THEMES
COURAGE.
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
- Atticus Finch”
Atticus Finch is perceived as the good in the novella. His kind heart moves the audience to feel emotionally attached to Tom Robinson. The intention of the author was to make people realise the wrong in prejudice. Harper Lee wanted to raise awareness for racism in society and prove to people how unjust it is. This is expression through the injustices places throughout the novella such as, Tom Robinson being accused of bashing and raping a young woman. The theme consists of both concern and reflection. It is a concern for society and a reflection of the ongoing injustice surrounding society.
- Atticus Finch”
Atticus Finch is perceived as the good in the novella. His kind heart moves the audience to feel emotionally attached to Tom Robinson. The intention of the author was to make people realise the wrong in prejudice. Harper Lee wanted to raise awareness for racism in society and prove to people how unjust it is. This is expression through the injustices places throughout the novella such as, Tom Robinson being accused of bashing and raping a young woman. The theme consists of both concern and reflection. It is a concern for society and a reflection of the ongoing injustice surrounding society.
GOOD VS EVIL.
"Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom's jury, but you saw something come between them and reason. You saw the same thing that night in front of the jail......There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads --- they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life." – Atticus Finch.
The author’s intention is shown through the theme good vs. evil and the shown characters. The intention is that people are discriminated because of their background. Evil triumphs for the wrong reason, had a bitter sweet victory. Good accepts it, and respects evil’s decision to end Tom Robinson’s life despite the fact that it is morally wrong and unjust.
The novel is set in a period of time where racism was accepted and normal. It was a regular thing because society was naïve towards the rights of African Americans. It is a battle that unfortunately is normally won by evil because of the period of time it was set in. If these circumstances were to take place in the present day the outcome wouldn’t have been influenced by people’s opinions of African Americans.
The author’s intention is shown through the theme good vs. evil and the shown characters. The intention is that people are discriminated because of their background. Evil triumphs for the wrong reason, had a bitter sweet victory. Good accepts it, and respects evil’s decision to end Tom Robinson’s life despite the fact that it is morally wrong and unjust.
The novel is set in a period of time where racism was accepted and normal. It was a regular thing because society was naïve towards the rights of African Americans. It is a battle that unfortunately is normally won by evil because of the period of time it was set in. If these circumstances were to take place in the present day the outcome wouldn’t have been influenced by people’s opinions of African Americans.
JUSTICE/ LAW AND ORDER
"Atticus, you must be wrong...." "How's that?" "Well, most folks seem to think they're right and you're wrong...."
In to kill a mocking bird, we see justice/law and order through a few characters, mainly Atticus Finch, Atticus takes hold of a case and defends a black man as he believes him being judged unfairly. Tom Robinson is another character affected by the law, as he is clearly not guilty but because of his skin colour he is seen as guilty.
The intention of to kill a mockingbird is to show the injustice behaviour of the time period. Harper lee uses Tom Robinsons case to show how poorly African American people were treated by the law. Harper lee is trying to tell readers how society was unfair and how the law simply didn’t care about the case because only the skin colour effected the outcome.
To kill a mockingbird was set in the period of the 1930s a time where the law was far from just. Harper lee expresses her agitation with this time period and how African Americans were treated by the law. The theme of law and order is expressed through the character of Tom Robinson as he is clearly not guilty of the rape of Mayella, however he is found guilty because of his skin colour. This is a great example of what the world used to be like, the Tom Robinson case was decided before he entered the court room.
Justice is not apparent within to kill a mocking bird, this can be seen in Tom Robinson’s case as he was treated unfairly because he is black, the jury had already made their decision before the court sessions because he is black and racism was okay back then.
In to kill a mocking bird, we see justice/law and order through a few characters, mainly Atticus Finch, Atticus takes hold of a case and defends a black man as he believes him being judged unfairly. Tom Robinson is another character affected by the law, as he is clearly not guilty but because of his skin colour he is seen as guilty.
The intention of to kill a mockingbird is to show the injustice behaviour of the time period. Harper lee uses Tom Robinsons case to show how poorly African American people were treated by the law. Harper lee is trying to tell readers how society was unfair and how the law simply didn’t care about the case because only the skin colour effected the outcome.
To kill a mockingbird was set in the period of the 1930s a time where the law was far from just. Harper lee expresses her agitation with this time period and how African Americans were treated by the law. The theme of law and order is expressed through the character of Tom Robinson as he is clearly not guilty of the rape of Mayella, however he is found guilty because of his skin colour. This is a great example of what the world used to be like, the Tom Robinson case was decided before he entered the court room.
Justice is not apparent within to kill a mocking bird, this can be seen in Tom Robinson’s case as he was treated unfairly because he is black, the jury had already made their decision before the court sessions because he is black and racism was okay back then.
PARENTING
‘It’s when you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway.’
“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Atticus: Atticus is a symbol of morality and reason and he passes these traits down to Jem and scout and he treats them like adults and with respect and honestly answers their questions and uses social/public situations as opportunities to pass on those values to his children. Bob Ewell: Harper lee juxtaposes bob to Atticus and uses bob to represent the injustices and how discrimination can addle someone’s traits and outlook on rights and wrongs.
an example of this is shown through how he treats his daughter by both physically and sexually abusing her, as well as bob Ewell gathering a group of white folk to come and kill tom Robinson. Calpurnia: at the start of the book we see Calpurnia as just a simple house maid for Atticus but, later in the book as we indulge into the world of to kill a mocking bird we realise harper lees intentions of writing her into this masterpiece. Throughout the novel we realise the kind of impact she has on both Jem and Scout and through Atticus and how he teaches her both jem and scout are able to see through the conglomerate of racial discrimination and how they are accepted in the society at that time,
Harper lee wrote to kill a mockingbird to address these discriminations at their rawest of forms, using certain charcters to express how racial, physical and emotion abuse and discrimination can affect one self in the sense of how they act towards those that are different to them and further tese traits onto others and most likely their children. This theme can easily represent both as the beliefs and traits of someone can easily be influencing at an early age, as a child is in their most infant and innocent stage of life it is up to what their parents chose to teach them and what outlook of justice and injustice they will grow up to believe is right.
“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
Atticus: Atticus is a symbol of morality and reason and he passes these traits down to Jem and scout and he treats them like adults and with respect and honestly answers their questions and uses social/public situations as opportunities to pass on those values to his children. Bob Ewell: Harper lee juxtaposes bob to Atticus and uses bob to represent the injustices and how discrimination can addle someone’s traits and outlook on rights and wrongs.
an example of this is shown through how he treats his daughter by both physically and sexually abusing her, as well as bob Ewell gathering a group of white folk to come and kill tom Robinson. Calpurnia: at the start of the book we see Calpurnia as just a simple house maid for Atticus but, later in the book as we indulge into the world of to kill a mocking bird we realise harper lees intentions of writing her into this masterpiece. Throughout the novel we realise the kind of impact she has on both Jem and Scout and through Atticus and how he teaches her both jem and scout are able to see through the conglomerate of racial discrimination and how they are accepted in the society at that time,
Harper lee wrote to kill a mockingbird to address these discriminations at their rawest of forms, using certain charcters to express how racial, physical and emotion abuse and discrimination can affect one self in the sense of how they act towards those that are different to them and further tese traits onto others and most likely their children. This theme can easily represent both as the beliefs and traits of someone can easily be influencing at an early age, as a child is in their most infant and innocent stage of life it is up to what their parents chose to teach them and what outlook of justice and injustice they will grow up to believe is right.
PREJUDICE AND BIGOTRY
‘When it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s the white man always wins.’
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
Scout and Jem: prejudice is expressed through these characters as they learn how wrong it all is. Tom Robinson: He’s a black man in court going against a white man, he doesn’t have a chance. Atticus: he expresses prejudice by teaching his kids not to judge people by the colour of their skin or how much money they have. He’s a moral man. Boo Radley: everyone thinks he’s a monster because he doesn’t come out of the house, however he’s a really caring man.
The concern is racism in particular. How much black people were actually discriminated upon. They have no say in society, and there’s no chance for them. They live in a split society. She’s trying to raise the concern for it to the readers so they can fix the problem. From Tom Robinson being charged with rape on the young white woman Mayella Ewell, when tom never did anything. Yes prejudice is a concern of the context Justice because is pretty much the opposite of fair as people aren’t treated with human rights, rather how people see them in the society they live in.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
Scout and Jem: prejudice is expressed through these characters as they learn how wrong it all is. Tom Robinson: He’s a black man in court going against a white man, he doesn’t have a chance. Atticus: he expresses prejudice by teaching his kids not to judge people by the colour of their skin or how much money they have. He’s a moral man. Boo Radley: everyone thinks he’s a monster because he doesn’t come out of the house, however he’s a really caring man.
The concern is racism in particular. How much black people were actually discriminated upon. They have no say in society, and there’s no chance for them. They live in a split society. She’s trying to raise the concern for it to the readers so they can fix the problem. From Tom Robinson being charged with rape on the young white woman Mayella Ewell, when tom never did anything. Yes prejudice is a concern of the context Justice because is pretty much the opposite of fair as people aren’t treated with human rights, rather how people see them in the society they live in.