To Kill A Mockingbird Extract

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“To kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee The extract under analysis is from the first novel written by Harper Lee “To kill a mockingbird”. This novel received almost unanimous critical acclaim and several awards. This book is a magnificent, powerful novel in which the author paints a true and lively picture of a quiet Southern town in Alabama rocked by a young girl’s accusation of criminal assault. The extract is written in the genre of a novel and the form is a combination of narration and description since it tells us a story happened to the narrator. The text of the story is not homogeneous: the author’s narration is interrupted by the speech of the main character. The story under analysis describes a trial on Tom Robinson, a Negro, who…show more content…
He says that she is guilty. “I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man's life at stake, which she had done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt”. Atticus contradicts to himself repeating the word pity: “…but I cannot pity her” – on the hand he feels sorry because the society, so to speak, doesn’t allow to deal with black people (epithet: rigid and time-honored code); but on the other hand she shifted the blame on Tom Robinson thus putting his life at stake. Atticus comments on Mayella’s attitude, interprets her actions and motives, revealing her innermost make-up. From his words we see that she is a light-minded person – she tempted a Negro and didn’t think about the consequences. She is dependent on other people’s opinion and can be easily manipulated by them and by her father particularly. She is not responsible for her own actions. And Atticus Fitch shows it repeating the key-words for the listeners to follow his thoughts (guilty, she, evidence, offence, code, etc). For example, She has committed no crime, she has merely broken a rigid and time-honored code of our society, a code so severe that whoever breaks it is hounded from our midst as unfit to live with. She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance, but I cannot pity her: she is white. She knew full well the enormity of her offence…” – the anaphoric repetition of the pronoun “she” with the help of antithesis “she is a victim, but I cannot pity her” also shows Atticus’s attitude to Mayella, his disrespect and condemnation. After this we can see his attitude towards Tom Robinson: “… a quiet, respectable, humble Negro” – these epithets are for evoking the feelings of sympathy for Tom’s being slandered. He is to be treated as respectable and decent person because he didn’t tell the truth which would
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