Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird

Jem Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird â€Å"To kill a Mockingbird† by Harper Lee is set a small town called Maycomb in Alabama, in the 1930s. The community of Maycomb is of mixed ethnicity and like most places of that time the white people believe they were the dominant race. The book is seen through the eyes of two children: Jem and Scout Finch who are growing up in this society. As Jem gets older he becomes conscious of the fact that this community and these adults who surround him are not always right and this makes him feel lost. Jem is older than Scout and clearly remembers his mother. His sensitive nature makes him more aware of her death and he misses her. When Jem meets Dill he analyses him, like most children and accepts him, Jem knows what it is like losing a parent so when Scout touches on the topic of Dills dad (who left him) Jem tells her to ‘hush’, this confirms his understanding of others. Jem believes that Boo’s form of intimidation by his Father to stay in the house was ‘to chain him to the bed’ and his wild child like imagination of Boo Radley at the beginning is important because as the book progresses and Jem gets older, he realizes that Boo is just a normal human being who might not want to go outside. Boo Radley’s attempt to keep in contact with the outside world is through Jem and Scout. He does this by placing his most prized possessions in a knothole in a tree for the children to find, at first Jem doesn’t know it’s Boo but he graduall y pieces the personal objects and facts together and works it out. When Mr Nathan blocks up the knothole Jem is troubled, and he becomes conscious that the world of adults is not as he thought it would be, Boo’s attempt to stay in contact with the outside world has been diminished and there isn’t much he can do. He feels helpless and he weeps for Boo. During Miss Maudie’s house fire Jem acts like a father figure towards Scout he even uses Atticuss’ phrase ... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird In 1931, when Lee was five, nine young black men were accused of raping two white women near Scottsboro, Alabama. (A6) After a series of lengthy, highly publicized, and often bitter trials, four of the nine men were sentenced to long prison terms. (A8) Many prominent lawyers and other American citizens saw the sentences as spurious and motivated only by racial prejudice. (A9) Later, it was revealed that the women who had accused the men were lying. There can be little doubt that the Scottsboro Case, as the trials of the nine men came to be called, served as a seed for the trial that stands at the heart of Lee's novel. (B7) There were many other cases of racism that was clearly present through the 1930s, and all in all, it was the blacks who suffered the most.... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 1: To Kill a Mockingbird begins, "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow†¦When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out" (9). Only after one finishes Mockingbird does the significance of Jem's broken arm become apparent. How did it happen? Harper Lee refers to the subject only one other time at the end of the book, turning her attention instead to describing the setting and introducing her main characters. Through six-year old Scout, her narrator, Lee draws an affectionate and detailed portrait of Maycomb, Alabama, a small, sleepy, depression-era town. She writes, "People moved slowly then. They ambled across the square, shuf fled in and out of stores around it, took their time about everything. A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy, and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County" (11). In chapter one we meet Atticus, Scout's father, who left his home, Finch's Landing, down the river from Maycomb, to study law in Mobile, Alabama. Atticus returned to Maycomb to practice law and help his brother, Jack, through medical school. About Atticus, Scout relates, "He liked Maycomb, he was Maycomb County born and bred; he knew his people, and they knew him, and because of [his father's] industry, Atticus was related by blood or marriage to nearly every family in the town" (11). We meet Calpurnia, the Finch's housekeeper who Scout describes as "all angles and bones†¦her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard" (12). Scout, opinionated and vocal, faced Calpurnia's disci... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel to kill a mockingbird, Scout learns valuable lessons on prejudice in the town Maycomb, on the nature of courage, and on the dangers of judging others â€Å"before†¦climbing into their skin and walking around in it.† (Lee 33). Set in the mid 1930’s, Scout is a young girl living with her older brother Jem and her lawyer father Atticus. Growing up Scout learns many important things. Although the majority of Maycomb is prejudiced, Scout remains open and caring for all. She believes that everyone is equal. One of the important roles in Scout life is her father. Atticus is a small town lawyer and single parent. He tries to teach his children from right and wrong. He lives his life as he would like his children to live theirs. He gives everyone in Maycomb the respect they deserve regardless of their skin color. He proves this by defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. He teaches Scout and Jem that everybody deserves respect whether they are white or black. He also considers the black cook to be a part of their family and refuses to fire her when Scout aunt wants him to. Through everyday life Scout is able to realize what it means to be courageous. In the beginning of the novel, Scout encounters her neighbor who often shouted and criticized them. One day Jem cuts the top off her camellia bush in a fit of temper. Atticus finds out and orders him to apologize. His punishment had to read for one hour everyday for a month to Mrs. Dubose, the neighbor. Scout also goes with him. Later in the book Mrs. Dubose passes away from cancer. Atticus explains that she acted the way she did because of the pain she was. As a result, Jem and Scout learned about death and gained an understanding of Mrs. Dubose and the person she was. When Scout and Jem met Dill things became more exciting. After hearing gruesome tales of Boo Radley from Jem, Dill thinks up games about Boo. Although they were for fun in ... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird Chapter 1 In the beginning of the story, we got introduces to Jem. He has two friends named Dill and Boo. Jem’s mother died when he was two. There was this old abandoned house that everyone was afraid of. Dill dared Jem to go touch it. He didn’t want to, but he did it. He ran up and slapped the house. All that happened was the shutter flickered. Chapter 2 In the second chapter, Jem and Dell start school. One is in the 1st grade and the other is in 5th grade. Jem was a big trouble maker right away. We get introduced to Walter Cunningham. He is very poor and doesn’t have any money for lunch. A teacher gave him a quarter for lunch but he refused. Chapter 3 Burris Ewell was introduced in this chapter. He had a bad temper and was always dirty. He always skipped school. Miss Caroline made him go home because she thought she saw a cootie in his hair. Scout didn’t go to school anymore. Chapter 4 When Scout was walking home from school one day, she had noticed a shiny piece of tin in a knot hole in a tree. There was gum in there. Jem made her spit it out when she got home. Later on they were walking and found a box with 2 shiny pennies in it. Jem explained to everyone about the hot steam, Scout didn’t believe Jem, so that made Jem mad. Later they played the tire game and Scout ended up on Radley’s porch. Chapter 5 Dill and Jem had an agreement with Miss Maudi that they could play on her lawn if they didn’t jump on her flowers. Then there’s this boo Radley guy. He does nothing but sit in his house all day. He never comes out. The boys wrote him a note telling him to come out because they want to know what he does in there. The boys even offer to buy him ice cream. They were going to give him the note by sticking it to the end of a fish pole and sticking it through the shutters. Chapter 6 There’s this guy Mr. Avery that the boys are interested in. Every night he sits on his p... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird When Atticus Finch tells his children, â€Å"shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird† (p. 99), the mockingbird motif becomes apparent. This is the motif that gives the novel it’s name based upon an important theme and is directly related to two of the major characters. At first, this excerpt may appear to be insignificant to the story. However, the reader becomes aware that the mockingbird image is used extensively throughout the book. As the first half of the novel focuses on the mysterious Boo Radley and the second half on the Tom Robinson trial, both of these characters can be viewed as mockingbirds - harmless creatures who are unjustly persecuted by society. The full significance of Atticus’s remark, â€Å"it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird† (p. 99), is explained by Miss Maudie Atkinson. Miss Maudie informs Scout that mockingbirds do nothing but â€Å"sing their hearts out for us† (p. 100), making music for us to enjoy. They represent a gentle and innocent creature and the destruction of these birds is a senseless act of injustice. The slaughter of a mockingbird can be likened to the bigoted treatment of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. The children’s obsession with Boo Radley brings dominance to his character. Although he is rarely seen by Jem and Scout, it is his mystique that they find fascinating. He is a constant source of their conversations and games. Through his gifts in the tree, the mending of Jem’s pants and covering Scout with a blanket as she witnessed the burning of Miss Maudie’s house, the reader becomes aware, long before Scout does, that Boo is an affectionate person. He watches the children from a distance because he is too shy to come out and make friends. Because of Boo’s unsociable manner he is persecuted by the community. It is not until Boo saves Jem and Scout’s lives, by killing Bob Ewell, that Scout finally under... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird Jem Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird â€Å"To kill a Mockingbird† by Harper Lee is set a small town called Maycomb in Alabama, in the 1930s. The community of Maycomb is of mixed ethnicity and like most places of that time the white people believe they were the dominant race. The book is seen through the eyes of two children: Jem and Scout Finch who are growing up in this society. As Jem gets older he becomes conscious of the fact that this community and these adults who surround him are not always right and this makes him feel lost. Jem is older than Scout and clearly remembers his mother. His sensitive nature makes him more aware of her death and he misses her. When Jem meets Dill he analyses him, like most children and accepts him, Jem knows what it is like losing a parent so when Scout touches on the topic of Dills dad (who left him) Jem tells her to ‘hush’, this confirms his understanding of others. Jem believes that Boo’s form of intimidation by his Father to stay in the house was ‘to chain him to the bed’ and his wild child like imagination of Boo Radley at the beginning is important because as the book progresses and Jem gets older, he realizes that Boo is just a normal human being who might not want to go outside. Boo Radley’s attempt to keep in contact with the outside world is through Jem and Scout. He does this by placing his most prized possessions in a knothole in a tree for the children to find, at first Jem doesn’t know it’s Boo but he graduall y pieces the personal objects and facts together and works it out. When Mr Nathan blocks up the knothole Jem is troubled, and he becomes conscious that the world of adults is not as he thought it would be, Boo’s attempt to stay in contact with the outside world has been diminished and there isn’t much he can do. He feels helpless and he weeps for Boo. During Miss Maudie’s house fire Jem acts like a father figure towards Scout he even uses Atticuss’ phrase ... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird The theme with the most impact in 'To Kill a Mockingbird" is Prejudice. Prejudice is â€Å"a judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.† Throughout the novel, there were many incidents, but two of them stood out the more than others. These are the teachings of Ms. Gates and her enmity towards the atrocities of Adolf Hitler, while at the same time she hated blacks, and the prejudice of the American court system in the 1930's by saying they stand for justice but not accepting the statement themselves. In Ms Gates' classroom we read about her teaching the class that the Jews are being persecuted against by the Nazi's. According to Ms. Gates this is un-Christian and she finds these actions despicable. The prejudice of this teaching is shown as soon as she mentions the word persecution. â€Å"Yes, she said, Old Adolf Hitler has been persecuting the jews.† Pg.244. This indident shows that she herself is persecuting the black people of Maycomb by not raising an eyebrow to the killing of an innocent black man. It is also very prejudice when she mentions democracy, and the way that she is not at all democratic when it comes to the treatment of African Americans. â€Å"What does DEMOCRACY mean?† â€Å"Equal rights for all, special privileges for none.† â€Å"Very good Jean Louise, very good.† Pg. 245. This lady shows her blindness to the racial problems of the Deep South, where she herself lives, but feels a lot of empathy for the Jews who are being mistrea ted and slaughtered in Germany, many thousands of miles away. The American Courts of the 1930's were also prejudice. Truth and Justice were held as the most basic right for Americans. Truth in the Tom Robinson case was never a factor. The white jury knew that Bob Ewell had beaten his daughter Mayaella Ewell and that Tom was innocent. But because a human being had more color pigment in their skin it was assumed they would be guilty without questi... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird This story takes place in a small southern town in Alabama called Maycomb. The county was called Maycomb as well. The specific locations that were used in the book the most were the house of the main characters, Finch's landing, the Maycomb court room, and the Radly house. The time period of this book was around 1935. The central character, and the narrator of this book is Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout. Throughout the course of the book, Scout changed from an immature girl in overalls to a mature, young lady. Many characters affected this change, among those would be her older brother Jeremy Atticus Finch, better known as Jem. Scout looked up to Jem and followed in his footsteps. For example, when Jem and Dill Harris were planning to go to Boo Radly's house to place a note on the window Scout insisted that she tag along. Jem also tried to keep her safe like in the end when he tried to stop Bob Ewell from hurting her, even though it would only redirect the attack to hi! m. Another person who greatly affected Scout was Atticus Finch, her father, he contributed to her change by looking at her more like an adult than a child. Anytime she had a question that a child would not normally get an answer for asking, Atticus would give her a truthful answer. He also set good morals for Scout and Jem. For example, when she asked her uncle a question and he didn't give her a truthful answer Atticus got very upset about it, and later answered it for her. The next character who affected Scout would be her Aunt Alexandre, a person that Scout did not favor much throughout the book. Her Aunt desperately attempted to turn Scout into a young lady. Alexandre always contradicted what Atticus said, and never agreed with his ways of raising children. An example would be when Aunt Alexandre had a party for her friends, and Scout tried to impress the women by being extremely polite. Normally, Scout would be wearing overalls and she would speak her mind ... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird The theme with the most impact in 'To Kill a Mockingbird" is Prejudice. Prejudice is â€Å"a judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.† Throughout the novel, there were many incidents, but two of them stood out the more than others. These are the teachings of Ms. Gates and her enmity towards the atrocities of Adolf Hitler, while at the same time she hated blacks, and the prejudice of the American court system in the 1930's by saying they stand for justice but not accepting the statement themselves. In Ms Gates' classroom we read about her teaching the class that the Jews are being persecuted against by the Nazi's. According to Ms. Gates this is un-Christian and she finds these actions despicable. The prejudice of this teaching is shown as soon as she mentions the word persecution. â€Å"Yes, she said, Old Adolf Hitler has been persecuting the jews.† Pg.244. This indident shows that she herself is persecuting the black people of Maycomb by not raising an eyebrow to the killing of an innocent black man. It is also very prejudice when she mentions democracy, and the way that she is not at all democratic when it comes to the treatment of African Americans. â€Å"What does DEMOCRACY mean?† â€Å"Equal rights for all, special privileges for none.† â€Å"Very good Jean Louise, very good.† Pg. 245. This lady shows her blindness to the racial problems of the Deep South, where she herself lives, but feels a lot of empathy for the Jews who are being mistrea ted and slaughtered in Germany, many thousands of miles away. The American Courts of the 1930's were also prejudice. Truth and Justice were held as the most basic right for Americans. Truth in the Tom Robinson case was never a factor. The white jury knew that Bob Ewell had beaten his daughter Mayaella Ewell and that Tom was innocent. But because a human being had more color pigment in their skin it was assumed they would be guilty without questi... Free Essays on To KIll A Mockingbird To Kill A Mockingbird: Theme Throughout the book, To Kill A Mockingbird there have been many different themes surrounding the character Scout Finch, but right now I'm going to focus on the thymes of maturing and growing up. I felt that this would be most appropriate because the book revolves around Scout as she grows up as child. It is also based about how the county of Macomb survives during the depression, not only as a county but also as a home to the good people that live there. The story To Kill A Mockingbird, is based on a little girl who is faced with tough choices and excitement everyday. As she grows up in her little quiet town she becomes more knowledgeable and careful about life and things surrounding her with each step that she takes. Scout, the little girl’s name, feels like she is a kid and wants to stay that way for the time being. On the other hand her older brother Jem, wants to grow up as quick as possible and become a real man with real responsibility. Both of the children's immaturity is primarily based on a childhood â€Å"ghost† that lives down the street from them, which they had named â€Å"Boo† Radly. â€Å"Boo† was a crazy child who stabbed his father in the leg with scissors, wiped the blood off and kept working. He also was in the closest thing that Macomb had ever seen to a gang. His father said that he would reprimand â€Å"Boo† for his crimes himself, instead of having the court do it. In doing so he locked â€Å"Boo† in the house and hasn’t let him out in over 15 years. The children are fascinated with â€Å"Boo† and attempt to get a look at their â€Å"ghost†. They also give each other dares like to go up and tough the front porch of the Radly household. I think that this adds to their immaturity because they actually believe in a ghost that haunts their town and only comes out on moonless nights. We all know that ghosts might exist but as a spirit, not as one to reek havoc on there county and eat r... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird Book Analysis To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, as the youngest of Amaza Coleman Lee and Frances Finch Lee’s four children. Harper Lee was enrolled in Huntington College from 1944-1945. Following that she went on to study law at the University of Alabama (1945-1949). In the 1950’s Harper Lee moved to New York and worked as a reservation clerk with Eastern Airlines and BOAC in New York City. While living in New York she gave up her position with the airline and moved to a cheap, worn-down apartment to focus more on her writing. During this time her father was struck with an illness that required her to make frequent trips to visit him in Monroeville. In 1957, Harper Lee submitted the manuscript of a novel consisting of a series of short stories to the J.B. Lippincott Company. The J.B. Lippincott Company refused the novel but urged her to re-write it. It took her two and a half years and the help of her editor, Tay Hohoff, to re-write t he novel and finalize To Kill A Mockingbird. The novel was published in 1960, and remains Harper Lee’s only published book. Harper Lee’s outstanding novel To Kill A Mockingbird won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was transformed into an award winning motion picture in 1962. The story is set in a small Alabama town, similar to the one Harper Lee was raised in, during the 1930s. A six-year-old girl named Jean Louise Finch, but better known as Scout, narrates the story. Having such a young narrator gives the story a certain innocence that wouldn’t be present had an adult told it. In Part I Scout introduces the town of Maycomb; it’s people and their ways. Accompanied by her older brother Jem and intriguing friend Dill, they satisfy the long, drawn out days of summer. In Part II Scout conveys the events relating to a court case where her father, Atticus Finch, is defending a black man who has been fal... Free Essays on To Kill A Mockingbird â€Å"To Kill A Mockingbird† ~Harper Lee~ In the book, â€Å"To Kill A Mockingbird† by Harper Lee growth in the characters is a very important point he tries to get through to the reader. The character that is most involved in growth is Jeremy Finch(Jem). Throughout the book one can see Jem’s growth towards becoming a young man by the trials and tests he goes through in his childhood. Perhaps the greatest moment of his change from child to man was when his friend, Dill, ran away from home and too Jem’s house. When Jem found Dill hiding out under the bed it didn’t take him long to go tell his father he was there. His sister best says states this change when she says, â€Å"Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood.† (P. 143) She said that refering to when Jem went to tell his father of Dill’s presence. Another moment of Jems â€Å"growing up† comes when he and Scout (his sister) are sleeping on the back porch. When the two are lieing there ready to go to sleep Scout is playing with a bug, when she is ready to sleep she goes to do what any other normal kid would do, smash it. Jem had different ideas about that and didn’t want Scout to do is, and being the loveing sister she is she doesn’t. Although she doesn’t kill the bug she still gets in her bit of teasing when she makes fun of Jem by saying, â€Å"Reckon you’re at the stage now where you don’t kill flies and mosquitoes now, I reckon.†(P. 241) A moment of Jem’s growth comes when he is faced with a life and death situation. When he and his sister were walking home in the dark from the Halloween pageant they were attacked by Bob Ewell. They were eventually saved by Mr. Radley (Boo), but what Scout says at the end of the book shows how Jem had not been afraid. She says, â€Å"Jem wasn’t scared. Asked him and he said he wasn’t.† (p. 283) She tells th...