Harper lee based her story on her life in Monroeville, Alabama. As a child she experienced good and evil. In this essay I’ll explain how this influenced her. I’ll also discuss how the ideas of justice and fairness were not shown in the book “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The book shows how life was back in the day, when racism was at its peak. My third topic is about the symbolism of the mockingbird in the novel. What it means to be considered a “mockingbird.” Nelle Harper Lee grew up in the south with her brother Edwin Lee, her sisters Alice and Louise Lee, and her father Amasa Coleman Lee. Her father taught his children to always do the right thing. According to Enotes (2009), “When Lee was 10 years old; a white woman near Monroeville falsely
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Fairness is the quality of making judgments that are free from discrimination. Both go hand to hand in the novel, but in a different perspective than what most would consider common. “It was a time in which black people were treated terribly, and people took in racism with their mother 's milk” (“Hey Boo,” 2011, S. 9). Treating a black male or female unfairly was seen as the right thing to do back then. They were treated as the lowest of the lowest, even though they were still human beings. Anyone above them could accuse them of a crime and would always have the upper hand. In the book Tom was accused of raping a woman who was secretly in love with black men. This was something not accepted in those days and would be considered a crime. The girl’s father didn’t want the town to think he accepted his daughter’s behavior. He beat her, and then told her to tell the jury Tom raped and beat her. Tom being black was found guilty, even though there wasn’t substantial evidence to convict him. This is how life was back then for the black male in the South. This event shows us exactly how racism was a common thing and not seen as a problem except to Atticus. He was described as a noble man with no ego drive, much like Lee’s father Amasa. “People in town say that Mr. Lee, Mr. AC Lee, her father, was a lot like the character of Atticus, soft spoken, …show more content…
Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities in a novel. A mockingbird is a long-tailed thrush like songbird with grayish plumage, found mainly in tropical America and noted for its mimicry of the calls and songs of other birds. "Mockingbirds don 't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don 't eat up people 's gardens; they don 't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That 's why it 's a sin to kill a mockingbird." ( Tom Robinson was a mockingbird because he was a nice man who helped everyone, and was killed because of it. Every day he would pass by Mayella’s house and would help her out. “Sadly, as a mockingbird, Tom was killed because of nothing he did. He was misjudged and misunderstood” (“Why is Tom,” 2007, p. 1). This is an example of how Tom was a mockingbird; even though he was good bad things happened to him. Boo Radley was a mockingbird because he also was a good man who helped others. In the end of the novel he saved Scout’s brother from being attacked. “It was Scout who realized that killing Boo (or putting him into a situation that could have killed him) would be like killing a mockingbird” (“Why is Tom,” 2007, p. 1). Lee gave two great examples with Tom and Boo as mockingbirds; even though they were both good men they were judged on the color of their
Fairness is the quality of making judgments that are free from discrimination. Both go hand to hand in the novel, but in a different perspective than what most would consider common. “It was a time in which black people were treated terribly, and people took in racism with their mother 's milk” (“Hey Boo,” 2011, S. 9). Treating a black male or female unfairly was seen as the right thing to do back then. They were treated as the lowest of the lowest, even though they were still human beings. Anyone above them could accuse them of a crime and would always have the upper hand. In the book Tom was accused of raping a woman who was secretly in love with black men. This was something not accepted in those days and would be considered a crime. The girl’s father didn’t want the town to think he accepted his daughter’s behavior. He beat her, and then told her to tell the jury Tom raped and beat her. Tom being black was found guilty, even though there wasn’t substantial evidence to convict him. This is how life was back then for the black male in the South. This event shows us exactly how racism was a common thing and not seen as a problem except to Atticus. He was described as a noble man with no ego drive, much like Lee’s father Amasa. “People in town say that Mr. Lee, Mr. AC Lee, her father, was a lot like the character of Atticus, soft spoken, …show more content…
Symbolism is the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities in a novel. A mockingbird is a long-tailed thrush like songbird with grayish plumage, found mainly in tropical America and noted for its mimicry of the calls and songs of other birds. "Mockingbirds don 't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don 't eat up people 's gardens; they don 't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That 's why it 's a sin to kill a mockingbird." ( Tom Robinson was a mockingbird because he was a nice man who helped everyone, and was killed because of it. Every day he would pass by Mayella’s house and would help her out. “Sadly, as a mockingbird, Tom was killed because of nothing he did. He was misjudged and misunderstood” (“Why is Tom,” 2007, p. 1). This is an example of how Tom was a mockingbird; even though he was good bad things happened to him. Boo Radley was a mockingbird because he also was a good man who helped others. In the end of the novel he saved Scout’s brother from being attacked. “It was Scout who realized that killing Boo (or putting him into a situation that could have killed him) would be like killing a mockingbird” (“Why is Tom,” 2007, p. 1). Lee gave two great examples with Tom and Boo as mockingbirds; even though they were both good men they were judged on the color of their