Literary Analysis of to Kill a Mocking Bird

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Celina Garcia-Brinker Mrs. Wetherell English II Pre-AP 2 April 2012 Maycomb County Description in To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee is notoriously known for her book, To Kill A Mockingbird. Lee incorporates many literary elements to convey several components of her novel. In chapter one of To Kill A Mockingbird, she demonstrates her skillful writing using syntactical devices to set a time period, society, and human condition of the small county, Maycomb, and its inhabitants. Lee conveys Scout’s, the narrator, feelings through literary elements such as details, figurative language, and imagery. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee usage of lengthy details portrays the feelings of Scout, the narrator, and how she perceived the world and society around her as a child. Scout demonstrates her childish views of her society, when she explains “People moved slowly…there was no hurry…Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself,” (Lee, 5-6). The effects of using concrete details to describe the characteristics of the town’s attitude towards life, allows the reader to conclude that the town is very serene and contemporary. As a reader, the weary, boring details establishes a mood of peace and serenity within the town, the reader could even compare the town to a white winter forest, very quiet and natural. The reader can infer from the details that they are meant to serve as a setting for the town, displaying Maycomb as a very lifeless place, not willing to go beyond the boundaries of the people routines. It seems as though nothing really different occurs, everyday people wonder around aimlessly. This could be used by Lee to make the reader believe nothing interesting will happen, yet she already knows she is foreshadowing an upcoming turn of events, that will enviably go against the daily routines of the town. Harper sets the
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