English Literature: To Kill a Mockingbird : essay



To Kill a Mockingbird

Novel Study Unit

Name: __________________

Outline

• The story is about a young girl who witnesses a town’s mistreatment of people.

• The story is told from the young girl’s point of view.

• The main characters are good people witnessing prejudice.

• The young girl describes the prejudice honestly and at times descriptively.

• The language of the novel is at times vernacular – meaning that the language includes slang words and even derogatory words which were used by prejudiced people.

• Some of the prejudice described in the story includes:

1. white against black

2. black against white

3. poor against rich

4. rich against poor

5. girls against boys

6. boys against girls

• The story includes some great advice for how to live a good life. These are found in such quotes as: “You should walk a mile in a man’s shoes before you judge him” and “mobs are made of people.”

• Story describes the lifestyle of southern America in the post-Depression era of the late 1930s.

• Story describes the judicial system of Alabama and the country in the 1930s.

• One character is described as a hero.

 Through our study of this novel, we will discuss our views regarding:

• the power of language and “loaded” words in particular

• the causes and dangers of prejudice

• the causes and dangers of gender stereotyping

• the qualities of a hero

• the definition of and effects of using symbolism in a work of literature

Major Characters in the Novel:

Scout: Six-year-old Jean Louise "Scout" Finch narrates Mockingbird.  A tomboy at heart, Scout works hard not to "act like a girl" by wearing overalls instead of dresses and beating up other children who antagonize her.  Scout spends her days playing outside with her older brother, Jem, and her best friend, Dill.  Extremely smart and bright for her age, Scout loves to read and spends time reading with her father, Atticus, every night.  Spunky and head strong, Scout often finds herself in trouble with her father, her housekeeper, Calpurnia, her neighbours, her aunt Alexandra, and her teachers.  Despite the rules of etiquette governing life in her small town, Scout voices her opinions and recognizes hypocrisy and injustice in her elders. 

Atticus: Father of Jem and Scout, Atticus Finch sits on the Alabama State Legislature and acts as Maycomb's leading attorney.  The epitome of moral character, Atticus teaches his children and his community how to stand up for one's beliefs in the face of prejudice and ignorance by defending a black man, Tom Robinson, wrongfully accused of raping a white woman.  Having lost his wife when Scout was two years old, Atticus devotes himself to his children despite criticism from family and neighbours who think his children lack discipline and proper guidance.  Atticus stands as one of literature's strongest and most positive father figures.

Jem: Ten years old when the book begins, Jeremy "Jem" Finch acts as Scout's playmate and protector.  Entering adolescence during the course of Mockingbird, Jem matures as he struggles with issues of racism and intolerance.  On the brink of manhood, Jem goes through phases as he comes to grips with his family's past and his future role in society.  Sometimes moody and sullen, sometimes kind and gentle, Jem emerges as a leader as he helps Scout understand how to get along in school and reminds her to respect Atticus and their other elders.

Dill: Harper Lee based her character, Charles Baker "Dill" Harris, on her girlhood friend and famous writer, Truman Capote.  Spending his summers with his relative, Miss Rachel, in Maycomb, Dill, who is Scout's age, comes from a broken family.  Dill spins grand tales about his father but runs away from home late in the book because he feels his mother and step-father don't care about him.  During his summers however, he, Jem, and Scout entertain themselves by pretending they are characters in plays and attempting to coax Boo Radley out of his house.

Boo Radley: Arthur "Boo" Radley is Maycomb's town recluse.  Myths and rumours about Boo and his family abound.  According to the town gossip, Boo stabbed his father in the leg when he was a boy and has since been confined to his house.  The children imagine Boo as a ghoulish figure who eats cats and stalks about the neighbourhood under the cover of night.  In fact, Boo stands as a figure of innocence who befriends and protects the children in his own way.

Calpurnia: The Finch's black housekeeper, Calpurnia acts as a mother figure and disciplinarian in the Finch household.  Atticus trusts Calpurnia, relies on her for support raising his children, and considers her part of the family.  Calpurnia also gives the children insight into her world when she takes them to her church.

Tom Robinson: The most important client of Atticus' career, Tom Robinson, a young, black man, is a church going, father of four accused of rape by Mayella Ewell. 

Bob Ewell: The father of eight, Bob Ewell, a white man, and his family live behind Maycomb's dump.  Desperately poor, Ewell uses his welfare money to buy alcohol while his children go hungry.  His nineteen year old daughter, Mayella, accuses Tom Robinson of rape and battery.

Aunt Alexandra: Atticus' sister, Aunt Alexandra is a proper Southern woman who maintains a strict code about with whom she and her family should associate.  She criticizes Atticus for letting Scout run wild and when she moves into their home during Tom Robinson's trial, Alexandra urges Scout to wear dresses and become a proper lady.

Miss Maudie: Miss Maudie is the counterpoint to Aunt Alexandra.  A neighbour to the Finch family, Maudie offers Scout a female role model opposite from Alexandra.  Maudie respects the children and admires Atticus.  Unlike the other women in the town, Maudie minds her own business and behaves without pretension or hypocrisy.

Walter Cunningham: Walter Cunningham plays a small but important role in Mockingbird.  A farming family, the Cunninghams occupy a middle position in Maycomb's class hierarchy above African American citizens and the Ewells but below Atticus and the Finch family. Honest and hard working, Walter Cunningham and his son are respectable community members who represent the potential in everyone to understand right from wrong despite ignorance and prejudice.

Who Is this?

1. Who 'was all angles and bones; she was near-sighted, she squinted; her hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard'?

2. Who 'habitually pulled at a cowlick in the centre of his forehead'?

3. Who 'was a thin leathery man with colourless eyes'?

4. Who 'never took anything off anybody'?

5. Who, according to Miss Maudie, 'is the same in his house as he is on the

public streets'?

6. Who was 'a chameleon lady who worked in her flower beds in an old straw

hat and men's coveralls, . . .'?

7. Who said: 'if he wanted to come out, he would', and of whom?

8. Who said: 'Don't you cry, now, Scout... don't cry now, don't you worry'?

Names and nicknames

1. Why do Scout, Jem and Dill call Arthur Radley 'Boo'? Does the nickname

have any particular effect(s), do you think?

2. 'We were for too old to settle an argument with a fist-fight, so we consulted Atticus. Our father said we were both right.' Atticus' name is very appropriate. Why? How does this quote illustrate Scout's (and Jem's)

attitude to their father?

3. Jean-louise's nickname is 'Scout'. There is no reference to or explanation of this in the text: do you think it expresses her personality or describes her actions in any way?

Symbolism: Metaphors in the novel:

Mockingbird: The mockingbird represents innocence.  Like hunters who kill mockingbirds for sport, people kill innocence, or other people who are innocent, without thinking about what they are doing.  Atticus stands firm in his defence of innocence and urges his children not to shoot mockingbirds both literally and figuratively.  The mockingbird motif arises four times during To Kill a Mockingbird.  First, when Atticus gives Jem and Scout air guns for Christmas and instructs them not to kill mockingbirds,  Second, when B.B. Underwood writes about Tom Robinson's death in his column.  Third, a mockingbird sings right before Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout.  Finally, Scout agrees with Atticus that prosecuting Boo for Ewell's murder would be like killing a mockingbird.

Boo Radley: Boo Radley represents fear.  Small town folks fear that if they act eccentric and fail to adhere to social rules they too will end up like Boo, isolated and remembered as a grotesque monster.  It is this fear that supports the social status quo and keeps individuals from standing up for that which they believe.  Until people can understand and accept Boo, as Scout does at the end of the book, they will always be stuck in a world filled with fear, lies, and ignorance.

Guns: Guns represent false strength.  According to Atticus, guns do not prove manhood or bravery.  Manhood and bravery come from a man's ability to persevere and fight using his wits, his heart, and his character.  Neighbours use and venerate guns to the detriment of developing their own personal strength.

To Kill a Mockingbird: Reading questions

As you read To Kill a Mockingbird, it will help you to consider the following questions. Many of them require detailed answers. It is certainly worth locating short focused quotations to support your answers.

PART ONE: BEFORE THE TRIAL (Chs 1-11)

1. How did Simon Finch make his fortune? What does this tell us about the Finch family? (Ch 1)

2. Why are Jem & Scout so fascinated by Boo Radley? Why are they so prejudiced against him? (Ch 1)

3. What does Miss Caroline learn about the Cunninghams and the Ewells? What does this tell us about the nature of Maycomb County folk? (Chs 2 & 3)

4. Why does Scout feel so bad about going to school? How does Atticus improve the situation? From what you have seen in these chapters, do you feel Atticus is a good father, and why? (Chs 2 & 3)

5. In Chapter 4, Jem exclaims: "I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl, it's mortifyin'." In what ways does Scout behave more typically of a boy than a girl? Why is Jem's comment so unfair? (Chs 1-4)

6. What evidence is there to show that Boo Radley is not as bad as the children believe? Why do you think Harper Lee has included this whole section about Boo Radley? (Chs 1-7)

7. What further evidence emerges in Chapter 8?

8. Why is Atticus determined to defend Tom Robinson? How does his decision affect Scout & Jem? What do we learn about the nature of courage in these chapters? (Chs 9 & 10)

9. At the start of Chapter 10, Scout describes Atticus as feeble. How has her opinion changed by the end of the Chapter, and why? Why do you think Harper Lee has included this episode?

10. When Mrs Dubose taunts the children, Jem's advice to Scout is to "hold your head high and be a gentleman". Why is Jem unable to follow his own advice, and what does this show us about him? (Ch 11)

11. Why does Mrs Dubose's alarm clock go off later and later each day? What do you think Harper Lee is trying to show us by this detail? (Ch 11)

[pic]

PART TWO: THE TRIAL (Chs 12-21)

1. Why doesn't Lula want Scout and Jem in her church? Why don't the rest of the blacks mind? Again, what is Harper Lee trying to show us by this episode? (Ch 12)

2. Why is Tom Robinson's wife finding it hard to get work? What does this show us about the nature of relationships between blacks and whites? (Ch 12)

3. Aunt Alexandra explains to Scout that she has come to stay because "we decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence." In what ways does feminine influence begin to bear on Scout through Chapters 12-14? How does Harper Lee show Scout reacting to this, and what does this tell us about Scout?

4. Why is Atticus sitting outside the jail? What does this show us about him? (Ch 15)

5. Why does Mr Cunningham tell the men to go home? What does this tell us about Maycomb County folk? (Ch 15) 

6. Since the court appointed Atticus to defend Tom Robinson, why are the white people of Maycomb angry that Atticus "aims to defend him"? (Ch 16)

7. How does Atticus demonstrate the likelihood that it was Bob Ewell, rather than Tom Robinson, who attacked Mayella Ewell? Do we now expect the jury to acquit Tom Robinson, and why? (Chs 17 & 18)

8. How does Tom Robinson explain the fact that he ran away from Mayella Ewell? Is his story convincing? (Ch 19)

9. Why does Mr Dolphus Raymond pretend to be drunk? Why do you think Harper Lee has included this episode? (Chs 16 & 20)

10. Why did the Jury find Tom Robinson guilty? (Chs 20-21)

[pic]

AFTER THE TRIAL (Chs 22-31)

1. Why does Bob Ewell want to kill Atticus? Do you find his attitude understandable? (Ch 22)

2. Why is Atticus pleased that the jury took several hours to reach their verdict? What does this show us about Atticus' understanding of the ways of Maycomb County? (Ch 23)

3. What does Scout think of Aunt Alexandra's missionary friends? Does Harper Lee make us sympathise with Scout, and how? (Ch 24)

4. Why didn't Tom Robinson wait for his appeal before trying to escape? Does Harper Lee help us to understand his attitude? (Ch 24)

5. Why was killing Tom Robinson like killing a mockingbird? What is the importance of the mockingbird symbol in the novel? (Ch 25)

6. If Miss Gates thought Tom Robinson got what he deserved, why does she dislike Hitler for persecuting the Jews? Why has Harper Lee included this detail? (Ch 26)

7. Why is Bob Ewell angry with Judge Taylor? (Ch 27)

8. How did Bob Ewell really die? Throughout the novel, does Harper Lee sympathise with the Ewell family in any way? (Chs 28-30)

9. Why does Scout describe herself and Jem as “Boo's children”? How has Scout matured since the start of the novel? (Ch 31)

Key Quotes from the novel:

1. ‘The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predeliction unforgivable in Maycomb. They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation’ (Ch. 1)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. ‘The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back’ + ‘They don’t have much but they get along on it’ (Ch. 2)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. ‘That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table-cloth you let him, you hear?’ ‘He ain’t company, Cal he’s just a Cunningham-‘ (Ch. 3)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. ‘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.’ (Ch. 3)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. ‘Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so’ (Ch. 4)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. ‘sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of – oh, of your father’ (Ch. 5)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. ‘I pulled out two images carved out in soap. One was the figure of a boy, the other wore a crude dress.’ (Ch.7)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. ‘He’s too old, he’d break his neck.’ (Ch.8)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. ‘Don’t say nigger Scout. That’s common.’ +’do all lawyers defend n-Negroes, Atticus.’ (Ch.9)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. ‘Grandma said it’s bad enough that he lets you run wild, but now he’s turned into a nigger lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin.’ (Ch.9)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. ‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up peoples gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’ (Ch.10)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. ‘Mr Tate handed the rifle to Atticus; Jem and I nearly fainted.’(Ch. 10)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. ‘It was at 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.’ (Ch.11)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. ‘before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience’ (Ch.11)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15. “Scout, said Atticus, ‘nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything- like snot-nose. It’s hard to explain-ignorant trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favouring Negroes over and above themselves. It’s slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common ugly term to label somebody’ (Ch. 11)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. ‘You aren’t really a nigger- lover then are you? / ‘I certainly am I do my best to love everybody …I’m hard put sometimes baby. It’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name, it just shows how poor that person is – it doesn’t hurt you’ (Ch. 11)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

17. ‘I wanted you to see something about her – 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 you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but you sometimes you do. (Ch. 11)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

18. ‘First Purchase African ME church’ + Called First Purchase because it was paid for from the first earnings of freed slaves. Negroes worshipped in it on Sundays and white men gambled in it on weekdays’ (Ch.12)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. ‘I was confronted with the Impurity of Women doctrine that seemed to preoccupy all clergymen’ (Ch. 12)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. 4 PARAGRAPHS ON MAYCOMB inc ‘There was indeed a caste system in Maycomb’ (Ch. 13)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. ‘Way back about nineteen twenty there was a Klan’ (Ch. 15)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

22. ‘but son, you’ll understand folks a little better when you’re older. A mob’s always made up of people no matter what. Mr Cunningham was part of a mob last night but he was still a man’ + ‘a gang of wild animals can be stopped simply because they’re still human” (Ch.16)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

23. ‘They don’t belong here. Coloured folks won’t have em because they’re half white – white folks won’t have them because they’re coloured’ (Ch. 16)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

24. ‘Lemme tell you something now Billy’ a third said ‘You know the court appointed him to defend this nigger’ / ‘Yeah but Atticus aims to defend him. That’s what I don’t like about it’’ + ‘The court appointed Atticus to defend him. Atticus aimed to defend him. That’s what they didn’t like about it. It was confusing’ (Ch. 16)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

25. Chapter 17: Read carefully and annotate to understand what happens at the trial.

26. ‘It occurred to me that in their own way, Tom Robinson’s manners were as good as Atticus’ (Ch. 19)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

27. ‘You mean all you drink in that sack’s Coca-Cola?’ + ‘It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason ‘ + ‘I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live’ (Ch. 20)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

28. ‘The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would all go along with them on the assumption – the evil assumption – that all Negroes lie………never looked upon a woman without desire’ (Ch. 20)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

29. ‘Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard-‘ / ‘Now don’t you be so confident, Mr Jem, I aint ever seen any jury decide in favour of a coloured man over a white man’ (Ch.21)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

30. ‘I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it – it seems that only children weep’ (Ch. 22)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

31. ‘If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man’ said Atticus. ‘So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process. Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom’s jury, but you saw something come between them and reason’ (Ch.23)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

32. He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children, (Ch. 25)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

33. ‘There are no better people in the world than the Jews, and why Hitler doesn’t think so is a mystery to me.’ + ‘Well, she went on today about how bad it was him treatin’ the Jews like that. Jem, its not right to persecute anybody, is it?’ + ‘Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was – she was goin’ down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her – she was talking with Miss Stephanie Crawford. I heard her say it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were getting way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us. Jem, how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?’ (Ch. 25)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

34. ‘There’s a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it’s dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr. Finch. Let the dead bury the dead.’ … ‘Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mocking bird, wouldn’t it?’ (Ch. 30)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

35. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough. (Ch. 31)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[pic]

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Questions:

1. The best way to understand a person is “to stand in his or her shoes.” How does the author effectively illustrate this point in her novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird"? Use specific examples in your answers where an assumption or judgement of a character has been proven incorrect.

2. "Scout, you aren't old enough to understand some things yet." Write about the things that happen to Scout and how she learns from her experiences.

3. Analyse the childhood world of Jem, Scout, and Dill and their relationship with Boo Radley.

4. How do Jem and Scout change during the course of the novel? How do they remain the same?

5. Analyse Harper Lee's presentation of any ONE of the following themes in To Kill a Mockingbird:

• FAMILY ;

• EDUCATION ;

• COURAGE.

6. Analyse the author's presentation of Boo Radley. What is his role in the novel?

7. Many of the characters in the novel hold stereotypes about how individuals will behave as a result of their age, gender, race, social status, etc. Which characters are the victims of stereotyping? Do any of them break through the behaviour expected of them, showing individuality and exposing the falseness of labelling people?

8. Why did Lee take the title from this quote: "I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember its a sin to kill a mockingbird?" Analyse the use of symbolism. In what ways can both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson be seen as mockingbird figures in the novel?

9. How do the children's games and "dramas" (such as the Boo Radley "plays") correspond to the games and "dramas" enacted by adults in the novel?

10. Explore how Harper Lee develops the relationship between Scout and Atticus through the course of the novel.

11. Many characters display prejudice during the course of the novel. What do you think Harper Lee's views on prejudice are, and why?

12. We see many of the events of the novel through the eyes of a child. Analyse Harper Lee's treatment of childhood in the novel.

13. Scout often behaves more like a typical boy than a typical girl. Explore the ways in which Harper Lee outlines the differences between males and females during the course of the novel. How is the theme of gender prejudice developed?

14. How does Harper Lee contrast the lives of black people with the lives of white people during the course of the novel? How is the theme of racism developed?

15. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a story about growing up. Explore the different ways in which Scout, Jem and Dill grow up during the course of the novel.

16. 'The novel is a story about doing the right thing.' In what ways is this true?

17. How does Harper Lee bring out different aspects of Atticus?

Write about:

•how Atticus's dealings with different characters bring out different aspects of his character

•how different events and situations bring out different aspects of Atticus

•what the writer wants you to think about Atticus

18. Jem changes in the course of the novel. How does Harper Lee show this?

Write about:

•what he is like at the start and at the end of the novel

•events that have an effect on him

•people who have an effect on him

•how the writer uses particular moments to show change

19. How does Harper Lee use minor characters in To Kill a Mockingbird to explore some of the main concerns of the novel? Choose three of the following: Mrs. Dubose; Mayella Ewell; Heck Tate; Dolphus Raymond; Tim Johnson; Grace Merriweather; Miss Caroline; Lula

Write about:

•why you chose these characters

•the importance of what they say and do

•how the writer uses them to explore her main concerns

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download