Catherine Comrie
Mrs. Riordan
Honors English
22 November 2022
The Song of Freedom: Symbolism and Meaning in To Kill a Mockingbird Many attempts have been made throughout the years to turn successful novels into successful films. This was also the case with the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. It is fascinating to look at how the story transitioned from the award-winning novel that Harper Lee wrote to the award-winning film that people still love and respect today. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during the Great Depression, in Maycomb, a small town in Alabama. A lawyer by the name of Atticus Finch is defending a black man, falsely accused of raping a white woman. Many types of prejudice take place in Maycomb, and the author
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In writing the novel “she framed an Alabama melodrama that etched its issues in black and white,” (Rothman, p.3) in doing this she was “highlighting numerous flaws in the justice system as well as societal attitudes of the time” (Wheeler, p.3). Lee also took inspiration from her own life. The character named Dill was based on a friend from Lee’s childhood, author Truman Capote (Pfeiffer, p.2). Lee's most significant inspiration comes from the fact that she grew up in a small town in Alabama very similar to Maycomb. Like Maycomb, Lee’s childhood town, Monroeville, was charming and small. However, it was not without its problems. During Harper Lee’s childhood, Jim Crow laws certainly impacted Monroeville. Lily Rothman from TIME, observes that “Harper Lee found quite as much to fear as to love in Maycomb county,”(p.3). Despite their quaint charm both Monroeville and Maycomb had issues and challenges just below the surface. Lastly, Harper Lee’s inspiration for Atticus is largely believed to come from her father, who was also a lawyer by the name of Amasa Coleman Lee. As Zaineb Al Hassani states “Forming the backbone of the book the court case and subsequent tragic outcome mirrors similar events that took place in Lee’s early life…during her childhood years Lee’s father tried and failed to defend two black men accused of murder in 1919. Their execution marked the last time Asama would ever handle a criminal
To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee in 1962 during the Civil Rights movement, but was set in Alabama in the 1930s. Lee’ father, who was a lawyer in the South during a time of racial prejudice paralleling Atticus, defended an innocent Black men in a case he later lost. Similar to Atticus, Lee’s father lost the case because his client was Black. Having experienced this racial prejudice first hand, Lee chose to write this novel to highlight the racial injustice that took place during the 1930s and the many effects that occured from the racism. Lee uses ethos and logos in Atticus’s speech to the jury, to inform the reader of the injustices of racism.
In the classic novel To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee takes on the malignant impact of racism, a deeply rooted problem, from a different perspective and teaches readers what it truly means to be a good person as she brings to life one of the most virtuous characters in American literature-Atticus Finch. Told through the eyes of a young child, readers learn about the heavy prejudice embedded in the people of Maycomb County and the loss of innocence that is brought upon the kids as a racial conflict spurs a series of significant events in their quiet town. Taken place during the early years of the Great Depression, Maycomb must face its biggest problem-racism. Atticus Finch is the lawyer who defends this case and ultimately brings a
Mockingbird, a southern novel, Harper Lee uses the characterization of Atticus and Boo Radley. Lee also uses the symbolism of the mockingbird in her book. Both the characters and the symbolism show that innocence should be defended rather than attacked. To begin with, Atticus develops the theme by defending his children from racism and, also, defending Tom in court despite all the struggles.
The book “To Kill A Mockingbird” was written by Harper lee. Throughout the book Lee uses a story to get a deeper meaning out to her audience and the world. During the where the story was set there were inequality issues and very prejudice opinions. Intertwined in the book she addresses the controversial topics like race and different forms of prejudice. There were several different forms of prejudice in this book.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is based in a small town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the early 1930’s. The story is narrated by Atticus Finch's daughter Scout. The main character, Atticus Finch is the father of Scout and Jem, growing up they were taught to accept people by who they are, not the color of their skin, they lived in a town where racism was very popular. Atticus Finch was a liberal lawyer who took on the case of Tom Robinson, an african american man who was accused of beating and raping a white woman named Mayella, many in the town of Maycomb didn't approve of a white man helping an african american who everyone believed beat and raped Mayella.
In the fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the book is based off of her real life experiences and paints an image of what life looked like back in the 1930s. The setting of the scene begins in the south of a small town named Maycomb, Alabama. The novel presents numerous examples of racial prejudice towards African Americans, and it presents how helpless they are. In the novel, Harper Lee portrays a character named Atticus Finch as a hero. Atticus, who is a white man, intelligent lawyer, and the father of two, is asked to represent a black man named Tom Robinson in court, who was accused of raping a white women.
In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee talks about discrimination based on gender role, age, and skin color. The characters in this book all have different personalities that influences others. Maycomb, Alabama in 1930’s is where everything happened with slavery and struggling with being poor. The characters Scout, Jem, and Dill had a strong bond and had lots of courage. Shows that justice means other things to other people.
Society shaped Harper Lee to write To Kill a Mockingbird because she grew up in an extremely racist time period. To illustrate this, on biography.com¹, it reads “Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama.” In other words, Lee was born in the heart of the south in 1926, a time before equality was widespread. The evidence highlights that Lee grew up in a very racist period in the south, including segregation and the famous Scottsboro Trials. Another example is on page 331, Scout says “Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was - she was goin’ down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her - she was talking to Miss Stephanie Crawford.
The poet, Lascelles Abercrombie once said, “There is only one thing which can master the perplexed stuff of epic material into unity; and that is, an ability to see in particular human experience some significant symbolism of man 's general destiny.”. He talked about how powerful of a tool symbolism is and how it is the only thing that can truly define a highly complex ‘destiny’ or series of events. Symbolism is something that is found throughout Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee shows the reader that racism is a product of society,she portrays the matter through her symbolism of the mad dog, the birds and the bugs.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published in 1960 and is set in the American South during the 1930’s; Lee grew up during this harsh time, which paints a vivid and clear picture of what it was really like during the events that had unfolded. “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen” (Winston Churchill). In the plot, there is many themes that can define the characters, and how they carry themselves in life. Some are good standing people, some abuse their power, and a couple of them don’t understand and are innocent. In this story, created by Lee, there are three common themes that help shape both good and bad characters, morality, courage, and justice.
Harper Lee lived in a state that adhered to the Jim Crow Laws as she was growing up. Next, the rise of Lynching culture was a way to send people of color to their death with just an accusation of them doing any wrong, and without giving them the right to court. "That blacks are being victimized, now, in greater numbers. And the reason that is given for this rise in lynchings, which reaches a peak in 1892, is the accusation that black
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression, a time of great economic hardship in America. While many problems were happening at the time, one of the most significant and pervasive issues was discrimination and prejudice. In Maycomb, racism and segregation were normalized, and gender bias and classism were also prevalent. Women were expected to act in a certain way, exemplified by Aunt Alexandria's constant nagging of Scout to be more ladylike.
The classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is a perfect example of a way to look into the past and see what it was like from a first-person point of view. This novel shows what it was really like in the deep south of Maycomb Alabama, and takes place around the early 1930s, one of the most racist periods in history. This novel is from the point of view of our young Jean Louise ( Scout) Finch, who lives with her older brother Jem and her father Atticus. Atticus, a strong-willed character with a good moral compass, is a lawyer, defending a black
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in the small fictional town Maycomb of Alabama during the Great Depression. Due to the location of this town, most of the townspeople are related in a way and have become familiar with one another. This provokes a social hierarchy to be developed based on wealth, race, and history and multiple forms of prejudice emerges. As we see Jem and Scout mature, they witness the injustice that is brought upon the Cunninghams, Tom Robinson, and Arthur “Boo” Radley. As social division continues to prevail, prejudice remains unresolved because discrimination has become a part of the social mores deeply embedded in Maycomb.
Harper Lee wants to tell us that it takes courage NOT to kill a mockingbird Courage and the symbol of the mockingbird are two of the most important, or in fact in my opinion the most important themes, which are addressed and displayed in the highly praised, but also controversial novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee. I will try to interpret these two motives and show how they are strongly connected to each other. There are many different types of courage and many people who all show it in their own personal way. If people talk about bravery and courage, they mostly think of the physical kind of courage. But there are also other kinds, which are often forgotten or cast aside by their big brother: moral and emotional courage.