themes of to kill a mockingbird

8/3/2019 Themes of to Kill a Mockingbird

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Themes of To Kill A Mockingbird(Outline)

-Mockingbird

Characters: Tom Robinson, a black was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Bob

Ewells daughter and was brought to court.

Settings: Courthouse

Central Idea: Title of the novel connects with the plot of the story. Mockingbird

brings no harm to others but sing their hearts out for people. Tom Robinson is an

example of a mockingbird in the novel.

Subsidiary points: Racial prejudice is greatly seen in this novel.

Evidence: Black people in To Kill a Mockingbird are referred as niggers

Is it valid, persuasive, convincing and if so, why?

-The coexistence of good and evil

Characters: Jem Finch, Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Mayella Ewell

Setting: Maycomb. Jem Finch cannot accept the fact of Tom Robinsons

conviction and his faith in justice was damaged. Tom Robinson try to escape

from prison and the result was he was shot dead after he felt that he had no

chance on winning the case. Just a simple mistake made by Boo Radley, his

father, Mr Radley and later on his brother, Nathan Radley shut Boo at home.

Central Idea: Hatred, prejudice, and Ignorance are shown in the characters

Subsidiary points: Racism in Maycomb are able to see clearly.

Evidence: Scout and Jem experienced many coexistence of good and evil such

as racial issues although they are still young.

Is it valid, persuasive, convincing and if so, why?


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Racism

Characters: Jem Finch, Tom Robinson, Boo Radley

Setting: Maycomb. Jem Finch cannot accept the fact of Tom Robinsons

conviction and his faith in justice was damaged. Tom Robinson try to escape

from prison and the result was he was shot dead after he felt that he had no

chance on winning the case. Just a simple mistake made by Boo Radley, his

father, Mr Radley and later on his brother, Nathan Radley shut Boo at home.

Central Idea: Hatred, prejudice, and Ignorance are shown in the characters

Subsidiary points: Racism in Maycomb are able to see clearly.

Evidence: Scout and Jem experienced many coexistence of good and evil such

as racial issues although they are still young.


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reached up and kissed me on the side of my face. She says she never kissed a

grown man before and she might as well kissed a nigger. She says 'kiss me

back nigger.' But, she later tries to remove all evidence of her guilt by accusing

him of rape that sentences him to death. This is selfish and heartless of Mayella

as she accused Tom Robinson of something that he did not do although Tom

Robinson was kind enough to offer his help to Mayella in her house chores.

Although Mayella appeared to be weak and innocent ,but she is evil as she

accused Tom Robinson for something that he didnt do which can lead to death

sentence.

As for Bob Ewell, he is the main antagonist of the novel To Kill a

Mockingbird. Bob Ewell is an alcoholic that took poor care of his family. "It's

against the law, all right," said my father, "and it's certainly bad, but when a man

spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from

hunger pains. (Chapter 3, page 41, line 10) In the novel, Bob Ewell and his

daughter, Mayella had frame a black man which is Tom Robinson of raping Bob

Ewells daughter who might sentence to death for it. Bob Ewell swears of

revenge on Atticus, Tom Robinsons lawyer for defaming him and even spitted on

Atticus face after he felt Atticus had humiliated him in the trial. Bob also came

back and tries to kill Scout and Jem, Atticus children when they are walking

home from the Halloween party at school. Dont like to contradict you, Mr.

Finchwasnt crazy, mean as hell. Low-down skunk with enough liquor in him to

make him brave enough to kill children. Hed never have met you face to face.

(Chapter 29, page 360, line 30) Hence, Bob Ewell represents evil in the novel as

he even wanted to kill Jem and Scout.

The other main theme that is found in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism.Racism can see clearly at the trial where Tom Robinson, a black is convicted and

Bob Ewell which is a white. Although the evident is more sided to Tom Robinson,

but he is convicted guilty by the jury as he is black. I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor

was polling the jury: Guilty. . .guilty . . guilty. . . guilty. . .(chapter 21, page 212,

line 19)


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Another racism situation that is been shows is when Calpurnia takes Scout and

Jem to her church where normally back people go. Lula stopped, but she said,

"You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here they got their church, we

got our'n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal?" (Chapter 12, page 158, line 28) Jem

and Scout felt that Lula dont like their present in the church and she insulted

Calpurnia for it.

Another example is when a group of men gather together outside the

jailhouse to harm Tom Robinson. But Atticus didnt allow it. With innocent, Scout

went and talk to Mr. Cunningham, asking hows his entailment, she even asked

him how his son, Walter is. Scout appeals to the man's humanity and forces him

to realize he must behave honorably and leave Atticus and Tom Robinson alone.

They soon left after Scout saying like that.


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: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Character_analysis_on_Mayella_Ewell_for_the_book_to_

kill_a_mocking_bird#ixzz1XVuW1YZ1

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harper_Lee

http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Bob_Ewell

http://leif6.blogspot.com/2010/03/quotes-that-show-bob-ewell-as-coward.html

Obviously, racism is a major theme of the novel. During the

Depression era, blacks were still highly subjugated members of society.

Blacks were not permitted to commingle with whites in public settings,

as exemplified in the courthouse physical separation of races and in

the clearly distinct black and white areas of town. Moreover, things likeintermarriage were almost unheard of, and sorely looked down upon.

Throughout the novel, Scout explores the differences between black

people and white people. She and Jem attend church with Calpurnia

and Scout truly enjoys the experience. Afterwards, she asks Calpurnia

if she might be able to visit her house sometime because she has

never seen it. Calpurnia agrees, but the visit is never made, largely

because Aunt Alexandra puts a stop to it. Jem, Scout and Dill also sit

with the black citizens of the town in the balcony of the court house to

observe the trial. In addition, Scout and Dill have a lengthy

conversation with Mr. Raymond, a white man who married a black

woman and has mixed children. Mr. Raymond reveals that he pretends

to be an alcoholic by carrying around a paper bag with a bottle of

Coca-Cola inside in order to let the town excuse his choice to marry a

black woman.

http://www.gradesaver.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/study-guide/major-themes/

Another example is when the group of angry men congregate outside of the jail to do harm to

Tom Robinson. They want to take him out, hurt him, or possibly worse, simply for being

black. Then, there is the delightful Mrs. Merriweather and Mrs. Farrow, who prattles out their

racism at the missionary circle that Aunt Alexandra hosts. They talk about how their black

servants have been acting downright "sulkym dissatisfied" because of the trial, and how it


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was no good to "stir 'em up," referring to the black people in town. Mrs. Farrow says that it's

no good trying to educate or better black people...it is just "a losing battle".

ituations of racism that stand out. The first is when Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to

her church. Scout and Jem were told to go home and stay with their own kind. They

were judged strictly by their race and how the people at Cal's church felt about

whites. The second situation dealt with Tom Robinson. Although it was clear that

Tom did not rape Mayella, he was found to be guilty because he was black.

Tom Robinson is convicted purely because he is a black man and his

accuser is white. The evidence is so powerfully in his favor, that race is

clearly the single defining factor in the jury's decision. Atticus fights

against racism, and a few other townspeople are on his side, including

Miss Maudie and Judge Taylor. Jem and Scout also believe in racial

equality, but are obviously in the minority. When Atticus loses the trial,

he tries to make his children understand that although he lost, he did

help move along the cause of ending racism as evidenced by the jury's

lengthy deliberation period. Usually, such a trial would be decided

immediately.

themes of to kill a mockingbird

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