The novel To Kill a Mockingbird portrays discrimination against Tom Robinson by the Southern community of Maycomb, Alabama, as a result of the Jim Crow Laws, and in disregard of God’s law. The Jim Crow Laws had a strong influence on many people during the time that they were enforced in America. Many examples and traces of this influence can be found in To Kill a Mockingbird. The author of To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee, published this book in 1959, a few years before the Jim Crow Laws ended. Many people have the belief that Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, as an autobiography of her own life, including the racism she witnessed (Smith).
In Harper Lee's highly successful novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, the author uses the literary device of a metaphor as a major motif in the book. Set in the 1930s Deep South - a time of great prejudice and racism- the novel unfolds as an account of injustice to the most gracious yet unjustly accused citizens of the town of Maycomb. The gentle, but African-American Tom Robinson is unfairly put on trial for the alleged rape of young Mayella Ewell. Boo Radley is victimized and ostracized by the community based on the town fables that the citizens have created about him, forcing him to live in solitude inside his house. Atticus Finch is ridiculed by the townspeople for being a moral human being and sticking to his beliefs in defending an innocent colored man.
As the famous saying says “Assumed guilty until proven innocent”, this is the case for Boo Radley. Nobody really knew Boo but everyone judged him and said bad stuff about him just because he was different. Mr. Ewell tries to kill Scout and Jem near the end of the book. He breaks Jem’s arm but then Boo Killed Mr. Ewell and saved Scout and Jem’s life. "Atticus was right.
The Stone Boy Isolated by his family, betrayed by the community, and silenced by an accident, Arnold Curwing a child, shot his brother by mistake and his actions touched everyone. In the short story "The Stone Boy" Gina Berriault, walks us through a twenty four hour period of Arnold's toughest time, not the death of his brother, but the neglection by his family and community. What started as a good day for Arnold ended with his world shattered, with him having to grow up. Abandonment is one of the important themes surrounding Arnold in this story. It is first shown through the major scene in the story, the death of Eugie.
Jim was more of a father figure in Huck’s life rather than his actual father. The opening of the book displays a series of events for Huck, " Huck awaits the arrival of his father, escapes him, rushes off in a blaze of ambivalence with his alternate father, Jim." (Segal 20) Just like any child, Huck was in need of a father in his life. He couldn’t talk to the Widow about everything and she wasn’t really his “family.” Huck was extremely rebellious growing up because he didn’t have a father figure tell him right from wrong. The only person Huck could relate to was his friend Tom Sawyer; unfortunately Tom wasn’t the best role model for Huck.
It is a rare and beautiful thing to find someone that can stand up for what they believe in, still knowing that everyone else they know is against their ideas. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the protagonist, Atticus Finch, is a loving and just character who sees through the preconceived belief in his community that class and social position is very important by looking at everyone as an individual. He does this because of his own beliefs in equality and justice that he also tries to teach to his children. Atticus doesn’t act the way he does only for himself, but also for the people he cares most about. Atticus Finch is a loving, but understanding father.
Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. "(p.69) The mockingbird symbolizes these two characters because it does not have its own song. Whereas, the blue jay is loud and obnoxious, the mockingbird only sings other birds' songs. Therefore, the mockingbird is seen through the other birds. The people of Maycomb only knew Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by what others said about them.
When Troy is fourteen he has a brutal encounter with his father, leaving him no choice but to become a man and learn to be responsible and survive on his own; “…When I see what the matter of it was, I lost all fear of my daddy. Right then and there I become a man… at fourteen years of age” (Wilson 2012). After being viciously abused and watching his father rape the girl he had just been involved with, Troy’s fear of his father grows immensely. It is at this point in Troy’s life where he becomes homeless and broke leading him to steal in order to survive. After serving time in prison it is then that
His children particularly Mayella, have been affected by this lack of empathy, and have developed it as well. After Bob had just saved Scout and Jem's lives, Atticus and Mr. Heck Tate were talking about Mr. Ewell. "He has guts enough to pester a poor coloured woman, he had guts enough to pester Judge Taylor when he thought the house was empty, so do you think he'd met your face in daylight?" (Page 269) - Mr. Heck Tate (on why Bob Ewell went after Scout and Jem). This quote shows how Bob Ewell has no empathy skills whatsoever.
Perhaps mockingbirds’ beautiful voices is the reason why Harper Lee chose them to symbolize “innocence and vulnerability” in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird (Bernard 78). Whatever the reason, Lee repeatedly emphasizes that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, which later becomes a symbol for Tom, Boo, and racism in general. The theme of racism is primarily portrayed through Lee’s use of symbolism in To Kill a Mockingbird, a story in the 1930s South where racism, although much changed, still prevails today. Although racism still exists, portrayals such as the ones in Lee’s novel have changed people’s views on African Americans and other races. The mockingbird is a major symbol in the novel because of Atticus’ belief that it is a sin to kill this bird.