Preview

Theme Of Happiness In To Kill A Mockingbird

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1453 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theme Of Happiness In To Kill A Mockingbird
Many people aspire to be fully content with their lives, but fail to realize the effort that it takes to reach the idealized state of happiness. Some believe joy shall fall upon them so long as they wait patiently for it. However, those who are truly gleeful can give credit to their hard endeavors of understanding the nature of happiness, overcoming their fears, and accepting others. By having a realistic view on happiness and comprehending the unreliable trends of human emotion, one is kept from having such high expectations on his or herself upon reaching the state of happiness. The knowledge that happiness comes from within a person rather than from outward sources allows one to take control of their own happiness. When an old woman by …show more content…
Those who hold a genuine liking to other people and do not tend to discriminate against others are often more satisfied with their life than those who judge. An example of one of these people is Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Although he lives in a time and place where segregation is highly present, he refuses to distinguish peoples by the color of their skin. As a lawyer, he defends the innocent Tom Robinson who is wrongly charged with the rape of Mayella Ewell. Finch knows that he will not succeed in his trial against the Ewells, yet he continues to defend Robinson because he knows that it is the morally right thing to do. His accepting nature towards Tom Robinson and his belief that Robinson is innocent keep hatred and sadness from swelling within his heart. Jamie Sullivan from A Walk to Remember also displays a genuine caring attitude for others which reflects her inner happiness. Throughout Jamie’s life, she has always been seen by others as the good and humble Christian girl. She donates to charities and helps out at her local orphanage. Even when diagnosed with leukemia, Jamie continues to spread her happiness unto others until her very last day. Dissimilarly, despondency consumes those who spend their time judging others rather than loving others. Bob Ewell, another character in To Kill a Mockingbird, serves as a good example for this. Although his family’s social status is extremely low, he still holds himself high due to the fact that he is white rather than black. He believes that this difference in skin colors proves himself to be superior to others who may actually precede his status in society. His judgment is cast back on him at the end of the novel when everyone realizes his true nature, and any sliver of content he once held has now left. Mr. Brocklehurst in Jane Eyre is similar to the character of Bob
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Great Expectations By Charles Dicken: An Analysis
    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page

    Great Expectations By Charles Dicken: An Analysis

    For centuries, society has shaped these abstract ideas of what happiness means and how one could achieve happiness in their lives. However, in order to even understand what actions could lead to one’s happiness, one must be able to understand the definition of happiness itself. Having read Charles Dicken’s book Great Expectations, happiness persists as a pleasure or sense of a meaningful and rich psychosocial integration in a person’s understanding of himself or herself.…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary of 'Happiness: Enough Already'
    • 741 Words
    • 22 Pages

    Summary of 'Happiness: Enough Already'

    Sharon Begley in “Happiness: Enough Already” argues that being extremely happy may be a goal of anybody but it also can be “the end of the drive for ever-greater heights of happiness” (455). Begley claims that “being happier is not always better” (455) and an excessive happiness may affect badly to people’s life. She points out that people who reach the highest level of happiness don’t feel motivated to move forward since they are already satisfied. The author goes on insists that happiness does not last long because “negative emotion evolved for a reason” (456). She presents many cases of famous people who experienced negative emotions to create their well-known works showing the need of sadness in every lifetime. Furthermore, people desire to gain more and more happiness causing them the fear to experience sadness. Therefore, what they once considered normal sadness is regarded as a psychiatric illness now. The author then concludes that everything would be much better if “the single-minded pursuit of happiness as an end in itself” (458).…

    • 741 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Theme Of Morality In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 81 Words
    • 1 Page

    Theme Of Morality In To Kill A Mockingbird

    Morality is the principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour. Personal morality is a set of beliefs or code that an individual lives and abides by. To Kill a Mockingbird is an exploration of human morality, and presents a constant conversation concerning the goodness or evilness of people and moral education.…

    • 81 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Harper Lee's Use Of Emotions In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Essay On Harper Lee's Use Of Emotions In To Kill A Mockingbird

    An example of a character pitying Tom Robinson is Mr. B. B. Underwood, who, when referring to Tom Robinson, claimed that it is a “sin to kill cripples” and said that Tom Robinson’s death was like “senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children.” Scout comments that Atticus “had no case” for Tom Robinson because in the “secret courts of men’s hearts” prejudice against and presumptions about blacks overruled reason and apathy in the men of the court. Another example of characters influencing the reader’s reaction is when Atticus informed Scout and Calpurnia that Tom Robinson had been killed and the reader learns that Tom Robinson had a family. Lee included Robinson’s family to make him more human and relatable, creating a stronger bond between the character and the reader. This “bond” is what makes the situation so powerful; by learning of Robinson’s death, the reader feels like they learned that somebody familiar died. This incurs a more vigorous reaction from the reader and in turn makes the story especially…

    • 682 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analysis Of Darrin Mcmahon's Essay In Pursuit Of Unhappiness
    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Analysis Of Darrin Mcmahon's Essay In Pursuit Of Unhappiness

    Everyone's goal in life is to be “happy”, they go out of their way to fulfill temporary pleasures. But what is very ironic is that striving for this possession filled happiness, many become sad, weary and give up on their dream of so called “happiness”. The article written by Darrin McMahon “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” , goes over this issue in great detail. Achieving true happiness is nearly impossible in the way we try to maintain it.…

    • 467 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Good And Evil In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Theme Of Good And Evil In To Kill A Mockingbird

    Ultimately, this confronts the concept of good and evil in humanity. Because of Atticus's strong beliefs about white and black equality, he takes the case of defending a black man against a white woman. Atticus tolerates–and even embraces–the hate he experiences and teaches his children to do the same. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee, 39), Atticus says. He says this to discourage Scout from picking fights with another child, but this can apply to the way Bob Ewell harasses the Finches after the trial was over. Atticus handles problems with grace, like a gentleman, and hopes his children will do the same in the face of…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Justice In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Theme Of Justice In To Kill A Mockingbird

    “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (Harper Lee). Harper Lee wrote the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a top selling novel that brought the nation and the world to a realization. This novel hit the stores in 1960, selling millions of copies and becoming an award winning film. She lives in a small town down in the southern part of the United States, where racism is at its highest. Harper Lee is a ninety-four year old woman whose goal in writing the novel was to bring awareness about discrimination. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee does an incredible job of portraying the necessity of morality, the importance of family, and the overwhelming power of justice.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Othello And Creon Analysis
    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Othello And Creon Analysis

    It’s important to think before one acts rather than acting on irrational emotions because it could ultimately lead to a person’s downfall. In “Othello” and “Antigone,” both Othello and Creon are confronted by their tragic flaws of irrational passions—excessive pride and jealousy. While possessing differing tragic flaws, both men ultimately suffer from the results of their decisions after it was too late to recognize their flaw.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God
    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God

    Happiness cannot be explained in a simple definition; however Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, explains how to achieve happiness. “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (192). The only way Janie was going to find happiness was to go out and find it on her own. One would think that finding happiness is a simple thing to do. However, Janie shows us otherwise. After looking in several wrong places for happiness, Janie finally finds it through Tea Cake. Tea Cake’s differing views on money and freedom make Janie very happy. His ability to care and love her would make any woman of this time ecstatic, but many would say that Janie was the most deserving. Tea Cake’s genuine, care free, and hopeful attitude made her happiness possible.…

    • 1369 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird How Do People Achieve Happiness
    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird How Do People Achieve Happiness

    Many people wonder how do people achieve happiness? The answer to the question would be to show compassion. Next a harder question that most people would ask is why would people waste their time and money on a person when they could be buying stuff they “need” and make themselves “happy”. The answer to that question would be because if people want to be truly happy then they will have to be willing to show compassion and use their time making others happy and whenever they help somebody it makes them feel good about themselves and make themselves happy. One good deed can make somebody happy but doing a life full of good deeds is how you achieve happiness.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    John Stuart Mill's 'A Crisis In My Mental Health'
    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages

    John Stuart Mill's 'A Crisis In My Mental Health'

    Striving towards the achievement of happiness is what most people do, they make it their one most admired goal in life. John Stuart Mill, in Chapter V “A Crisis in My Mental Health. One Stage Onward.” of his autobiography, claims that if we yearn for happiness and make it our ultimate goal, it will automatically become unachievable. If we divert our attention toward something other than our own happiness, achieving it will become effortless. The journey through the enjoyments of life are what gives us happiness, but if we make it our goal we have failed.…

    • 584 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird - Themes Essay
    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird - Themes Essay

    The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is an exploration of the human condition: whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. The novel approaches this idea by dramatising Scout and Jem's transition from a perspective of childhood innocence to a mature understanding of the coexistence of good and evil. At the beginning of the novel, they approach life innocently, believing in the goodness of all people. Later during Tom Robinson's trial, the children are sorely disappointed and this is changed when the jury made up of their fellow townspeople convict the obviously innocent Tom Robinson, simply because he is a black man and his accuser is white. The realization that there is evil in those who they thought good greatly confuses Scout and Jem; after the trial they must re-evaluate their understanding of human nature. While conversing with Scout, Jem says "If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? … I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time - it's because he wants to stay inside". The challenge of this struggle causes Jem great emotional pain as he tries to come to terms with the disappointing realities of inequality, racism, and general unfairness, whilst sharing his thoughts with Scout.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Theme Of Empathy In To Kill A Mockingbird

    Learning empathy is one of the major parts of growing up. It’s a way of seeing the world through the eyes of other people and understanding their point of view. Empathy is one of the main themes in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in which a girl named Scout grows up in a small southern town. Scout discovers a lot of things as she matures, including the needless cruelty of the world and that everything isn’t always what it seems at first. She also figures out the concept of empathy for herself. The novel is full of moments when characters “crawl inside other people’s skin and walk around a bit” and look at things from someone else’s perspective.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Existence of Happiness
    • 1118 Words
    • 32 Pages

    The Existence of Happiness

    Happiness, the intangible emotion that we all desire. Is there proof that this emotion even exists? Eduardo Porter has written an essay titled “What Happiness Is”. In this essay Mr. Porter took the time to study the emotion of happiness that we all experience in life. He makes an attempt to question not only his reasons as to why he is happy, but to have the reader question their own sense of happiness as well. What is it that makes us feel joyful emotions, and how can vastly different experiences cause us to feel the same emotion that we call happiness? While searching for the proof of this feeling Eduardo Porter reflects upon his own personal experiences, professional studies and ultimately decides that his questions may never be answered. Porter states that, “most psychologists and economists who study happiness agree that what they prefer to call “subjective well-being” comprises three parts: satisfaction, meant to capture how people judge their lives measured up against their aspirations; positive feelings like joy; and the absence of negative feelings like anger.” This is an important analysis of how we form the idea of how joyful we actually are. Something in life that one person might be ashamed of could improve the level of cheerfulness for another person. For example, the thought of getting a tattoo might cause one individual to feel guilt while another individual might feel pleasure at the same thought. Because there is no definitive formula that provides a calculated experience of happiness for everyone, it is interesting to question what actions or lack thereof in our lives cause us to be cheerful or to lose some of the happiness that we have already gained. The organization of this essay was well thought out and effective. The author opens with the statement, “Happiness is a slippery concept, a bundle of meaning with no precise, stable definition.” This opening statement provokes the reader to question their own beliefs in…

    • 1118 Words
    • 32 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theme Of To Kill A Mockingbird
    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Theme Of To Kill A Mockingbird

    The theme of to kill a mocking is scattered. But the theme is in the title. The theme is a mockingbird. Atticus explains that it is wrong to kill a mockingbird because they are innocent and make music for people to enjoy. The reason that is important is because just because a man was black he was charged with a crime that they had no evidence on.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics