Essay on To Kill A Mockingbird A Battle Of Good Vs Evil

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Andrea Yates

Charged with five horrific murders, Andrea Yates faced the death penalty. Believed Satan controlled her, Mrs. Yates was convinced her children were not developing correctly and they needed to die to be saved. Andrea Yates admitted to drowning her children one by one after two years of contemplati

The Importance of Being Earnest

The play begins in the flat of Algernon Moncrieff, an English bachelor. Visited by his friend Jack Worthing, though Algernon and everyone else in London know Jack as "Ernest." Jack says that he has come to town to propose to Gwendolen Fairfax, the daughter of Lady Bracknell, first cousin of Alger

"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them." Martin Luther King, Jr., speech, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, August 16, 1967. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a classic novel that takes place during the 1930s where we are introduced to the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, in which there was prejudice and stereotyping towards the people who were different then the general public. In the book, Jem and Scout learn the theme of prejudice and are taught by their father, Atticus, ways to use themes like courage and justice to prevent hatred and discrimination in their own lives.

The main and underlying theme in the novel is that of prejudice. Prejudice has caused the pain and suffering of people for many centuries. Throughout the whole novel, there are many examples of racism and its destructive force in any society. An example of discrimination was when Francis, relative of Aunt Alexandra, talked about Atticus when he said, "He’s nothing but a nigger-lover!"(page 83) In the story, people who are unlike the majority get hurt by those who think less of them. Tom Robinson is one character who is discriminated by the biased community. Because Tom is black, the members of the white community look down upon him and treat him with no respect. Tom undergoes a court case after being accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Because Tom was black, he wasn’t given a fair trial and ended up receiving a guilty verdict. The guilty verdict is a direct result of a racist community. Tom was never given a fair chance in the trial, even though the evidence proves him innocent. People that are born differently often get mistreated and are discriminated against. Atticus described a type of prejudice to Jem when he said, "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."(page 220) Another character that faces the prejudice town is Boo Radley. Boo stays inside his house for a number of years without even coming out to inter-act with others. He did not want the attention that would come from rumors that were said about him. Stories are made up about him and he feels it was risk of being made an outcast of the majority of the society. Throughout the story, people that are unlike the majority get hurt. Boo and Tom are symbolized as mockingbirds due to the fact that both of them harmed no one and only benefited those around them. They are given obstacles that they have to overcome in order to survive. Some people in the world can survive these obstacles, and there are some that just give up. By fighting for your rights, people start to realize that character is the important attribute of a person. This book showed me that the people with differences are not always doing things wrong the way. It is the majority that may be going at it all wrong.

The theme of justice and courage is brought about by Atticus, who was the anchor of reason in Maycomb. This type of courage is shown by Atticus after he was spat upon by Bob Ewell when Atticus says, " I wish Bob Ewell wouldn’t chew tobacco."(page 217) It took courage for Atticus to hold back and not react with fighting to Mr. Ewell’s rudeness. He understood many people in town and believed that if you knew what someone had been through, then you would understand them better. Atticus was a good example of one who had courage. He tries to teach Jem about what courage truly is when he said, "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...

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