister, who acts like a tomboy. Scout may be a lady, but does not like to act like one, she likes to play and get dirty with her brother. Being young, both children learn lessons throughout the novel by many different residents, such as, Calpurnia, the maid, Miss Maudie, the neighbor, and their father, Atticus. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird various citizens in the town of Maycomb play an important role in the lives of Jem and Scout Finch
Ewell would have to have had a very strong motivation that would’ve persuaded him to do this crime. This motivation would’ve been affected by his particular standpoint on the person or group he was going to attack. Therefore, Bob Ewell’s personal perspective drove him to break into Judge Taylor’s house. Additionally, a final disturbance that describes the significance of perspective in this novel is Bob Ewell’s attempt to kill Atticus’ children. This event simply would not have taken place if Bob Ewell had not possessed an attitude towards Atticus prior to his endeavor. For example, if Atticus had not been the man defending Tom Robinson in court, Mr. Ewell would have had no reason to assault his children. This is because of the fact that Mr. Ewell felt personally attacked by anyone that was on Tom’s side of the court case, including Atticus. In the end, this led to his final attempt at trying to prove himself superior towards Atticus and, in an indirect way, towards the people who had a differing opinion of Tom Robinson and the case than he did himself. This proves that a different perspective or viewpoint on certain events change the way that people perceive a situation to
The variation in parental influence is a significant theme in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird. Bob Ewell is portrayed as a short-tempered, negligent, and an abusive father, whereas, Atticus Finch is a responsible, loving, and understanding father. The influence a father has on his child is an important factor of what his child's personality will be in the future. A child with a short-tempered, negligent, and abusive father would learn to live a fearful, and panicked life, while a child with a loving, gentle, and patient father would learn to live a joyful life.
Bob Ewell sees that Tom has done nothing, and that Mayella has tricked Tom, but, if this truth was allowed to exist, it would promote this type of interaction between white and black individuals, and this is something that Bob Ewell does not know how to process. Bob Ewell chooses the easiest path and follows his culture. He blames an innocent man for crimes he has not committed, simply because the culture of his life tells him to prevent mixed race relations. “They [mixed race children] don’t belong anywhere. Colored folks won’t have em’ because they’re half white; white folks won’t have ‘em ‘cause they’re colored.” (215) This is the sad reality that is taught to children in Maycomb from a young age. Rather than these mixed race children being able to exist in both communities, they are barred from both. This is a paradigm that Scout is taught in the book, and one that Bob Ewell has lived in his entire life. Bob
Harper Lee demonstrates hypocrisy through Miss Gates, Scout’s school teacher. Miss Gates gave her class an assignment to do current events and one of her students, Cecil Jacobs, does his on Adolf Hitler. After Scout gets home from school she explains to her dad “Miss Gates said it was awful, Hitler doin’ like he does, she got real red in the face about it” (Lee 246). On the other hand, Scout told Jem that she heard Miss Gates talking to Mrs. Stephanie Crawford saying “it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were getting way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us” (247). Scout does not understand how she can think that way about the Jews and Hitler, but say horrible things about people who
To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, Alabama when segregation was popular in the southern states. This is a time period where women were supposed to be proper and the men were supposed to be complete gentlemen; while the black folk were supposed to stay separated from the rest of society. When the Blacks were accused of anything by Whites they would immediately would be pressed with charges. With To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme of the importance of moral education, the motif of small town life (everybody knowing each others business), and how a different time period or geographical location would affect the events within the novel; these few things have an important significance throughout Harper Lee's book.