An Unfortunate Truth To Kill a Mockingbird - 717 Words

It has been over fifty years since Harper Lee wrote her classic book, To Kill a Mockingbird (TKM). â€Å"Harper Lee’s work is so powerful and popular that it has never been out of print,† (Price). Since then, the outside world has changed with significance. People wear jeans instead of slacks, pocket calculators have more computing power than the rocket that put humans on the moon, and culture is advancing faster than the rocket’s return. Through all these changes that have taken place since 1960, TKM remains ever present in the today’s competitive world and it â€Å"represents the best and the worst parts of American society† (TKM: Still Relevant). The symbolism and underlying messages of the book, specifically the illustration of the mockingbird in society, is extremely relevant in today’s world. When TKM was published, racism was a hotter issue than ever. Jim Crow Laws were in full effect in the South, preventing people of color from being possessing basic rights of other Americans, such as voting, up-to-par public facilities, a decent education or a seat on the bus. Interracial relationships were viewed as an unspeakable, unnatural act by much of the population. It was a mere thirty years earlier, the historic and controversial Scottsboro Trial, on which the book was loosely based, took place; one of many examples of African-Americans being wrongfully accused of crimes against White people in The South. Harper Lee wrote her book for African-Americans who were being persecuted. ItShow MoreRelatedRacial Issues In Harper Lees To Kill A Mockingbird775 Words   |  4 PagesTo Kill a Mockingbird Research Paper In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee highlights racial profiling and how peoples perceptions change their actions towards others, which continues to be an issue in todays society. One racial issue we see during To Kill a Mockingbird is social injustice in the court system, shown through the Tom Robinson trial. For example, Jem doesnt quite understand the unfortunate, but true state of the injustice in the courts, so Atticus explains to him, Tom RobinsonsRead MoreThe Characters Of Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee Essay1464 Words   |  6 Pagesare plenty of important characters in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The story chronicles life through the eyes of young children, but also shows first hand accounts of racist adults in the small town of Holcomb. This book is so unique because symbolism is avidly used. The main characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are symbolized as mockingbirds. There are many different situations where a character can be categorized as a mockingbird. A mocki ngbird can be a meek man accused of a crime, or a youngRead MoreTo Kill a Mockingbird: Stereotypes830 Words   |  4 PagesTo Kill A Mockingbird: Stereotypes The story, To Kill a Mockingbird is a very fine novel which exemplifies the life in the south and the human rights and values given to everybody. The book especially took the case of prejudice to a serious extreme. From the title, a mockingbird through the eyes of Harper Lee, is a person who has fallen victim to vicious stereotypes. The title To Kill a Mockingbird explains itself quite clearly in the end of the novel when Tom Robinson, one of the mockingbirdsRead MoreExamples Of Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird1249 Words   |  5 Pagesneeded jobs besides themselves. They just could not take the change that was happening and that is when racism started, which then lead to mobs, which then also lead to the unfortunate event of the Scottsboro trials. The first connection to America’s actual history is the presence of the Jim Crow laws in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The Jim Crow Laws were unfair and dumb. Some examples would be the law about blacks having sexual intercourse with whites. The whites believed that it would createRead MoreStereotypes And Stereotypes Of Stereotypes794 Words   |  4 PagesStereotypes are by definition a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person. Stereotypes can apply to other things as well but I will focus on the stereotypes seen in society. As we have seen in â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird†, stereotypes have been present throughout history. However, it seems that even though stereotypes usually carry negative effects on people with their presence, they have lingered with us for some strange reason. Stereotypes exist todayRead More The Hypocrisy of Humanity Depicted in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird1311 Words   |  6 PagesHarper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, has many stories from Scouts’ little town in Alabama that teaches the reader the good and bad sides of the human being. When all these come together, the result is this fantastic novel. One of the stories that stand out is the one when Mrs. Gates and Cecil Jacobs have a conversation in the classroom. They talk about Adolph Hitler and the malicious things he did to the Jewish people. Mrs. Gates tries to tell her students that what he did was wrong in a very firmRead MoreScottsboro Trial: The Real Trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird954 Words   |  4 Pagesof Tom Robinson in the book To Kill a Mockingbird have striking similarities that may or may not be coincidence. Both trials took place in Alabama during the same era of relentless prejudice and bias, which is a major factor in e ach of these cases. In both cases, the accusers were white women and the persecutors were black men; therefore the black men were immediately considered liars and â€Å"wrongdoers†, unlike the word of the white women, which was essentially the truth above the word of someone whoRead MoreThe Horrible Acts Of The Holocaust1868 Words   |  8 Pages To Kill a Mockingbird is a witty and well-written account of the realities of a â€Å"tired old town† (4) where there was â€Å"nothing to buy and nothing to buy it with† (4). Purposefully, it comes across not merely an innocently portrayed, yet eye-opening, story of a young girl start to grasp the inequalities of her society. Rather, it is accompanied by recollection of the unfortunate pillars of hate of the places Harper Lee matured in. We now perceive this account as an ‘archaic† and â€Å"ancient† recountRead MorePersonality Review : Atticus Finch From Harper Lee s Kill A Mockingbird1265 Words   |  6 PagesPersonality Review Essay: Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird What do you think when you picture a good leader? Do you picture someone who possesses integrity, loyalty, and knowledge or someone who is strong, loud and powerful? Leaders can have many different qualities and still be successful, respected, and admired. There are some leaders who are in total control, they tell a group of people what to do and people follow orders. Others may be focused more on morals, they teachRead MoreKill A Mocking Bird And Trayvon Martin s Black Lives Matter 1478 Words   |  6 PagesSamantha Ekanem Mrs. Nelson Pre ­AP English 2 24 August 2015 To Kill A Mocking Bird From Trayvon Martin to ‘Black Lives Matter’ People have different opinions and views on subjects and we won’t always agree with them or understand why they think that way. â€Å"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.† I like that Atticus is teaching his kids valuable lessons. We don’t know what makes someone