To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee: A Literary Analysis

E. E. Cummings once said, “It takes great courage to grow up and become who you really are” (www.goodreads.com). In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, young Jem and Scout Finch spend their summers in Maycomb, Alabama. Through the years they wait for the elusive Boo Radley to come out of his house and watch their father defend a black man in trial. The novel displays thematic topics such as prejudice, courage and family dynamics.
Harper Lee illustrates the theme that prejudice causes people to treat others unfairly. After the hearings during the trial scene, Jem, Dill and Scout walk out of the courthouse and run into Dolphus Raymond, a man known for drinking whiskey out of a paper bag and having mixed children. Before she finds out that the whiskey is actually Coca-Cola, Scout is uneasy about speaking to him, stating that “I had a feeling that I shouldn’t be sitting here listening to this
During the poetry unit in 8th grade, everyone had to write their own original poem and present in front of the class. After everyone in class presented, there would be a vote to send people up in front of the entire 8th grade to read. I was nervous and almost stayed home from school to get out of reading, but at the last second I decided to go. I even volunteered to read first! I knew my poetry was decent because I had been working on it for about a week, but I never expected to be sent up in front of my grade to read it. If I hadn’t shown that courage, I wouldn’t have gotten to share my work for many more years or gotten over my stage fright. To Kill a Mockingbird displays many universal and timeless themes. Prejudice can lead to unfair treatment, courage is not always rushing into danger, and mothers are not always related to their children. With the things Jem and Scout learned throughout their journeys, they'll certainly be courageous enough to be