Free Essays on To Kill A Mocking Bird

To Kill a Mocking Bird takes place in the 1930’s, right in the middle of the depression. It is set in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb. Maycomb, like most small southern towns, has a problem with widespread racism toward Negroes. The play focuses on one family, the Finches. In the family there are three people, Scout, Jem and Atticus. Atticus is a lawyer and is defending a African American man in court (Tom Robinson), something that was not often done in the south due to racism. Many people feel threatened by this and feel very resentful toward Atticus. Throughout the play all the members of the Finches and many others display courage in their attempts to stand up for what they believe in. In the beginning of the play we meet Scout. Scout is an energetic little six year old. She still has her innocence and has not yet been able to understand why there is racial discrimination or hate. Scout gets mad when some of her classmates say things about her father, Atticus Finch. Many of her classmates call Atticus a nigger lover. Being only six Scout does not know how to handle her self so she gets into a lot of fights. On the day that Tom Robinson was moved to the Maycomb jail to await his trial, Atticus left the house to go and sit outside of the jail to watch over Tom to make sure that nothing happens to him. Scout, Jem and Dill followed him there to make sure that nothing happened to him. Suddenly several cars pulled up at the jail. A mob got out of the vehicles and demanded that Atticus step aside so that they could get at Tom. Frightened the children came running to Atticus' side and asked him if everything was okay. Atticus told them to go home, but they refused. Suddenly, Scout saw a man that she knew, Mr. Cunningham. She said hi to him, twice before he acknowledged her. She began asking him questions about his entailments and talking about Walter, his son. At first he said nothing, Scout was afraid that she had done somethin... Free Essays on To Kill A Mocking Bird Free Essays on To Kill A Mocking Bird Harper Lee wrote an extraordinary novel, describing life and the way we are as people in society. Her book set an example for all people to learn off of. Lee’s novel that was fist published in 1960, was a huge success. The book was such a revolution it was later made into a movie. The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and the movie was accredited with an Academy Award for Gregory Peck as Best Male actor. The novel and the book were equally credited in awards and prizes. I think the book was the better of the two since it had greater detail and more influential characters. The novel ran a long and detailed version of the town, and the town’s people. The book gives an in depth looks at the town’s people’s views, and their ways. All the characters play an intricate part of a giant puzzle. This mosaic of people leads the town to be the way they are. In the movie, many of the characters are left out and if they do appear they have very small roles that are not as impacting as in the novel. The movie leaves out some other very important scenes. One of such is the scene where Scout and Dill leave the courthouse and begin talking to Dolphus Raymond. Scout learns that Mr. Raymond is not what the community makes him out to be He appears to be an alcoholic. He only fakes a drinking problem to elude the community into believing that is the reason for his ways. He now socializes with the black community. He does this to escape the whispers and rumors of the town’s people. In the town he was known for his wedding disaster. His fiancà ©e had committed suicide on their wedding day. He has not come to terms with this yet and cannot handle the stares of the People of Maycomb. Scout learns that people can over dramatize things. Another scene change from the movie to the novel occurs in the novels scene were Bob Ewell spits on Atticus. In the novel Atticus is leaving the post office when Bob approaches him and spits ... Free Essays on To Kill A Mocking Bird Characters Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch She narrates the story describing her life between the ages of six and nine. She is a tomboy and well educated, mainly due to her father, and she has an optimistic view of the world and people around her. She lives with her widowed father, older brother and their black cook. Atticus Finch Scout’s father is a lawyer in Maycomb and is descended from a well-respected local family. He has had to raise his children alone and has instilled in them a strong sense of morality and fair play. During the 1930’s there were great problems between the races, and he was one of the few committed to attaining equality for both blacks and whites. He agrees to defend a local black man charged with rape which exposing himself and his family to anger from the white community. Jeremy Atticus ‘Jem’ Finch Scout’s brother is four years her senior, but is her constant playmate at the beginning of the story. Towards the end of the tale he moves into adolescence and is shaken badly by the evil and injustice, which he witnesses during the trial of Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson A black sharecropper who is accused of rape of a white woman, a member of the Ewell clan. Calpurnia The old family cook of the Finch family, she is a stern disciplinarian and provides a link between the white world of the children and her own black community. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley A recluse who has never set foot outside his house for fifteen years who becomes a source of intrigue for the children, adding fuel to their fertile imaginations. He only appears once during the novel, but this is a crucial episode in the book. Charles Baker ‘Dill’ Harris He is the Finch children’s summer neighbor living with his aunt Miss Rachel Haverford. He is a diminutive boy oozing with confidence and an active imagination. He leads the other two in their games of make-believe and is preoccupied with finding out more about Boo Radley. Mi... Free Essays on To Kill A Mocking Bird To Kill a Mocking Bird takes place in the 1930’s, right in the middle of the depression. It is set in a small town in Alabama called Maycomb. Maycomb, like most small southern towns, has a problem with widespread racism toward Negroes. The play focuses on one family, the Finches. In the family there are three people, Scout, Jem and Atticus. Atticus is a lawyer and is defending a African American man in court (Tom Robinson), something that was not often done in the south due to racism. Many people feel threatened by this and feel very resentful toward Atticus. Throughout the play all the members of the Finches and many others display courage in their attempts to stand up for what they believe in. In the beginning of the play we meet Scout. Scout is an energetic little six year old. She still has her innocence and has not yet been able to understand why there is racial discrimination or hate. Scout gets mad when some of her classmates say things about her father, Atticus Finch. Many of her classmates call Atticus a nigger lover. Being only six Scout does not know how to handle her self so she gets into a lot of fights. On the day that Tom Robinson was moved to the Maycomb jail to await his trial, Atticus left the house to go and sit outside of the jail to watch over Tom to make sure that nothing happens to him. Scout, Jem and Dill followed him there to make sure that nothing happened to him. Suddenly several cars pulled up at the jail. A mob got out of the vehicles and demanded that Atticus step aside so that they could get at Tom. Frightened the children came running to Atticus' side and asked him if everything was okay. Atticus told them to go home, but they refused. Suddenly, Scout saw a man that she knew, Mr. Cunningham. She said hi to him, twice before he acknowledged her. She began asking him questions about his entailments and talking about Walter, his son. At first he said nothing, Scout was afraid that she had done somethin...