Themes in to Kill a Mockingbird

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Summary and evidence of Themes in “To Kill A Mockingbird” – Harper Lee [Modelled response] Theme: Courage Example/Evidence of Theme The theme courage is conveyed by a number of characters in the novel. Jem demonstrates courage when he returns to the Radley place to collect the pants that had caught on the fence: “Wordlessly, he held up his pants. He lay down, and for a while I heard his cot trembling. Soon he was still. I did not hear him stir again.” p. 64. The composes uses her narrator Scout to create a clear image of a young boy, visibly shaken by his ordeal of retrieving the lost pants therefore reinforcing the degree of courage it must have taken for him to even contemplate undertaking such a feat. Another character who is representative of this theme is Mrs Dubose. The audience is made acutely aware of the depth of her courage in chapter 11 when she finally passes, her death brought on more rapidly because she refused to die whilst addicted to morphine. Atticus tells his son that he wanted him to read to Mrs Dubose so he would understand that real courage was not demonstrated by a gun. “I wanted you to see something about her – I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew.” p. 124. Theme: GOOD vs EVIL Example/Evidence of Theme A theme in the novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ is the book’s exploration of the moral nature of human beings, that is whether people are essentially good or bad. The novel shows this theme through the characters Jeremy Finch (Jem) and Jean Louise Finch
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