US History II “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” is an in depth description of the life of a slave, written by Frederick Douglass himself. Douglass uses his experience as a slave to explain how unnatural it is. He establishes that slavery degrades human beings to the level of livestock, and changes people’s attitudes and sense of morality. People were traded or sold when no longer of use, and beaten or whipped as punishment. In addition, punishment for killing a slave was often times not enforced, due to the supposed lack of severity of the act.
When Scout stands on the Radley porch, she suddenly realizes why Boo Radley behaves the way he does in the novel. Tom Robinson is also a character in this novel where misinterpretation takes place throughout his life. For example, during the trial Bob Ewell testifies and points to Tom and says, “I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella”(Lee, 173). As a result, people visualize Tom as an evil person and believe he is responsible for the rape of Mayella. The truth is, the people of Maycomb are judgmental towards him because of his race and due to the rumors that
He sewed Jem's pants and left them on the fence so he could get them easily. He also saved Scout's and Jem's lives while risking his own. Boo was a fragile and gentle person. Throughout the novel, Scout, Jem, and Dill are curious about the "mysterious" Boo Radley because he never comes outside from his house or associates with anyone in the neighborhood. The children are afraid of him because of all the stories they hear about him from the people in Maycomb.
The intolerance of the African-American race is shown a great deal from beginning to end in these two novels. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird and in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Scout and Huck endure prejudice, but are able to overcome it through their desire not to side with society, and the positive influences in their lives. Scout and Huck both live in societies that are virtually intolerant of the African-American race. Their societies are driven by this segregation, making them become extremely out of control. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus defends Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman, in a court trial.
To Kill a Mockingbird. London: Heinemann Educational. Secondary Division, New Windmill Series. Cry about the simple hell… In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee doesn’t limit her portrayal of discrimination only to the trail of Tom Robinson, a victim of racial prejudice, but manages to tie racial prejudice to many other form of prejudice we come in contact with in everyday life, without us even knowing about it. At the beginning of the novel evidence of racial prejudice, that dominates most of the novel, is scarce.
Atticus Finch is ridiculed by the townspeople for being a moral human being and sticking to his beliefs in defending an innocent colored man. As explained by Lee through her characters Tom Robinson, Boo Radley and Atticus Finch, the mockingbird is a symbolic representation of innocence, purity and virtue. To begin, the community of Maycomb basically indirectly murdered Tom Robinson. Despite the fact the man was helpful and kind - especially toward Mayella, who charged him of raping her - Tom was sent to trial and then found guilty even after Atticus Finch had verified his guiltlessness. His responsibility was all based on the color of his skin, not his true moral character.
Sample outline for essay about mockingbirds: While one of the main themes of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is understanding another human's perspective, it is also important to look at how people treat each other. The story's protagonist, Scout, is a young girl from Alabama whose father, Atticus Finch, is asked to defend an African-American man who is charged with rape. The southern way of life during The Great Depression won't allow Tom Robinson a fair trial, and Scout and her brother Jem are forced to deal with a county's ignorance and racist attitudes. Atticus and a compassionate neighbor, Miss. Maudie, try to teach the children not to hurt mockingbirds as they don't harm anything and "...don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy" (90).
It is hard to state in particular to why Maycomb holds such ideas towards Black people, but Lee blames this to the conditions of the country and how it influenced each and every citizen present at the time. Lee gives her opinions through Atticus as he states on Page 98, chapter 9, ‘’Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a negro comes up is something I don’t pretend to understand’’. It is quite plain what Atticus means when he says the he doesn’t ‘’pretend to understand’, this shows how Atticus responds away from the norm of the society towards the racism and is actively against it, and is also one of the reasons to why he defends Tom Robinson in the first place, other than ‘it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’ the metaphorical term for the innocent Tom. It is further evident in chapter 16, page 176, what was meant by ‘’people go stark raving mad when anything
To kill a mockingbirds’ theme was whether people are essentially good or evil. Describing Scout and Jems’ transition from a childhood innocence, in which they think that people are good because they have never seen “evil”, to a more mature perspective, in which they have witnessed “evil” and wrongdoing and must incorporate it into their understanding of the life. They experienced hatred, prejudice, and ignorance. They are both introduced to prejudice at the beginning of the book and throughout. The main example of prejudice in this book is at the trial, when the towns people wrongly convict Tom Robinson, he is convicted purely because he is a black man and his accuser is white.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy....That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” The mockingbird then comes to represent true goodness and purity. Tom Robinson is one example of a human “mockingbird”. He stands accused of raping and beating Mayella Ewell, the daughter of Bob Ewell, but is innocent of the charges. The town commits the ultimate sin by finding Tom guilty and sentencing him to death. In effect, they have killed a mockingbird.