to kill a mockingbird

A detailed Summary of to kill a mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird: Discrimination

Discrimination has been generalized, for well over a century, as any harsh words directed at another race. This is merely the facade of discrimination though. Discrimination can be embodied in a variety of ways. A man's creed, his or her color of skin, musical or artistic inclination and a person's sexual preference are only fleeting examples of a much larger picture. In discrimination, there are no right sides to arguments fought over superiority, only a massive population of fools blindly pointing at each other and judging each other's essence of what makes them unique. Discrimination itself stems from ignorance, which occurs when unfocused hatred is spewed forth, its aim, certain minority groups, or majority groups for that matter. In many situations, the oppressor's bigotry is merely a product of a deranged upbringing in which other groups of people were slandered and maligned ad nauseam. Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird is no exception. Tom Robinson's struggle with his white oppressors, Scout's rebellion against the proper way girls should dress and behave and Scout, Dill and Jem's fight to win the respect of the town people's adults. Whether it is through racism, sexism or agei

"What's the matter?" I asked. Atticus said nothing. I looked around and up at Mr. Cunningham, whose face was equally impassive. Then he did a peculiar thing. He squatted down and took me by both shoulders. "I'll tell him you said hey, little lady," he said. Then he straightened up and waved a big paw. "Let's clear out," he called. "Let's get going, boys." (154)

"It was Jem's turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. "It ain't right," he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting... "It ain't right, Atticus," said Jem." "No Son, it's not right." (212)

Scout, Jem and Dill go to see Atticus at the prison where he is guarding Tom Robinson. When they get there an angry mob shows up at the prison and swarms Atticus with demands to see Tom. Scout, Jem and Dill bravely stand up to the crowd, even after Atticus asks them to leave. Scout then engages conversation with Mr. Cunningham about his son Walter. It is Scouts' innocence that puts the angry mob to shame, proving that even a child can triumph over adversity.

If accusing an innocent black man of rape to cover his own mistakes, as an abusive father wasn't dishonorable enough, he had to spit in the face of the symbolic protector figure of the novel, Atticus. He is so blinded by his own hatred against black people that he finds himself threatening the most decent man in Maycomb for defending a Negro man. The spitting in the face is symbolic, as it is Bob Ewell's way of saying to Atticus, "I do not respect you in any way or form and I curse the ground you stand on."

"I was bored so I began a letter to Dill. Miss Caroline caught me writing and told me to tell my father to stop teaching me. "Besides," she said. "We don't write in the first grade, we print. You won't learn to write until you're in the third grade." (18) Although Scout is at a much higher level in reading and writing, Miss Caroline is angered by her advanced level. Because Scout is in the first grade, she is not allowed to produce work that is above her grade level. It is ironic that she is kept back in the first grade for knowing third grade work, when she should be moved ahead to the third grade, because of her gift in reading and writing. Because of her young age though, she can not reap the benefits that should be offered to her.

"Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum." (5) This quote emphasizes the rather pointless lives of women at the time. The things they were expected to do were trivial in the long run, and are compared to being soft, which also hints an enfeebled savvy.

Ageism is another theme present in To Kill A Mockingbird.

"Boys don't cook." I giggled at the though

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Approximate Word count = 1935
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels