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WHAT IS THE RELEVANCE OF tO kILL A mOCKINGBIRD TODAY
The banning of books in schools
Why killing a mockingbird is important to history
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Mark Twain once said, "Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it.” However, some of his books, such as Huckleberry Finn, were often banned for irrational reasons. Like Huckleberry Finn and many other books, To Kill a Mockingbird (TKaM) has also been unreasonably banned in many places. I firmly believe that TKaM, like any other book, should not be banned because it is a timeless classic that teaches positive morals and contains many important lessons.
TKaM is a very skillful book that explores many significant themes. It encompasses everything from prejudice, social class, gender, and empathy. The benefits of reading about these themes in a story versus just hearing about them from a teacher are enormous. Reading from a story allows you to relate these issues to real life because you can understand what the characters feel and recognize how the themes apply to your own life. For example, Scout, a young girl in the novel, can be easily related to because we can look back on our own childhood and remember the times, when, like Scout, we were ...
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. You know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was misperceived at first. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names, but after he led Santa’s sleigh, they loved him. Misperceptions like this happen all throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As you read the novel you see original judgments made about characters transform into new conceptions and new understandings. Some characters twist your views of them on purpose, others do it involuntarily. To Kill a Mockingbird shows this happening over and over again. All you have to do is look for it.
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.
One of the principal aims of To Kill a Mockingbird is to subject the narrator to a series of
To delve into a topic as serious as book censorship, one must first determine the purpose of reading, of literature in general. Blahblahblah (what Ms Buckingham said). Mark Twain’s novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has sparked much controversy since its publication in 1884 due to countless racial slurs and stereotypes; in fact it is the most commonly banned book in American history (source). While many argue that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn should be banned, the literary merit, namely the realistic setting and characterization, outweighs the vulgarity and crude language. Twain’s satirical social commentary provides a moral exploration of racism and a vignette-style plot of contrast between the shore and the land and between Huck Finn and his partner-in-crime, Tom Sawyer.
Why should To Kill a Mockingbird be published? One good reason is because To Kill a Mockingbird is a great read about the human dignity that connects people of all sorts. It helps students realize that life was not exactly fair in the 1930s. The lack of humane behavior is shocking and will arouse some students, plus increase their knowledge of history in the 1930s by way of telling the story through a child’s perspective.
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a heartbreaking, timeless novel that examines stereotyping and its consequences. The novel shadows Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer, as he defends a black man, Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping a white woman in racist Maycomb, Alabama. Frequently, To Kill a Mockingbird has been banned for use in many schools because of the racial content in it. In the novel, racial tension and slurs are used frequently. Although the novel does contain these things, To Kill a Mockingbird should definitely be taught in schools because it represents accurately what it was like before blacks received their civil right, it teaches valuable life lessons, and it shows how novels like To Kill a Mockingbird helped the civil rights movement.
In conclusion, there are various themes in the book. The theme of education is evident from the beginning to the end of the novel. Atticus Finch stresses the need for education to his children and also to the people of Maycomb during the trial of Tom Robinson. The theme of courage is also an important part of this novel. The children learn from Atticus and Mrs. Dubose that courage and strength are not necessarily physical, but actually they are present in the hearts and minds of people. The theme of prejudice is present throughout the novel in the first part against Boo Radley and in the second part in the form of racism against Tom Robinson. The understanding of prejudice helps the children change from childhood innocence to a point of maturity and acceptance of people who are different from them.
Some people think that harper lee’s to kill a mockingbird should not be taught in schools for example malcolm gladwell a journalist says he wishes that the author had made finch(referring to atticus) a man sufficiently outraged by racial injustice to seek systemic change, rather
1) The major theme of the book is respectability. In the 1950 's Rosa Parks became the symbol for black female resistance in the
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper lee in 1960. The novel tells the story of Atticus Finch, a white lawyer, and Tom Robinson, a black servant, accused of raping a white female. Finch defends Robinson in court arguing lack of evidence as his main point. However, the judge and jury still believe the woman’s testimony and orders Robinson to be killed. The novel has been praised for its outstanding literature since its publication. However, it remains a banned book by the American Library Association for its use of racial slurs and profanity. Due to it being banned, many high schools have reconsidered the notion of teaching it to their students. Two prominent authors wrote articles pertaining to this piece of literature: Angela Shaw-Thornburg wrote an article on her re-reading of the novel and her opinions on it; while Malcom Gladwell wrote an article comparing Atticus Finch to a state governor liberalist, James Folsom, and the restraints of liberalism in the south. In addition, Rebecca Best contributes her thought on how the novel should be taught by introducing the idea of “the other.” Regardless of the modern day political arguments surrounding this piece of literature, this novel contains a large insight into the time period of the 1960s which is an influential topic that should be taught to young high school students.
Why should this novel be banned from use in schools? Students should be able to hear these words and talk about them and not use them offensively. Racial content, tension, and slurs are used in people’s everyday lives. If people can use these words outside of school why would they not be allowed to be talked about in school? It is important for everyone to be informed about these racial tensions. This book also shows the reader what is was like to be growing up in this time period. Although this book uses the n-word, it uses it in a historical way. Using these racist words explains the way of thinking of the south in the 1930s. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is appropriate to use and read in school.
I personally believe that the story, To Kill a Mockingbird should not be banned in schools, and the story should be allowed in students’ curriculum. The first reason to why I believe this to be true would be the fact that it allows students the opportunity to learn about human mistakes and how to be better people in the future. A second reason would be that students are able to learn important parts of our history within the book. It also teaches students important morals that may be hard to teach without the context of a book such as this one.
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!
The act of banning something is an aggressive measure. However, this being said whether to ban Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has long been debated. While some say that the book is offensive and disrespectful, others claim it to be a valuable learning lesson. Because of its beneficial lessons, its way of shocking the reader, its reputation as being one of the best novels in american history along with other controversial books being allowed in high schools, The Adventure’s of Huckleberry Finn should be read by every High School across the country.
To Kill a Mockingbird does not need to be banned. people need to open their eyes to the truth, there is evil all around us. Harper Lee shows us that evil through the eyes of a little girl and teaches us how to respond to that evil. To kill a mockingbird is wrong because they don’t do us any harm, they just share their music with us. To ban To Kill a Mockingbird is wrong because it doesn’t harm anyone, it simply opens up our eyes to truths we need to know.