Theresa Lee
Mrs. Anderson
Literature & Writing Period 7
12 Dec. 2014
TKAM Essay
America the bold. The modern American society is extremely diverse and also mostly accepting, filled with individuals of every race, color, background, politics, wealth, and interests. However, only a century ago, life was very different. Americans were going through the Civil Rights Era, a time where blacks were fighting for equal rights and the Great Depression took place. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the midst of the Depression, in a fictional small town called Maycomb, Alabama, and tells the story of the fictional family of the Finches. The children, Jem and Scout, spend their summers trying to get a glimpse of Boo Radley, the neighborhood …show more content…
In the In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses her characters Atticus, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley as symbolic “mockingbirds” to reveal that society tends to persecute innocent people just for being different, which is wrong because the victims are doing no harm, so no one has the right to cause harm to them.
Boo Radley is a mockingbird in the story who is wrongly persecuted, because others do not know his real story and he is unwilling to be exposed in such a way. Boo is a reclusive man who disappeared into his house for many, many years. People of Maycomb exclude the Radleys and speak badly of them. The children develop an obsessive curiosity for this mysterious man, and Jem excitedly tells Scout and Dill “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall [...] he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained-if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off” (Lee 13). The fact that blood always washes off no matter what disproves this …show more content…
First of all, Atticus is a lawyer. When he is appointed to defend someone, it is his business to fully defend that person, no matter how controversial the case is. If Atticus didn’t take Tom Robinson’s case, he “couldn’t hold up my head in town. I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature” (100) Taking a job means accepting its duties and responsibilities. Even if Atticus had some sort of opinion, he was only doing his job. If he had refused to defend Tom because he didn’t want to, what kind of a responsible lawyer would he be? A lawyer is meant to bring justice to all people, and refusing a client because the town doesn’t like him would be unfair. He is “simply defending a negro” (100). His job as a lawyer is to defend people, and that is all he is doing. It is wrong to persecute Atticus, for he is simply doing his job properly. Another reason why persecuting Atticus is unfair is because he is doing what is morally right, not just his job. Black people have always been discriminated against in Maycomb. It was definitely shocking when people hear Atticus is defending Tom. Today, many more people have realized that “the evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings” is not true, and that everyone is equal and one race is no better or worse than the other (273). Blacks are
Mrs. Anderson
Literature & Writing Period 7
12 Dec. 2014
TKAM Essay
America the bold. The modern American society is extremely diverse and also mostly accepting, filled with individuals of every race, color, background, politics, wealth, and interests. However, only a century ago, life was very different. Americans were going through the Civil Rights Era, a time where blacks were fighting for equal rights and the Great Depression took place. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the midst of the Depression, in a fictional small town called Maycomb, Alabama, and tells the story of the fictional family of the Finches. The children, Jem and Scout, spend their summers trying to get a glimpse of Boo Radley, the neighborhood …show more content…
In the In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses her characters Atticus, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley as symbolic “mockingbirds” to reveal that society tends to persecute innocent people just for being different, which is wrong because the victims are doing no harm, so no one has the right to cause harm to them.
Boo Radley is a mockingbird in the story who is wrongly persecuted, because others do not know his real story and he is unwilling to be exposed in such a way. Boo is a reclusive man who disappeared into his house for many, many years. People of Maycomb exclude the Radleys and speak badly of them. The children develop an obsessive curiosity for this mysterious man, and Jem excitedly tells Scout and Dill “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall [...] he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained-if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off” (Lee 13). The fact that blood always washes off no matter what disproves this …show more content…
First of all, Atticus is a lawyer. When he is appointed to defend someone, it is his business to fully defend that person, no matter how controversial the case is. If Atticus didn’t take Tom Robinson’s case, he “couldn’t hold up my head in town. I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature” (100) Taking a job means accepting its duties and responsibilities. Even if Atticus had some sort of opinion, he was only doing his job. If he had refused to defend Tom because he didn’t want to, what kind of a responsible lawyer would he be? A lawyer is meant to bring justice to all people, and refusing a client because the town doesn’t like him would be unfair. He is “simply defending a negro” (100). His job as a lawyer is to defend people, and that is all he is doing. It is wrong to persecute Atticus, for he is simply doing his job properly. Another reason why persecuting Atticus is unfair is because he is doing what is morally right, not just his job. Black people have always been discriminated against in Maycomb. It was definitely shocking when people hear Atticus is defending Tom. Today, many more people have realized that “the evil assumption-that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings” is not true, and that everyone is equal and one race is no better or worse than the other (273). Blacks are