To What Extent Are Life Values and Lessons Reflected Throughout The Novel To Kill A Mockingbird and Jasper Jones.
By Eloise Cotter (9 English 1)
Powerful morals and truths are revealed throughout the novels To Kill A Mockingbird and Jasper Jones. These texts focus upon a series of relevant themes including prejudice and growing up. Both these novels present these themes through the eyes of the protagonists and their childlike innocence as extraordinary sequences of events change their lives and views forever. With both authors’ use of various literary techniques, the audience is truly capable of understanding the themes of prejudice and growth and recognising the various life lessons that are taught throughout.
The classic novel To Kill A
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The storyline centres around 13-year-old Charlie Bucktin, who is taken by surprise to find Jasper Jones at his window. He is taken to discover the body of a dead girl and it immediately becomes a whodunnit situation, with the town outcasts at the top of the suspect list. The audience watches as the town starts to spiral into madness and the citizens start to blame and resent each other. Likewise, with To Kill A Mockingbird, the characters who obtain a difference in race and appearance experience the largest forms of prejudice. The external struggle of the Vietnam War stirs conflict within Corrigan, particularly against Charlie’s Vietnamese neighbours, the Lu family. Throughout this period of war, the Lu’s experience racial abuse, both verbally and physically. Their son Jeffrey is frequently bullied by the members of his cricket team, only accepting him when he succeeds. “His teammates. In unison those belligerent bastards, yelling, “Shot, Cong!” across the field, at once turning an insult into a nickname” (Pg 240). Jeffrey’s family are also viciously attacked by a group of men from the town. “I see four men destroying An Lu’s garden, headlit by their own ute” (Pg 266). The town’s cruel citizens do not only target the racially different, but the different in general. Mad Jack Lionel is considered the town misfit, being blamed immediately for Laura Wishart’s death. Craig Silvey’s use of characterisation sculpts an idea of what Mad Jack’s personality is like. “Of course, the extent and nature of his crimes have grown worse over time, which only adds more hay to the stack and buries the pin ever deeper. But as the myth grows in girth, so too does our fear of the mad killer hidden in his home” (Pg 5). The readers interpret this description and associate it with the supposed murder due to his character outline. It is only when
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-” “[Atticus]?” “-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”(lee 36). Harper Lee’s finest piece of literature, To Kill a Mockingbird, shares the story of young “Scout” Jean Louise Finch and her older adolescent brother, Jem Finch. Their father, Atticus, attempts to teach his children to treat everyone with compassion, forgiveness and acceptance, contrary to the other families of their home town, Maycomb County. To judge a person entirely off of his or her first impression is common with children, but the Finch’s later realize their significant mistake after getting to know them.
In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ social and racial stereotyping is overcome through empathy whether it affects the characters or the readers of the novel. Ultimately, Harper Lee has created a sense of empathy throughout the novel through the use of offsetting the use of prejudice in our daily
Two works of literature can convey the same theme, but have completely different story lines. Although they have their similarities, in this case, the message that is conveyed, the difference lies in the role of the characters and how they take the message and roll with it. In the novels, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, they convey multiple similar themes but are very different because of the characters’ attitudes towards the different conflicts. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel told from a perspective of a grown southern woman, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, who experiences racism as a young girl and hardly deals with it emotionally. The novel starts out with the fact that Jeremy "Jem" Finch,
“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”(Lee 30). These are the words of Atticus Finch, the wisest character in the famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. He is a fictional man that embodies human traits that all people should strive to emulate. In the novel; narrated by Atticus’ daughter Jean Louise Finch, more often referred to as Scout; Atticus defends a black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping a white female, Mayella Ewell. The main message of the text is the prominence of racial injustice, specifically in the 1930’s, the era the novel takes place in.
The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is a timeless classic that brings up heavy topics through a small town in Maycomb, Alabama. The main character, Scout Finch is a young maturing girl, continuing to develop as she explores and observes the town around her. As Scout develops to an age where she can attend school, it becomes clear that the most effective form of education is not inside the classroom but rather extending beyond, into her daily experiences. Through her personal interactions and experiences- her relationship with Boo Radley, her observations of Tom Robinson’s case, and her moral education from her father Atticus, Scout learns multiple important lessons such as fighting for what is right, not making assumptions from rumors
Life lessons must be taught by others to influence the growth of young children. Throughout the novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ several life lessons are taught to Jem and Scout, thus impacting their growth and maturity. Scout and Jem’s morals and values develop due to the interaction with various characters. Atticus teach his children about empathy; to not judge others until you view things from their perspective.
Jasper Jones Essay Throughout the novel, Charlie must question his conventional notions of right and wrong. How are language techniques used to demonstrate the theme of morality and ethics? Jasper Jones, the iconic Australian novel, explores the main theme of morality and ethics, through a range of language techniques and conventions. As the story progresses, Silvey constantly challenges Charlie’s notions of right and wrong, with the use of narrative, language conventions and techniques, and unique writing styles. The story is mainly written using a first-person view seen through the eyes of Charlie, who is also the narrator.
In “To Kill A Mockingbird,” the author of the novel, Harper Lee, communicates many themes through her story, often involving racism, the trials and tribulations of growing up, and the many sides of life itself. One of the most profound themes of this novel, however, concerns the loss of one innocence, and how this may affect their view on life. The author conveys this theme by using the juxtaposition of Scout and Jem Finch. One side of this theme is shown thorough Jem, the eldest son of the family. Jem shares most of his experiences with Scout, and he shows a level of maturity beyond his years, which is maintained through the most challenging of situations.
To Kill a Mockingbird Argumentative Essay Racial equality and discrimination is a founding issue that has been spread throughout every part of the world, To Kill A Mockingbird was written and published by Harper Lee in 1960, this time was dominated by civil rights protests and some of the first hippie movements following the crushing reality of the Vietnam War, the 60s also saw the struggle against segregation and racial equality. It is no surprise that the extreme political conflict affecting her life and world would greatly impact her writing and influence how she perceived the world during the writing of To Kill a Mockingbird. the influence of the fight for racial inequality is shown greatly in her book as she depicts the everyday life
In the novel Jasper Jones the ideas of racism, family and friendship are greatly influenced by the context of the novel. This essay will explain how an understanding of the time, setting, context of the author and my own context influences each of these ideas. The context in Jasper Jones influences the idea of racism a lot and also affects the characters. Jasper Jones is set in 1965, in a small town called Corrigan in Australia.
Dhyanee Bhatt 9A Scout’s Development for Narration All of us grow, develop, and adapt to our surroundings according to what we see and learn. However, we don’t always only the just induce the positive values, but also adapt to the disadvantageous values, as well. To Kill a Mockingbird is a unique novel written by Harper Lee, which tells about a sophisticated family living in a small town. The focus of the book is Scout, the main character and an innocent child, and the story is presented from her perspective.
As a little boy dealing with the death of an old ill-tempered neighbor to the unsettling conclusion of an unfair trial of an African American man, Jem Finch had grown significantly. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main protagonist’s older brother, Jem Finch faces many challenges that makes him grow. Jem also faces the injustice of Tom Robinson an African American who had been accused of raping a white woman that his father Atticus is defending. During those events Jem’s coming of age develops with conflict, characterization, and mood.
As the book goes on and the characters change, ethical dilemmas about fear, and racism are seen. Additionally, what the book has to say about moral values and how things are done is mentioned in this essay. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee depicts the crude reality of Ethical Dilemmas in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1950s. One of the first Ethical Dilemmas presented in the book is what are the morals of the people in Maycomb. It is clear that Maycomb has differences in how people act, but that is different on what their moral values are.
In To Kill a Mockingbird there is several examples of how family values impact the story and the way characters develop. One of the main family values in the story is how the Finches view race; since they live in Alabama during the 1940s there is a lot of racism and the father is defending an african american in a rape case where many people believe that he should automatically be hung. An example of different values is “My folks said your daddy is a disgrace an’ that nigger should hang”
Scout shows these values in To Kill a Mockingbird, and provides a unique way of looking at people differently. This was probably Harper Lee’s doing, Scout is used by Lee to illustrate many ideals. Such ideals include courteousness when she defends Atticus to stand up for what she believes in, and how Scout can step into someone else’s shoes to see their point of view. By putting these ideals in a kid’s perspective, Lee is able to convey these ideas with more ease because people can follow along with Scout and remember the importance of these ideals as she is learning them for the first time. Many people can forget these basic values, and Lee emphasizes through her characters and novel that they are important and reminds people that even the simplest of values can make the biggest