Illusions and Reality in To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that explores illusions and realities. Written by Harper Lee, the novel contains the naive thoughts of Scout, a young child growing up in a harsh world. Eventually, Scout’s illusions from childhood are discarded when reality is shown. Scout is forced to mature quickly in the novel, and she learns to understand the difference between illusion and reality.
Scout fascinates herself with illusions revolving around Arthur Radley. Called Boo by most folks, he is the center of the kids’ curiosity in the beginning of the novel. Boo is regarded as sort of a phantom by the children- he never leaves the house, and the picture they have of him in their mind is one pieced together …show more content…
One of the main scenes in To Kill A Mockingbird is when Atticus shoots the dog Tim Johnson. Scout mistakes this as an act of courage. It is courageous in ways, but that is just an illusion. Atticus ‘bravely’ shooting the dog causes the children, including Scout, to think about him in a different light. Jem says, “Atticus is a gentleman, just like me!” (Lee 131) Later in the book, though, it is shown that true courage comes in forms such as Ms. Dubose, and Atticus defending Tom. Scout and Jem dislike Ms. Dubose very much, and think she is merely a cranky old lady. Once she dies, it is revealed that she was a courageous morphine addict overcoming her addiction. Atticus mainly makes Jem read to her so she would have a distraction, and so that he could show Jem what real courage was.“I wanted you to see something about her- I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand” (Lee 149). Since Scout also went to Ms. Dubose’s with Jem, she would learn the meaning of true courage. Courage is also shown in the way African Americans go about their daily lives with the prejudice against …show more content…
This obviously isn’t true- Tom Robinson’s personality shows the inaccuracy of this illusion. Scout is mostly immune from this illusion, so to speak- but not entirely. With her innocent mind, she still tends to say racist things such as “nigger”, even though she knows that being black doesn’t make you bad. Rather, there is a sort of irony to this illusion. Naive, young Scout is mostly immune to it, but the mature adults are the ones infected by it the most. The townspeople are affected by ‘Maycomb’s usual disease’- racism. Some of Maycomb’s racists, such as Bob Ewell and Walter Cunningham, are very open with their racism- it borders on pride. Other people, such as the Missionary Tea Club members, are more subtle with their racism, showing it through snarky comments and implications. In chapter 24, Miss Grace Merriweather rather obviously shows her racism with her rude terms. “Gertrude, I tell you there’s nothing more distracting than a sulky darky” (Lee 310). The Missionary Tea Club influences the other town members to unconsciously be racist. The trial of Tom Robinson challenges the people’s racism. Tom is shown as a caring, respectful, nice man. He isn’t looked into enough to show any flaws, so in the book he doesn’t have any. When he was with Mayella Ewell, he tried to be as kind and gentle as possible, even when she trapped him inside
To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that explores illusions and realities. Written by Harper Lee, the novel contains the naive thoughts of Scout, a young child growing up in a harsh world. Eventually, Scout’s illusions from childhood are discarded when reality is shown. Scout is forced to mature quickly in the novel, and she learns to understand the difference between illusion and reality.
Scout fascinates herself with illusions revolving around Arthur Radley. Called Boo by most folks, he is the center of the kids’ curiosity in the beginning of the novel. Boo is regarded as sort of a phantom by the children- he never leaves the house, and the picture they have of him in their mind is one pieced together …show more content…
One of the main scenes in To Kill A Mockingbird is when Atticus shoots the dog Tim Johnson. Scout mistakes this as an act of courage. It is courageous in ways, but that is just an illusion. Atticus ‘bravely’ shooting the dog causes the children, including Scout, to think about him in a different light. Jem says, “Atticus is a gentleman, just like me!” (Lee 131) Later in the book, though, it is shown that true courage comes in forms such as Ms. Dubose, and Atticus defending Tom. Scout and Jem dislike Ms. Dubose very much, and think she is merely a cranky old lady. Once she dies, it is revealed that she was a courageous morphine addict overcoming her addiction. Atticus mainly makes Jem read to her so she would have a distraction, and so that he could show Jem what real courage was.“I wanted you to see something about her- I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand” (Lee 149). Since Scout also went to Ms. Dubose’s with Jem, she would learn the meaning of true courage. Courage is also shown in the way African Americans go about their daily lives with the prejudice against …show more content…
This obviously isn’t true- Tom Robinson’s personality shows the inaccuracy of this illusion. Scout is mostly immune from this illusion, so to speak- but not entirely. With her innocent mind, she still tends to say racist things such as “nigger”, even though she knows that being black doesn’t make you bad. Rather, there is a sort of irony to this illusion. Naive, young Scout is mostly immune to it, but the mature adults are the ones infected by it the most. The townspeople are affected by ‘Maycomb’s usual disease’- racism. Some of Maycomb’s racists, such as Bob Ewell and Walter Cunningham, are very open with their racism- it borders on pride. Other people, such as the Missionary Tea Club members, are more subtle with their racism, showing it through snarky comments and implications. In chapter 24, Miss Grace Merriweather rather obviously shows her racism with her rude terms. “Gertrude, I tell you there’s nothing more distracting than a sulky darky” (Lee 310). The Missionary Tea Club influences the other town members to unconsciously be racist. The trial of Tom Robinson challenges the people’s racism. Tom is shown as a caring, respectful, nice man. He isn’t looked into enough to show any flaws, so in the book he doesn’t have any. When he was with Mayella Ewell, he tried to be as kind and gentle as possible, even when she trapped him inside