General
1. To Kill a Mockingbird begins with the narration
of an assumed now adult Scout about her life as a child with her father and
brother. There was a mysterious man who stayed in his house named Boo Radley,
who because of his abuse as a child alienated himself from the community.
Scout, her brother Jem, and others at the introduction to Boo’s existence were
scared of him. On a separate note a trial formed from lies about the rape of a
white woman that caught Scout’s family’s attention. The trial separated the
black and white community further and Scout’s father, Atticus, represented the
black man in court with almost seamless evidence, but still lost. The father of
the “raped” woman, Bob Euell, began to separate Scout’s family from the
community out of anger and the trial led the children to their first encounter
with the bad of the world. In the end Bob Euell attacks Scout and Jem, who are
saved by the mysterious but obviously caring and kind hearted Boo Radley.
2. The
theme of the novel is that judgments made in ignorance should not be solidified.
Without knowledge of someone’s past, we can’t claim to fully understand their
thoughts and actions in the present. To judge character based purely on the
present could be to accept a serial killer or dismiss an angel.
3. Harper
Lee’s tone is enlightening in To Kill a Mockingbird. It shows how a child’s
moral compass develops over time; when Scout is able to see Boo Radley as a
real person instead of some mysterious and terrifying being. Scout realizes
during the Tom Robinson trial that justice doesn’t always prevail. “People
generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”
4. Antagonist-
Lee uses the evil in people as the enemy of Scout throughout the story
Gothic Elements- The Boo Radley house is
given this evil connotation at the beginning of the story by the community
children
Flashback- The entire story is centered
around the flashback of Scout to her childhood
Setting- The story is set in a farming town
during the depression, which helps guide the actions and attitudes of the
townspeople
Narrator- The novel is a first person
narrative by Scout
Symbolism- Tom Robinson is one of the books
mockingbirds. The mockingbird represents innocence and the death of Tom is
illustrative of humanities underappreciating the people who do no wrong to
them. “The senseless slaughter of songbirds.”
Motif- A reoccurring concept throughout the
novel. In To Kill a Mockingbird loss of innocence is a repeating idea
Characterization
1.
Boo Radley is directly characterized by Scout as
being thin, pale, and by having colorless eyes. Through his saving of Scout and
her brother he is more than just a creepy man, he’s a person of valor and love.
“Maycolmb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it.”
The town was old in age but it’s implied that it was used up and lacking
vitality.
2.
The diction of the townspeople is different, to
represent the different social classes and understanding. “That boy is your
company. And if he wants to eat up that tablecloth, you let him, you hear?”
3.
Scout’s a very dynamic protagonist. This is
easily seen by the reader and understandable considering Scout’s only a child
at the beginning of the novel. Her outlook of the world changes as she is
exposed to the indecencies of humanity. She would be considered a round
character, because she is open-minded and so willing to learn. “Until I feared
I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
4.
After reading this novel I felt like I read the
protagonist, but met the ominous man named Boo. He was everything I love and
everything I feared in people. His character struck a chord in me and
represented the human race in a way I’d never really seen it before. The fact
that he was mysterious meant I couldn’t trust him fully, but it also meant
there was still hope that he could belong to the incestuous and father
detesting side of the force.
