There is no doubt there are egotistical, self-absorbed people in today’s society. Their personal choices are made through the idea of benefiting just themselves. Now, there are charitable individuals in this world that drive, not just themselves, but everyone around them to a happier state in life, even if that means making sacrifices. Sacrifice is the ability to give up something with the intention of it resulting for the greater good. If everyone in this world conducts sacrifices on the daily, there would eventually be nothing to sacrifice for. Unfortunately, that would never happen, prompting more people, like my parents, to make all these sacrifices.…
To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel that is artistically written. Through the situations the “mockingbirds” go through living in Maycomb County, many important life lessons are taught not only to the characters but also to the reader. The dilemmas at hand are creative ways of teaching these lessons. Scout’s growth throughout the novel is symbolic of the growth of the town in many issues surrounding racial prejudice, sexism, and the usage of pigeon…
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” Dalai Lama, Buddhist leader…
Author Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is written about two siblings, Jean Louise and Jeremy Finch. They live with their father Atticus, a respected lawyer. Living in a town called Macomb County, this family has endured many hardships. Despite the odds, they manage to maintain a very healthy relationship. In today’s society people people do not usually care about others, it is one for all instead of all for one. Lee writes about how having compassion can help create and strengthen bonds with others. To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, explains the effects of having compassion through Scout getting to know Walter Cunningham, Atticus defending a colored man, and atticus treating Bob Ewell with respect.…
Have you ever thought, why is my teacher so adamant about me reading To Kill a Mockingbird? What if I told you it is filled to the brim with life lessons and morals that allow us to reflect deeply upon it? Firstly, life lessons are more important than you think and they matter for a few specific reasons. Secondly, if you look at the main protagonist, Atticus he was always kind and demonstrated numerous life lessons. Lastly, one of the main topics is racism and it has a lot of teaching value. With all of these prominent ideas that schools love to promote, how could they not choose this book?…
The chapter opens with the introduction of the narrator, Scout (Jean Louise) Finch, her older brother Jem (Jeremy), and their friend and neighbor, Dill (Charles Baker Harris). Next, Lee provides an overview of Finch family history. Their ancestor, a Methodist named Simon Finch, fled British persecution and eventually settled in Alabama, where he trapped animals for fur and practiced medicine. Having bought several slaves, he established a largely self-sufficient homestead and farm, Finch's Landing, near Saint Stephens. The family lost its wealth in the Civil War. Scout's father, Atticus Finch, studied law in Montgomery while supporting his brother, John "Jack" Hale Finch, who was in medical school in Boston. Their sister Alexandra remained at Finch's Landing. Atticus began his law practice in Maycomb, the county seat of Maycomb County, where his "office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, a spittoon, a checkerboard, and an unsullied Code of Alabama." His first case entailed defending two men who refused to plead guilty for second-degree murder. They instead pled not guilty for first-degree murder, and were hanged, marking "probably the beginning of my father's profound distaste for criminal law." Scout then describes Depression-era Maycomb, "an old tired town when I first knew it", summer heat and slow pace of life. She notes, "There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County". Scout describes as her father as entirely "satisfactory," and her family's black cook, Calpurnia, as strict and "tyrannical." Scout and Jem's mother died of a heart attack when Scout was two and she has no memories of her. However, Jem can remember his mother and Scout notices that he is occasionally nostalgic about her. The novel takes begins during the summer. Scout is almost six, and Jem is almost ten. Once this background picture is complete, the real…
The Kiwanis International Club held a survey where they asked when is it important to help out others? 75% of people believe in helping others when it will have an important impact on not only their lives but on other people's lives. When asked what type of community service makes the biggest difference, ⅔ answered hands on activities such as donating supplies, volunteering with a local service club, or participating in local community events have a bigger influence than just giving out money (Most Americans Believe One Can Can Change the World). Today, because of the sacrifices and achievements of many strong leaders, others now have their independence from countries, they have the right to vote, improved working conditions, or just an opportunity to be a better person. According to the survey on volunteerism done by the Kiwanis International Club, 86% of Americans believe one person can make a change (“Most Americans Believe One Can Change the World”). If this many people believe that humans are capable of making a change in the world, then the only thing stopping us from improving the world is us. As a quote by an anonymous person states “If you’re searching for that one person who will change your life...take a look in the mirror”; humans are the future of the world, and to live prosperous lives, we should be willing to help improve not only our living conditions, but to not be selfish and lend a helping hand to others in need as well. What the world is molded into is because of us, and as John F. Kennedy once said, “Making a positive difference in our own life or the lives of others, organizations, and the world at large starts with a healthy mind, body, and spirit, and a change of daily thoughts, communications, and actions of our own self…
“Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” (John Wooden). To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is primarily a novel about growing up under extraordinary circumstances in the 1930s during the Great Depression. The narrator, Scout Finch, lives with her older brother Jem and father ,Atticus, in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a small, close-knit town, where everyone knows each other. Atticus is a highly respected and responsible citizen of Maycomb County. He constantly tries to instill good values and a sense of moral decency in his children. As a widower, Atticus raises his two children on his own with the help of his kind neighbors and Calpurnia, his loyal housekeeper. Atticus, Maycomb’s best lawyer, is appointed to defend Tom Robinson, who is a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. During the trial, Atticus balances what is morally right and what the local community desires. Tom Robinson is innocent, but he is proven guilty because he is black, and the girl he was accused of raping, Mayella Ewell, is white. Maycomb’s society turns a blind eye to the case and allows Mayella to win because of the inequality between whites and blacks. Tom is found guilty and is then placed in prison. While in prison, Tom attempts to flee, but is shot to death. Because of the trial, Atticus exposes himself and his family to the anger of the white community. Atticus is portrayed as a compassionate, wise, and courageous man who accepts everyone as they are.…
Prejudice is defined as “an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason.” It occurs when people assume things towards others based on false or misleading information and external influences, leading to unfair and unjustified biases. Since the dawn of time to the modern age, humans have been creating false preconceptions of each other, leading to conflict, war, blood, and gore. A time in American history where prejudice is particularly distinct ranges from the post-civil war era to prior to the start of the African-American civil rights movement (1865-1954). Set in the South during the Great Depression (1929-39), To…
In the 1930’s, especially in the south, society centered around a kind of unwritten social code, and to break it is to be shunned from said society. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, many of the characters are affected by these social pressures in different ways. Mayella Ewell gives in to societal pressure by covering up her “mistake” with Tom Robinson, while Dolphus Raymond goes against it and has a happy relationship with an African American wife and mixed children.…
Humans seek assurance that they are virtuous and in pursuit of happiness not only for themselves, but to live morally correct lives by doing so. In reality, however, what people say or do to defend their choices may often deviate from the truth. Due to the contradictory nature between emotions, logic, and ethics, most people seek justification for their prejudiced actions or beliefs. If one can convince himself that another group is inferior or a threat to his way of life, he will feel comfortable with enforcing increased authority over that group of people. This desire to warrant asserting dominance over others is deemed “self-justification” in the literary text Causes of Prejudice by Vincent N. Parrillo. Bob Ewell in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and…
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.” –Atticus Finch. Atticus, his daughter Scout, one of his neighbours Mrs. Dubose, an innocent man accused wrongfully of rape Tom Robinson, and his children’s guardian angel Boo Radley, are all characters in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird who demonstrate the quality of courage. They also make it clear that courage is not necessarily risking physical danger, but a dedication to principles first and acceptance of consequences second.…
In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, courage is defined as "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what" (149). This novel, which tells of the prejudice found in a small Alabama town, has many examples of courage. Two major characters who exemplify the theme of courage are Atticus and Jem Finch.…
“The witness of the state… have presented themselves to you… in cynical confidence that their testimonies won’t be doubted [because of]... the evil assumption - that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings.” (Lee 273). This was a line quoted from Atticus during Tom Robinson's court case in To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird took place in the early 1930’s in Maycomb County, Alabama, when many people were strongly prejudiced against blacks. Atticus said this line not only to save Tom Robinson, a black man, from the wrongful verdict of rape, but potentially even some of his town from the stifling grip of prejudice. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrated that prejudice causes lack of empathy and bias; this was shown through the words and reactions to conflicts of prejudiced characters.…
It’s a sin to kill mockingbirds. That’s what Atticus told Jem when he acquired his first weapon. He told him it’s a sin to harm anything that doesn’t commit any wrong, a message the American South needed to hear desperately at the time Harper Lee was writing. In the book, the children have been relentlessly making fun of Boo Radley, but Jem soon realizes that Boo is not what their prejudices had caused them to make him out to be. He learns from this, and begins questioning his beliefs. Lee uses Jem’s experiences with prejudice to introduce the message into the story, which is a message that is also meant to influence the racist American south.…