When asked to defend a black man in a controversial trial, he accepts and through this trial works to teach his children the importance of equality, acceptance and fair treatment. Atticus’s teachings are always subtle but throughout the book it can be seen that the majority of Scout’s actions are based on what Atticus has taught her. One such lesson occurs in chapter three. After Scout beats up a poverty-stricken boy named Walter Cunningham for having gotten her in trouble, her brother Jem intervenes and invites Walter to have lunch at their house. This upsets Scout greatly and during lunch she acts very rudely to the boy, an action for which she is scolded by Calpurnia, the children’s African-American nanny.
To begin, Jean Louise "Scout" Finch is the daughter of Atticus Finch. Being strong-minded , Scout is a tough one to handle. To Kill a Mockingbird tells the story of a family living in Alabama. Atticus, the father of Scout and Jem Finch, works as a lawyer in the town. In this novel, Atticus works for Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl.
Idgie experiences a terrible heartbreak during her young developmental stage. She, along with Ruth witness Buddy’s tragic death. This will forever change Idgie, as she becomes even more rebellious and revolutionary. A example of her mischievous ways was when she can road past the church during a sermon and compared the preacher to a snake. The next stage that greatly influences Idgie’s life is when Ruth is asked to come and stay at Idgie’s home by her mother.
Not all the irony in the story was dark. When the family visited Red Sam's she spoke to Red Sam as an equal, despite his skin color being a red; a hint that he is Native American, Hispanic, or Indian. He treated her with the most respect of any character in the story. This is ironic because while she was traveling with the family she told stories about “a nigger boy” who ate the watermelon one of her suitors left her when she was young. So we, the audience, can assume she is racist in the way most older people are racist.
Chapters 42-43 Summary: Chapter 42 As Huck and the Phelpses sit around the breakfast table, Aunt Sally sees Tom on a mattress along with the doctor, Jim with his hands tied, and a bunch of people. Aunt Sally is profoundly relieved to find that Tom is alive. Men in the mob say they should hang Jim as a warning to other slaves, but others say his owner might come and then they would have to pay for him; so they all refrain. The men in the mob also cuss at Jim and strike him and put him back in the cabin enchained, but Tom’s doctor tells them they shouldn’t be rougher with Jim than they have to be, because Jim faithfully helped to treat Tom and risked his own freedom to do it. The men in the mob soften up on Jim and thank him for helping the doctor.
This shows Scout’s prejudicial character for feeling immediate fear for the blanket because it was specifically Boo who put it on her. We can further see that Scout really indulged in what she heard about Boo and how much the rumors blinded her. Lee connects the quote she used above with another quote from page 89 where Scout says, “Jem, I ain’t ever heard of a nigger snowman.” This quote characterizes Scout’s innocence and portrays the theme of racism. Being the intelligent person she is, but due to her young age, Scout unknowingly uses the offensive word ‘nigger’ because she is too young to understand what nigger really means and how it is racist. This quote portrays the theme of racism when Jem responds to Scout by saying, “He won’t be black long,” describing the snowman to be black on the inside, but white on the outside.
The next night, when most of the men head to the local whorehouse. Lennie is left with Crooks, the Negro stable buck, and Candy. Curley's wife came to the barn saying that she was looking for Curley, but she actually came to talk to the men and find some company and refuse to leave until the other men come home. She notices the cuts on Lennie's face and suspects that he, and not a chunk of machinery like Curley told her, is responsible for hurting her husband. The successive day, Lennie accidentally kills his puppy in the barn, and Curley's wife came to see Lennie because she knew she could get company from Lennie while the others were outside.
Sue Monk Kidd’s novel, “Secret Life of Bees,” based in South Carolina in the 1960s, explores a number of confronting and major issues, such as forgiveness and feminine power. It also explores the history of racism in America at this time, and the impacts and implications this had on the way many “coloured” people lived their lives. The story follows the life of Lily, a pre-adolescent girl, who has been through a lot after the death of her mother. This is mostly due to her father, whom she called T.Ray, ‘as daddy’ didn’t suit him. Rosaleen, Lily’s nanny is also a key character in this book, as she too escapes with Lily, as they attempt to escape from the hatred they have experienced.
After months of war, people of La Paz were in a desperate situation, as food and water were hard to come by at the time. They had to eat even cats and dogs so they didn’t die of starvation. Only in Paulita’s kitchen food was never lacking, thanks to the clay figure she had put in a little altar, which had miraculously provided the maid with enough dried meat, corn and biscuits. In reality, it was Isidro who had given her these provisions, as he was in the indigenous army and therefore able to secretly enter the city. When Doña Josefa became sick because of malnutrition, Paulita decided to share her food with her and the governor, who wanted to know where she had gotten it from.
Some of the major issues and concerns conveyed by Harper Lee in To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM) are the concepts of prejudice, courage and innocence and childhood and how these are represented in the novel through various techniques and symbols. In the novel we see the racial morals of characters, like Atticus Finch and Bob Ewell, conflicting to create events that instigate racial uproar in the town of Maycomb. We explore the issues through Scout's interpretation of the events, as well as experiencing her innocence from the situation because of her childhood. Through the trial of Tom Robinson, readers are able to witness the courage of Atticus Finch, defending a Negro in a racially biased society when knowing he may not be successful with his endeavours. The main concern and issue in TKAM is the concept of prejudice.