Literacy Analysis Essay
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells the reader about the people living in Maycomb County. Throughout the three years we follow these characters; we see how they interact with each other and learn how love and hate are complex emotions. This essay will examine love for family, romantic love, and love for community in order to show how complicated the emotions of love and hate can be.
Jem and Scout are growing up in a loving family. Calpurnia is the mother figure to the children. She makes sure both kids are fed and ready for school. She scolds them and watches after them. She takes them to Church and shares the values she has been taught. Atticus is a loving father to Jem and Scout. He always makes time for them. He shares stories with them and helps them to understand the world around them. By helping others in the community and sharing his feelings about understanding others with his children, Atticus is a good role model for Jem and Scout. As siblings, Jem and Scout clearly share a love for each other. They play together, tell each other their secrets and look out for each other.
Unfortunately, not all children in Maycomb grow up loved or taught how to love. Mr. Ewell is a mean drunk who does not pay any attention to his family. He does not even make sure that they are fed. He hates people in general and Black people most of all. When he sees his daughter trying to kiss Tom Robinson, he is blinded by hatred and accuses this innocent man of raping her. He is teaching his daughter to hate. As a result, she did not tell the truth in court. Nathan Radley did not show his family love either. Boo has spent his entire life as a prisoner of his own home because his father was overzealous in punishing him for a childhood mistake. He also covers the knot hole with tar when he discovers that Boo has been making contact and developing a friendship with Jem and Scout. However,