To Kill A Mockingbird Rhetorical Analysis

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story that follows a young girl named Scout Finch narrated by her older self. She grows up in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. The biggest event the book follows surrounds the court trial of a Black man that Scout’s father is legally defending. The book revolves around the racism that is involved in the case during the Great Depression era. The first literary device shown in this book flashback. The book seems to be mostly in flashbacks from Scout’s point of view. An example of this is from the first page when Lee writes, “When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident.” This shows that the narrator, Scout, is speaking about …show more content…
Atticus teaches Scout how to read from a young age. This helps Scout have a better understanding on how to read once she starts school. One would think that a teacher would be very praising of the ability to know how to read before starting school, but Scout’s teacher Miss Caroline is quite the opposite. Miss Caroline gets upset with Scout for her ability to read already, and she claims that Atticus does not know how to teach. This is satirical because teachers should be praising students who are able to get ahead rather than getting mad at them for not following her schedule. Miss Caroline also shows another instance of satire in the book. Miss Caroline was unaware of how the Cunningham family worked. Scout decided she would help by explaining that the Cunningham’s would not take anything for free. Rather than thanking Scout for the little bit of information she provided, she scolded Scout and slapped her hand. This is satirical because Miss Caroline should be pushing education more in school, but Miss Caroline did not teach knowledge in Scout’s first …show more content…
This stems mostly from his actions in defending an innocent Black man, Tom Robinson, in a time period where that would have been highly frowned upon. Atticus’ main desire was to prove to the people of Maycomb that their ideals on race were harmful and oppressive to the Black people in the community. Atticus claims that while he does not believe he will be able to win the case for Robinson, he feels it is his duty to uphold justice in the community. He can be seen as a caregiver also by his career choice, because as a lawyer he is defending and helping others when they are most vulnerable. He also is a caregiver when it comes to his fatherly role with Jem and Scout. He believes he must represent Robinson because then how could he be role model that Jem and Scout need him to be if he does not stand up for what is right. Calpurnia has caregiver characteristics, but they are only seen with the Finch children. This leads readers to believe that Atticus better fits the role because he feels the need to help and support others, not just his family