Preview

Jaavv

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
612 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Jaavv
To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help
Essay Question

Follow the template below to draft your ROUGH draft response to this question: Is Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan OR Aibileen like the outsider character of Boo Radley or is she more like the defender of justice character of Atticus Finch?

Tip: you may NOT use “I think” or “I agree/disagree” in your writing.
Introduction:
Hook
Background of novel and movie
Thesis statement

Black is black and white is white, usually the colors don’t mix. There are shades of gray when you consider the characters of To Kill a mockingbird and the Help. To kill a mockingbird is a first-person narrative recounting two years in the life of Scout Finch. It’s a novel of personal growth, social justice (and injustice), and friendship. While the writing employs generous amounts of humor, the core of the book is essentially concerned with the problems of prejudice and cultural bias in the 1930s American South. The Help is a safe film about a volatile subject. Presenting itself as the story of how African-American maids in the South viewed their employers during Jim Crow days, it is equally the story of how they empowered a young white woman to write a best-seller about them, and how that book transformed the author's mother.

The character skeeter and the characters Atticus and boo have the shades of gray when their personalities are considered.
Skeeter has similar characteristics to Atticus Finch and Other characteristics with boo radley

Body Paragraph 1:
TS - Agree/disagree that Skeeter is like Boo
2 Cm-Cd-Cm “sandwiches”
CS - conclude and transition to next topic about Atticus

Skeeter specifically identifies with Boo Radley. "I've become one of those people who prowl around at night in their cars. God, I am the town's Boo Radley, just like in To Kill a Mockingbird" (27.101).After being fired from her position as editor of the Jackson Junior League newsletter, she's driving around upset. She knows she was

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Throughout life people are misrepresented, stereotyped, and seen as something they aren't. This can greatly affect the person's life and the way they interact with the world. The image of the mockingbird is represented through many characters in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. In the novel killing a mockingbird is a symbol of loss of innocence. There are many “mockingbirds” in the story, which takes place in a town called Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. One of the “mockingbirds” in the story is Tom Robinson, a African American man, accused of raping a white woman and falsely convicted for it. Another “mockingbird” in the story is Boo Radley, an outcast…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever known what it is like to constantly do good things but never rewarded? Never acknowledged? Always assumed to be bad? To be a mockingbird means to not cause any harm to the society and do good deeds. Most mockingbirds don’t even want to be recognized. Boo Radley is a perfect example of a metaphorical mockingbird. Not everyone knows what being misunderstood is like; especially when you’re misunderstood for the wrong reasons. Just because a man keeps to himself, should he be marked as an outcast? Just because a man is rumored to have done a dark deed, should he live a lonely life? Boo Radley, a man who has been labeled by a myth, truly encompasses the qualities of a mockingbird. His status as an outcast not only leads to his misunderstood reputation, but also to his self-dependent, lonely lifestyle. Yet, the town doesn’t know he’s a harmless man who just keeps to himself. This misunderstood citizen of Maycomb, who all in all, ends up being a harmless stranger trying to help, resembles a metaphorical mockingbird.…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As of today, we still have problem with prejudice and racism towards blacks. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel illustrating the struggles of a racist town in Alabama. Characters are at a struggle to comprehend the way people act. Knowing this, they have to learn what is right and act accordingly. Throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, characters discover and begin to emphasize each other’s lives in large portions and in doing so, many characters develop and mature to understand the world they live in.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird is written from the perspective of a 8 year old American girl in the 1930’s. The novel unfolds a story about an innocent black man accused of rape in a white Southern American County. The young naive girl Scout, recognizes the injustice of the towns accusations and sees the biased prejudices. By writing in the perspective of the young girl Scout, it allows the reader to have no prejudiced opinion. Instead the book is read through…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus Finch Foil

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the novel portrays a society that is remarkably unfair: in the 1930’s in the Southern United States in a small town where racism is part of the very fabric of society. Bob Ewell demonstrates the theme racial prejudice through his racial slurs, while the main character Atticus Finch is a respectable man. Throughout the novel the author emphasizes the importance of overcoming adversity although it may come with defeat.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus is a man well-driven by principles and moral convictions. One of his philosophies is 'it's a sin to kill a mockingbird'. This reflects his belief that all persons must be equally respected and treated indifferently. He says 'mockingbirds just sing, they don't bother anybody'. Atticus believes that when a person is trying to do a service to someone, tryin to help persons, or trying to help himself, it is a great injustice to try to destroy the person's lifestyle just because someone does not appreciate it. One character who can be considered a mockingbird is Boo Radley. He is a citizen of Maycomb, who hardly associates with neighbors. He keeps himself shut in from the community of Maycomb, but everal persons, including atticus' children feel that he should come out of his house and assume a more social attitude.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s, where Miss Skeeter, a white woman, secretly interviews the help, black maids, on how they are treated in…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story that takes place in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Like any southern town of this time period, Maycomb is filled with scandals and other thieveries, prejudice, and gossip spreading news faster than wild fire. Because of this, many characters are considered outcasts just for being different than other members of society. Throughout the book, Lee recreates a world that segregates/divides black and white communities. This corrupt idea of society unjustly influences the lives of many, like Scout, the innocent protagonist. Amongst all of the misinformed citizens of Maycomb, Scout has an influential role model- her father, Atticus- who teaches her, as well as other town members, what it means to be a truly moral person. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee shows how Atticus is the moral compass of the town through his honesty, wisdom, beliefs in racial equality, and his teachings.…

    • 327 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jackson, Mississippi is widely known as one of the most racist areas in America. The Help, directed by Tate Taylor, is set in 1964 Jackson, Mississippi and is based on the segregation and racism towards the African American maids in America. An idea in The Help that I thought was interesting was racism. I thought this was interesting because of how different it is to today’s society with the laws against racial discrimination. Taylor portrayed the idea of racism through the use of film techniques and dialogue.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird is written by Harper Lee. It is the story of a black man’s struggle for justice. Through her protagonists Atticus Finch and his daughter Scout and other characters such as Tom Robinson and Bob Ewell, the author reveals her themes concerning the evils of racism and the need in humans for moral integrity. Furthermore, heroism is found in this novel, i.e. characters who show both physical and moral courage in the face of great adversity. Three characters in particular are Atticus Finch, Mrs Dubose and Boo Radley.…

    • 690 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Harper Lee’s book To Kill a Mockingbird is significant because it gives many examples of individuals protecting the innocent. Jem, Scout, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are characters in the book that are examples of “innocents” who were in need of protection. In this story, the mockingbird is symbolic of the innocents. All of these characters in some way are like mockingbirds. For the purpose of this essay, I’ve chosen the two most symbolic characters Tom Robinson and Boo Radley.…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine living in a rural town in Alabama back in the early nineteen hundreds; racism runs wild and social injustices occur frequently, unregulated by law enforcement. This is just what The Finch family in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, has to deal with. This is an appealing story about the Finch family and the problems that they face, especially regarding an instance of racial oppression involving a black man and a white lawyer, Atticus Finch. Besides Atticus Finch, other characters in the town of Maycomb such as Boo Radley, and Scout Finch are all known for their courageous and sometimes defying actions throughout the book.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Boo Radley was one of the main characters in this novel, yet he was only seen in the novel very few times. His role in this novel was to prove to the audience that stereotypes are not always true, since the stereotyped evil character was actually acting as a parent-like figure to the Finch children. The town of Maycomb had created a horrible stereotype over the years of Boo Radley only because of his parents and the fact that he had social issues. Many people including Jem, scout and Dill thought Boo was, “chained to a bed most of the time, 6 feet tall, judging by his tracks, he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch that’s why his hand were bloodstained… there was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten, his eyes popped out, and drooled most of the time,” (pg.16) only from stories they have heard from others around Maycomb. Boo Radley shows the theme of the…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee took the world by storm in 1960s with a story about southern racism and discrimination. Although the novel focused on small town life in southern Alabama, it influenced the future and success of the Civil Rights Movement. Harper Lee wrote this novel in a childs point of view at the beginning of the Civil Rights Era when events such as the murder of Emmett Till, the lunch counter sit-ins, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott put Alabama at the center of the movement. Throughout this era there was a great deal of racial discrimination and the expectation that no one would try to argue with the whites assumed authority. In Lees book, the focus is centered on the conviction of Tom Robinson, a poor black man. He was convicted of raping Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a notoriously poor white family in a small town called Maycomb. The protagonists father, Atticus, took on the case but only did so because otherwise, I couldnt hold up my head in town, I couldnt represent this county in the legislature, and I couldnt even tell you or Jem not to do something again. Atticus also struggled with the fact that he had no hope of winning due to the race of his client. Ts morbid, watching a poor devil on trial for his life. Look at all those folks, its like a Roman carnival. At the end of the trial, Tom was convicted and sentenced to death, despite undeniable evidence that he was innocent. These results shocked readers and reminded many of the Scottsboro trials and how unfair they were. In addition, the childs point of view on To Kill a Mockingbird allowed many white southerners to question the way the system was if even a child could point out its flaws. After these realizations, the famous novel was quickly made into a movie, expanding its audience even further. After the movies big debut, several significant events occurred, which shaped the Civil Rights Movement and America as we know it today. For example, within a few years,…

    • 543 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird

    • 1710 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Boo Radley is like a mockingbird because he's misunderstood and everyone seems to attack him when in fact he is actually a human being just reaching out for contact. He is the town reclose and an object of a lot of scrutiny and gossip made by the town’s people. Because of this, Boo was falsely characterized by many of the rumors made about him. He was rumored to be; “about six and a half feet tall, judging from his tracks ; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that why his hands were bloodstained. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face, what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes poped and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 189) .These horrific accusations made about him tainted his innocence by causing people…

    • 1710 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays