Mockingbird
Theme Analysis
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel with a purpose of demonstrating various themes that apply to life in general. It is about a young girl, Scout, who grows up in a world where injustice is practiced among most people. As the novel progresses, Scout learns from numerous people, such as her father, her brother, and her neighbors, that intolerance of others plays an important role in Maycomb County. As a result of the way she is brought up by Atticus, Scout matures becoming one of the few in Maycomb who accept people for who they are. The novel portrays the theme that it is human nature to judge people negatively, but it is possible to triumph over this impulse of intolerance. Prejudice is symbolized in the story and plays a vital role in depicting this theme of bias. In the court scene, Tom Robinson stated that he helped Mayella Ewell with her chores simply because nobody else in her family would lend a hand, and he felt sympathy for the way she lived and was treated. “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?” (197). Mr. Gilmer, who is questioning Tom, doesn’t believe it is right for a Negroe to feel sorry for a white person, even if the white person lives under much worse conditions than the Negroe. He finds it unacceptable that Tom should show even a hint of superiority towards Mayella, even when that was not Tom’s intention. It is unheard of for a Negroe to be compassionate, kind, and sincere, but this judgment is extremely inaccurate, for Tom and other Negroes in Maycomb possess these qualities. Discrimination is also displayed in a form of stereotypes that Maycomb gave to the Negroes. “Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw” (240). It was a stereotype in Maycomb for black people to have no goal in life, which is why Tom supposedly ran to escape from the prison, risking his life
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel with a purpose of demonstrating various themes that apply to life in general. It is about a young girl, Scout, who grows up in a world where injustice is practiced among most people. As the novel progresses, Scout learns from numerous people, such as her father, her brother, and her neighbors, that intolerance of others plays an important role in Maycomb County. As a result of the way she is brought up by Atticus, Scout matures becoming one of the few in Maycomb who accept people for who they are. The novel portrays the theme that it is human nature to judge people negatively, but it is possible to triumph over this impulse of intolerance. Prejudice is symbolized in the story and plays a vital role in depicting this theme of bias. In the court scene, Tom Robinson stated that he helped Mayella Ewell with her chores simply because nobody else in her family would lend a hand, and he felt sympathy for the way she lived and was treated. “You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her?” (197). Mr. Gilmer, who is questioning Tom, doesn’t believe it is right for a Negroe to feel sorry for a white person, even if the white person lives under much worse conditions than the Negroe. He finds it unacceptable that Tom should show even a hint of superiority towards Mayella, even when that was not Tom’s intention. It is unheard of for a Negroe to be compassionate, kind, and sincere, but this judgment is extremely inaccurate, for Tom and other Negroes in Maycomb possess these qualities. Discrimination is also displayed in a form of stereotypes that Maycomb gave to the Negroes. “Tom’s death was typical. Typical of a nigger to cut and run. Typical of a nigger’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw” (240). It was a stereotype in Maycomb for black people to have no goal in life, which is why Tom supposedly ran to escape from the prison, risking his life