Harper Lee
I. Introduction: This book seen through the eyes of Scout Finch, a 6 year old Alabamian in the 1930’s, during the depression. She has the honor to be the daughter of one of the towns’ bravest lawyers, Atticus Finch. Scout is without a mother and lives with her father, Jim, her brother, and Calpurnia, a cook from the Virgin Islands.
II. Need Step: This broken down into three lessons that exclusively give into the key morals that all humans have a fault with.
III. Preview: Harper Lee sheds light on these three points:
Put yourself in other people’s shoes
Don’t kill Mockingbirds
Keep fighting even if you know you’ll lose
a. Put yourself in others people’s shoes
Across the street from the Finch family, lives Arthur Radley or “Boo”. Boo Radley is a recluse and the kids always thought of him as a mean and that he eats rodents. They don’t know Boo at all, but the readers are told the secret to all the madness. Arthur Radley was wild in his younger years and got in trouble with law. As a result, his father kept him enclosed in the house. It takes a year and a couple of significant events for the children to understand this moral account.
b. Don’t kill Mockingbirds
One day Atticus gives the kids a rifle and explains to them that they can shoot everything except a Mockingbird because Mockingbirds do nothing but bring joy. He metaphorically uses this to explain that killing a mockingbird would be equilivent to taking advantage of someone weaker than you.
c. Keep fighting even if you know you’ll lose
Atticus has agreed to be the defensive lawyer in the case of a black man, Tom Robinson being accused of raping a white woman. Atticus knows the outcome of the case won’t be in his favor, but he does it more so because it’s the fair thing to do. He knows a white jury isn’t going to acquit a black man accused of raping a white woman. Atticus’s children are attacked by the victim’s father and Boo Radley saves them.
IV. Review: In Conclusion: I have explained the three lessons that Atticus wants Jim and Scout to learn.
Lasting Impression: Harper Lee does a fantastic job at allowing her readers to take a look at the world through the eyes of 6 year old Scout Finch. She is young and despite seeing the unfairness of life, still is able to see the value of life and that to understand people you must put yourself in their shoes.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Atticus defends Tom Robinson, an innocent black man who is being accused of beating and raping 19-year-old Mayella Ewell. He knows he is innocent and knows that if he does not defend Tom nobody else will because he is black. Atticus proves he is not a follower by defending…
- 833 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
It must be acknowledged that there were several negative outcomes of Atticus’ decision to take on the case of Tom Robinson. For instance, when it is first discovered by the people of Maycomb that Mr. Finch has assumed the black man’s case, even their children lash out against Scout and Jem, nearly causing a fight in the schoolyard as a result (Lee 77). However, Atticus uses this as a teaching moment for his children, which is then imparted along to the vast number of readers who have studied the pages of To Kill A Mockingbird, learning the same invaluable lesson that Scout does, to “hold [one’s] head high and keep [one’s] fists down” and continue to stand and fight for what is right and just (Lee 78). Furthermore, some could question the wisdom…
- 261 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In the story Of Mice and Men many characters break social conventions with each other. Comparing Lennie and Montresour the both of them can be unpredictable. Each one has a different belief system. How this comparison is shown is how I believe they broke social conventions in favor of their own ideas…
- 701 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
During the south in the 1930s, life was horrible. It was time of the Great Depression where countries like the United States were hit hard. It was a severe worldwide economic depression leading to World War II. It originated from a dramatic fall in stock prices in the US with a major stock market crash. The Great Depression had devastating effects to many peoples’ lives both rich and poor in the US, especially in the South. Because of the great economic can decline, many people lost their jobs. Farming and other rural areas also suffered as crop prices fell. Life was very hard during the 1930s. Since many people didn’t have jobs, it was hard to survive and buy food to feed the family. Poverty was a big problem in the US especially during the Great Depression. In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, it was a story that happened during the 1930s that tells us how peoples were very poor and how hard it was for them to survive. For example in Chapter 1 of the book, Scout being the narrator explains how her town Maycomb was a tired old town, where nothing happened much. She quoted: “People were moving slowly then, there was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with…” This explains how people had nowhere to go and had hardly any money at all to buy stuff they liked. Another example was in 17 where Scout as narrator talks about the Ewell’s live as a example of poverty. She says: “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump in what was once a Negro cabin…” This quote tells us how poor they were that the Ewells had to live behind the town’s garbage dump because they could afford a house to live in. It is very sad to see how people struggled to survive in the South during the 1930s. Another example from the text was when they talked about the Cunninghams. The Cunninghams were so poor that they couldn’t afford shoes for their children, so they had to walk barefoot everyday.…
- 770 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Lee shows that if you are an individual, you have a responsibility to protect the innocent that are in need. Lee writes the book through the view of a character named Scout. Scout finds out that individuals have a responsibility to protect the innocent from other characters in the book. Scout learns from Mr. Arthur Radley “boo”, Atticus Finch, and Mr. Heck Tate. Arthur was a neighbor to the people of Maycomb who never really came out of his house, that and the fact that his dad kept him locked away in there. Atticus is Jem and Scout’s father who took a case in which he knew he would never win but he still thought it was worth a shot. Finally Mr. Heck Tate, Heck is the sheriff of Maycomb and what he says goes.…
- 566 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates determination through Atticus Finch’s ability to do what is right at all costs because he wants to set good examples. First of all, Atticus defends those who aren’t able to speak for themselves or for those who aren’t understood. Evidence of this assertion from the book is, “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.”- (pg. 39) Atticus defended Miss Caroline when Scout told him about Burris Ewell; Atticus told Scout to look at things from Miss Caroline’s perspective. Atticus knew that people shouldn’t tease Arthur Radley, so Atticus made sure his children didn’t make fun of Arthur. Atticus defended Mrs. Dubose and explained to Jem how she was the bravest person he ever knew. Second of all, Atticus accepts the trial of Tom Robinson even though the town is against him. Evidence of this second assertion is, “This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience-Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man.”- (pg. 139) Although Atticus knew that Tom Robinson was going to be guilty, Atticus still wanted to defend him. If Atticus couldn’t hold up his head in town, Atticus couldn’t represent this county in the legislature. He couldn’t even tell Scout or Jem not to do something again because Atticus could never ask them to mind him again. The town was against Atticus for defending a black man, but Atticus didn’t cave into the negative comments they were saying about him. When taking the case of Tom Robinson, Atticus took the responsibilities of protecting Tom. One of the times when Atticus protected Tom was when Atticus sat outside the jail late at night with a gun to protect Tom. Last of all, Atticus makes wise choices in regards to his children. Here are two evidences of this last assertion. “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one…
- 540 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Atticus Finch shows a remarkable amount of moral courage by defending Tom Robinson in Court when accused of raping a white woman. This act takes courage, as Atticus already knows the small town of Maycomb has found Tom guilty. The intolerance and racism that has been widespread among southern society for hundreds of years may not be eliminated by this case, but Atticus will fight anyway.…
- 852 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Killing a mockingbird is a metaphor for the annihilation of innocence in the lives of many. Atticus believes killing a mockingbird is a sin, for he knows Tom Robinson is innocent, so Atticus defends Tom Robinson at the trial because Tom will eventually be a mockingbird since he will go in contact with evil that is trying to destroy his innocence.…
- 856 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Everyone makes judgments about others, there is no way around it, what a person should work on though is not to “snap” judge other people. To Kill a Mockingbird by Haper Lee demonstrates how being quick to judge is wrong. To Kill a Mockingbird is globally known, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and selling over fifteen million copies. To Kill a Mockingbird shows how judging a person before you get to know them generates a hateful, prejudice environment based on false pretenses.…
- 834 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930’s during the Great Depression in Maycomb, Alabama. Harper Lee, the author, wrote this book in 1960 based on “the Scottsboro Boys” Trial of 1931 to 1937. This trial accused twelve Negro men, which Tom Robinson represents in the book, of raping a woman that is considered white trash [Mayella Ewell]. At the beginning of the novel, Harper Lee introduces a white lawyer, Atticus Finch, who is all about equality and angel-like moral. Atticus hears about the Tom Robinson Trial, and takes matters into his own hands to defend the Negro Man to promote equality for all men, and to prove Tom Robinson innocent. At the end of the trial, Atticus’s closing statement consists of him saying, “Our courts are the great levelers, and in our courts all men are created equal.”Atticus’ statement is incorrect because the court of law is not equal to every man based on the facts of the extreme racist United States from the 1800’s to the 1900’s, the present day corruption in the court system, the story “Twelve Angry Men” and in Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” that shows prejudice stems from the naïve opinions people develop in order to establish a sense of superiority.…
- 1479 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the term ‘mockingbird’ to describe suitable, gracious people. Atticus, Jem and Scout’s father, says that it is alright to shoot and kill a crow, but even aiming at a mockingbird would be a sin. Crows represent greed, jealousy and evil, while mockingbirds represent faultless and pure beings. They first appear when Jem and Scout are learning how to use their shiny new air rifles. Atticus will not teach them how to shoot, but he does give them one rule to follow.…
- 465 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Barnhill, Sarah Kathleen, and Jarrett Barnhill M.D. "NADD Bulletin Volume V Number 5 Article 3." NADD. Web. 21 Feb. 2012. .…
- 1326 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Atticus Finch included many themes in his closing speech to the jury. Some of the themes were loneliness, racism, human nature, and equality. The theme loneliness was demonstrated in the speech when Atticus attacked Mayella’s loneliness and blamed her for her child – like decision to accuse Tom Robinson for her unhappiness. “She did something every child has done – she tried to put the evidence of her offence away from her. But in this case she was no child hiding stolen contraband: she struck out at her victim …” Another theme of Atticus’s speech was racism, which was shown when the jury did not believe the word of Tom Robinson, a black man, over the word of “white trash” like the Ewells. Atticus attempted his point that Tom had been exploited and unjustly accused. “And so a quiet, respectable, humble Negro who had the unmitigated temerity to ‘feel sorry' for a white woman has had to put his word against two white people's.” Racism was also demonstrated throughout the story by how Tom Robinson was convicted purely because he was a black man and his accuser was white. The evidence was so powerfully in his favor, that race was clearly the single defining factor in the jury's decision. Human nature was one of the themes shown in Atticus’s speech. It was shown when Atticus reminded the jury that not all Negroes lie, not all are immoral, and not all can be trusted around women – black or white, and that blackness does not necessarily associate to evil. “… some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women – black or white …” Atticus then further appealed to the jury the honest of nature. “… this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men. There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire.” Lastly,…
- 531 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Within the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, courage is represented in a number of ways from a range of characters. The novel follows families in the town of Maycomb and shows the different ways they stand up for or against racism. A court case with one of the white men in the town defending negro man ‘Tom Robinson’ challenges the values and attitudes of many of the people living in Maycomb. In the novel courage is presented as people not only being able to fight physically but to know when to stand up for what they believe in and break conformity in order to be true to yourself and your values. It shows that courage is not always who is willing to fight others but also knowing when to step back and use knowledge rather than fists.…
- 762 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
Scout learns another lesson during the Thomas Robinson trial. Atticus teaches her this lesson directly, and he is the perfect example of it. Scout learns perseverance, to keep fighting even when you know you can’t win. “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win,” (101). Atticus takes the Thomas Robinson case because he knows that no one else will. He knows that no matter how blatant he makes Thomas Robinson’s innocence, he…
- 1027 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays