Literature Analysis #3

To Kill a Mockingbird 

By: Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about a girl named Scout and her story about her her brother Jem broke his arm. To explain how he broke his arm she takes us back to help us understand how it all started.  Scout's family lives in Alabama during the great depression and eventually both Scout and Jem become friends with a boy named Dill who is always interested in the spooky Radley house at the end of the street.  Eventually Dill has to leave and the year goes on, but Jem and Scout start finding what they believe to be gifts in a tree in tree in the Radley's yard. When Dill returns the next summer he is still infatuated with the Radley house. On his last night, the children decided to sneak onto the property to get a closer look at the house.  They are shot at by Nathan Radley and while trying to escape Jem loses his pants.  when he goes back the pants are fixed and folded for him. Jem and Scout continue to find gifts in the tree until Nathan Radley plugs it up. Scout’s father Atticus defends Tom Robinson (a black man) on trial and even though the man is innocent, he is still convicted because of the racist community. He is later shot to death while trying to escape.  Bob Ewell (the man who with his daughter convicted Robinson) is furious at Atticus and vows to get revenge. He attacks Jem and Scout on their way home from a Halloween party and breaks Jem’s arm. Boo Radley steps in and saves the children and kills Bob Ewell.  Scout finally fells as though she can see Boo Radley as an actual person and believes once again in human goodness.

I believe that the theme of the novel is Human Goodness. The book goes against all of the stereotypes that were in place during the great depression and shows that there is good in everyone no matter what their color or how different they are.

The author’s tone is innocent. It’s told in a way that could only be done through the eyes of a child. 

"I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks."

“Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.”

(Talking to Jem about Dill) “Yeah. Don’t say anything about it yet, but we’re gonna get married as soon as we’re big enough. He asked me last summer.”

Symbols: The Mocking bird was the biggest one and represented innocence. Therefore to kill a mocking bird is to kill innocence. 

“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy... but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Imagery: The imagery that Lee uses throughout the book paints a vivid picture in your head about how Scout sees the people in her life.

“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived."

Setting: The setting itself explains a lot. A small town in the south during the great depression is the only place where a story like this could take place.

“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.”

“The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box. As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.”