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How to kill a mockingbird lessons learned
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To Kill a Mockingbird is a long time classic book. The writer has an interesting and unique way of capturing our attention. The storyline opens with the children, Jem, Scout and Dill , (a visiting child), daring each other to touch Boo Radley’s house. Boo Radley was a hermit that they were all afraid of. Atticus, the children’s father in his kind, gentle way, solves disagreements between his two children in the first chapter. Jem and Scout, brother and sister, love their father, but normally settle arguments with a fistfight. This novel teaches us lessons as Atticus educates his children about racism, stereotyping and human kindness. Learning lessons is difficult, but especially for the characters in our story today . Mrs. Dubose, a morphine addict, was cruel to Jem and Scout. She often criticized the way Atticus raised them, telling them how much better their mother would have done. She would yell at them, saying cruel things about their family. Jem openly destroys her flowerbeds ; forgetting everything Atticus taught him about maturity and not letting what people ...
Mrs. Dubose is a bitter, old lady that is extremely rude to Scout and Jem, yelling dirty thing at them everytime they pass by her house. Jem hatred for that woman was so short, that one day he grabbed Scout’s baton and lost his temper, Scout explains that “He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned…” (137). As a punishment for his sudden outrage, Mrs. Dubose asks that he read for her everyday and they learn things about her along the way. They described that “...From time to time she would open her mouth wide...cords of saliva would collect at her lips...Her mouth seemed to have private existence of its own” (143). Later on in the chapter, Atticus reveals that she was a morphine addict
In chapter 11, Mrs. Dubose says some hateful words about Atticus, which leads Jem to smash her flowers. As a punishment, Jem had to read to her every day after school for two hours. A conversation between Atticus and Jem shows how he felt about her in the beginning, “Did she frighten you?” Said Atticus.
Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.
Scout Finch and her brother Jem live with their widowed father Atticus in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. The book takes place in a society withstanding effects of the Great Depression. The two main characters, Scout and Jem, approach life with a childlike view engulfed in innocence. They befriend a young boy named Dill, and they all become intrigued with the spooky house they refer to as “The Radley Place”. The owner, Nathan Radley (referred to as Boo), has lived there for years without ever venturing outside its walls. The children laugh and imagine the reclusive life of Boo Radley, yet their father quickly puts a halt to their shenanigans, as they should not judge the man before they truly know him. Atticus unforgettably tells the children, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, takes place in a small town called Maycomb, during the 1930's. A friendly town with children as well as old people. The kids found it boring, there was nothing intresting, no money, and nothing to buy. There lives Scout Finch, her older brother Jem, and their father Atticus, who is a lawyer. They are living better then most families in the area because Atticus gets a lot of work. During one summer, one of the neighbor's nephew visits, Dill, and Scout and Jem become friends with him. Dill developes an obsession with Arthur Radley, also known as Boo, who, along with his brother Nathan, lives next door to the Finches but is never seen outside the home. Soon after summer ends, Scout has to start school, and her teacher finds out she has been reading on her own and ironically tells her to stop, she soon begins to hate school. One day on their way home Scout and Jem find gifts in a tree in front of the Radley home. As Dill returns the next summer they start attempting to get Boo out, Atticus finds out and makes them stop, but they continue to scheme for the last day of summer. They sneak on to the property where Jems pants get stuck and he has to take them off, the next they he finds them sewn nicely and hung on the Radley fence. They find more presents in the tree, but the hole soon gets plugged up by Nathan.
Through the three children in the story’s development, the author realistically portrays the coming of age in a world distraught with prejudice and racism. The three characters start out the start as naïve, ingenuous children, but grow up to be smart and mature by the end of the novel. Jem learns about true courage and who Boo Radley really is, a person completely contrary to his original misconceptions. Scout learns about the complacence with which a person can ignore injustices and that people are not always what the populace holds them to be. Dill learns that prevarication can lead into a very inauspicious life that can cost a human being’s life. As the characters grow up, they obtain new knowledge, learn new lessons, or understand the different aspects of life and society.
The first iconic character in the novel known for her split personality and great moral courage is Mrs. Dubose. She was a morphine addict and was addicted to morphine as a painkiller prescribed by her doctor for many years. Despite her being an old, frail lady, who could have just "make(made) things easier" by just continuing to take morphine as Atticus put it, she chose the other path contrary to popular beliefs. Instead, she persevered, choosing to "die beholden to nothing and no one", showing her sheer determination and will to live. Also, Atticus wanted Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose not only as a punishment for his misdeeds, but he also wanted to show Jem what true courage really was. He wanted to show Jem that a courageous person is not "a man with a gun in his hand", and that Mrs. Dubose was an excellent example and Atticus looks up to her despite her prejudiced remarks against him such as "nigger-lover". When Jem and Scout was reading to her, they were terrified of her "undulating lips" with "chords of saliva" dripping out of her mouth and that it had a "seperate existence of its own". What the children failed to see in the beginning was what lied underneath those gruesome series of withdrawal fits - true moral courage. Upon the death of Mrs. Dubose, Atticus also mentioned that "she won", not by having a gun in her hands, but with her sheer will power and determination. He hoped that Jem and Scout would be able to respect such a courage...
Every day when Jem and Scout walk into town, they are forced to walk past the house of an old woman named Mrs. Dubose, who viciously points out everything they are doing wrong. One day as the children are walking into town, Mrs. Dubose makes an awful comment about Atticus defending Tom Robinson because he is black. This immediately angers Scout and especially Jem, but they quickly walk away. As they walk back, Jem instantly notices that Mrs. Dubose isn’t on her porch. He runs and in a fury, cuts the tops off of all of her camellia bushes. Finally, when Atticus arrives home, he orders answers from Jem. As he starts to explain to his dad the reason for his actions, Atticus responds by telling him to walk over and apologize to Mrs. Dubose. By Atticus telling Jem to apologize, he shows respect to Mrs. Dubose, even if he disagrees with her discourse with
To kill a mockingbird is a book that takes place in the late Nineteen Thirties narrated by Scout Finch about what it was like to grow up in Maycomb, Alabama during the depression. Maycomb was divided into very clear social classes who hate each other as much as they hated the Yankees during the civil war. This prejudice, however, it is ironic because besides being related, everybody in Maycomb is very similar. In the midst of this division, the Finches find themselves in the spotlight when their Father decides to defend Tom Robinson a black man who allegedly raped a white citizen of Maycomb. Atticus’ two children, Jem and Scout, are taunted and ridiculed because of their dad’s decision. However, despite growing
Atticus is a character that differs from most of others in Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird”, mostly from standing up to discrimination and racism and attempts to make his mischievous children behave and successful. His individuality among other characters set up an argument over the most prominent struggle of racism in the setting of the book in a man versus society plotline. Being at his older age, Atticus has had much experience with society, giving him ideas for wisdom as well as being an excellent role model. As the novel progressed, with the help of Atticus’s parenting, Scout and especially Jem has matured over time. Atticus’s parental style combines his wise advice, a good moral, and the individuality in his beliefs to keep his kids
Mrs. Dubose is overtly racist, representing the ‘bad’ part of the town. In chapter 11 of To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Dubose repeatedly insults Jem and Scout because their father, Atticus Finch, is defending a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of rape. The theme is revealed in chapter 11.
Dubose was not very important in the grand scheme of things but her actions towards the children taught them a lesson. Near the end of Mrs. Dubose's life, she made Jem read to her for varied amounts of time even though Jem did not want to because he felt as though Mrs. Dubose was not a very nice person. It was told to Jem later that, “Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict” (Lee 147), and that Jem reading to her was how, “she meant to break herself of it before she died” (Lee 148). This dishonest deception in the novel was how Jem came to realize that what his actions with Mrs. Dubose were not a punishment but a safe haven for Mrs. Dubose. She may have deceived Jem but it was for a good reason. It would have made her death a lot harder on Jem if he would have know about her addiction and how his actions were affecting
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a courageous tale of leadership and gallantry. This book voices the story of a young girl, Scout, and the town of Maycomb. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird there are numerous quotes to which you should bring to your attention. By far, the most important quote describes what Boo Radley experienced all those years he was locked away in his house, “A boy trotted down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole beside him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange drama of their own invention.…. Fall, and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day’s woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, and apprehensive. Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house…. Summer, and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough” (Lee 236-237). All those years he has watched as Scout and Jem grew up. All those years he imagined they were his own. Characterization is significant for the reason that Scout realized Boo Radley isn’t the irrational murderer, he is portrayed to be; he is pleasant and generally cares for the children.
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.
Mrs. Dubose was a woman in the book who it took a lot of effort to respect. Her over aggressive attitude and rude remarks, Jem and Scout found it quite hard to be nice to the old woman. But no matter how rude she was to them, Atticus always told Jem “She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You must hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad,”(100) he had told him this many times before. The kids never understood why. The lady was mean to them so why should they have to be nice to her? As time went on and the kids started to ask more about Mrs. Dubose and they still thought she was a piece of work.