Themes of To Kill A Mockingbird(Outline) -Mockingbird Characters: Tom Robinson, a black was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, Bob Ewells

daughter and was brought to court. Settings: Courthouse Central Idea: Title of the novel connects with the plot of the story. Mockingbird brings no harm to others but sing their hearts out for people. Tom Robinson is an example of a mockingbird in the novel. Subsidiary points: Racial prejudice is greatly seen in this novel. Evidence: Black people in To Kill a Mockingbird are referred as niggers Is it valid, persuasive, convincing and if so, why?

-The coexistence of good and evil Characters: Jem Finch, Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Mayella Ewell Setting: Maycomb. Jem Finch cannot accept the fact of Tom Robinsons conviction and his faith in justice was damaged. Tom Robinson try to escape from prison and the result was he was shot dead after he felt that he had no chance on winning the case. Just a simple mistake made by Boo Radley, his father, Mr Radley and later on his brother, Nathan Radley shut Boo at home. Central Idea: Hatred, prejudice, and Ignorance are shown in the characters Subsidiary points: Racism in Maycomb are able to see clearly. Evidence: Scout and Jem experienced many coexistence of good and evil such as racial issues although they are still young. Is it valid, persuasive, convincing and if so, why?

Racism Characters: Jem Finch, Tom Robinson, Boo Radley Setting: Maycomb. Jem Finch cannot accept the fact of Tom Robinsons conviction and his faith in justice was damaged. Tom Robinson try to escape from prison and the result was he was shot dead after he felt that he had no chance on winning the case. Just a simple mistake made by Boo Radley, his father, Mr Radley and later on his brother, Nathan Radley shut Boo at home. Central Idea: Hatred, prejudice, and Ignorance are shown in the characters Subsidiary points: Racism in Maycomb are able to see clearly. Evidence: Scout and Jem experienced many coexistence of good and evil such as racial issues although they are still young.

Themes of To Kill A Mockingbird One of the main themes of To Kill A Mockingbird is the coexistence of good and evil. We can see from the novel To Kill A Mockingbird that some characters that represent the existence of good such as Tom Robinson and Atticus. Tom Robinson, a black was accused of raping Mayella Ewell. In the trial, Tom claimed that he never did and wouldnt do that. No, suh, Mr Finch, I never did. I wouldnt do that, suh. (Chapter 19, page 257, line 14) He also testified that he wanted to help Mayella in her house chores although he will not been paid for his help. But, finally Tom tried to escape from prison and as the result he was shot death after he felt that he had no chance on winning the case. From the novel, Tom Robinson represents existence of good as he is kind enough to help Mayella without expecting for any gifts. Atticus also represents the existence of good as he always tell his children to do the right things such as it is a sin to kill a mockingbird and moral values to Jem and Scout, his children. He also defended Tom Robinson when most of the white people in Maycomb are against the blacks. Many white people in Maycomb against Atticus after he made decision to defend Tom Robinson in the court. He even faced death threats, insulted and faced many challenges but he still defended Tom Robinson as it is his principle. The main one is, if I didnt represent this county in the legislature, I couldnt tell you or Jem not to do something again. (Chapter 8, page 100, line 24) Hence, from the character of Atticus, we can see the existence of good in the novel. The characters that represent the existence of evil are Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell. The Ewells are considered the lowest whites in the novel. Atticus said the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations. None of them had done an honest day's work in his recollection. (Chapter 3, page 40, line19) The Ewell Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell are two of the antagonists of the story. Although Mayella is nineteen-and-a-half young girl, she represented the existence of evil as based on Tom Robinsons testimony, she tried to seduced a black man. Tom Robinson said in his testimony, She

reached up and kissed me on the side of my face. She says she never kissed a grown man before and she might as well kissed a nigger. She says 'kiss me back nigger.' But, she later tries to remove all evidence of her guilt by accusing him of rape that sentences him to death. This is selfish and heartless of Mayella as she accused Tom Robinson of something that he did not do although Tom Robinson was kind enough to offer his help to Mayella in her house chores. Although Mayella appeared to be weak and innocent ,but she is evil as she accused Tom Robinson for something that he didnt do which can lead to death sentence. As for Bob Ewell, he is the main antagonist of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Bob Ewell is an alcoholic that took poor care of his family. "It's against the law, all right," said my father, "and it's certainly bad, but when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains. (Chapter 3, page 41, line 10) In the novel, Bob Ewell and his daughter, Mayella had frame a black man which is Tom Robinson of raping Bob Ewells daughter who might sentence to death for it. Bob Ewell swears of revenge on Atticus, Tom Robinsons lawyer for defaming him and even spitted on Atticus face after he felt Atticus had humiliated him in the trial. Bob also came back and tries to kill Scout and Jem, Atticus children when they are walking home from the Halloween party at school. Dont like to contradict you, Mr. Finchwasnt crazy, mean as hell. Low-down skunk with enough liquor in him to make him brave enough to kill children. Hed never have met you face to face. (Chapter 29, page 360, line 30) Hence, Bob Ewell represents evil in the novel as he even wanted to kill Jem and Scout.

The other main theme that is found in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. Racism can see clearly at the trial where Tom Robinson, a black is convicted and Bob Ewell which is a white. Although the evident is more sided to Tom Robinson, but he is convicted guilty by the jury as he is black. I shut my eyes. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: Guilty. . .guilty . . guilty. . . guilty. . .(chapter 21, page 212, line 19)

Another racism situation that is been shows is when Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to her church where normally back people go. Lula stopped, but she said, "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here they got their church, we got our'n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal?" (Chapter 12, page 158, line 28) Jem and Scout felt that Lula dont like their present in the church and she insulted Calpurnia for it.

Another example is when a group of men gather together outside the jailhouse to harm Tom Robinson. But Atticus didnt allow it. With innocent, Scout went and talk to Mr. Cunningham, asking hows his entailment, she even asked him how his son, Walter is. Scout appeals to the man's humanity and forces him to realize he must behave honorably and leave Atticus and Tom Robinson alone. They soon left after Scout saying like that.

: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Character_analysis_on_Mayella_Ewell_for_the_book_to_ kill_a_mocking_bird#ixzz1XVuW1YZ1

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harper_Lee http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Bob_Ewell http://leif6.blogspot.com/2010/03/quotes-that-show-bob-ewell-as-coward.html

Obviously, racism is a major theme of the novel. During the Depression era, blacks were still highly subjugated members of society. Blacks were not permitted to commingle with whites in public settings, as exemplified in the courthouse physical separation of races and in the clearly distinct black and white areas of town. Moreover, things like intermarriage were almost unheard of, and sorely looked down upon. Throughout the novel, Scout explores the differences between black people and white people. She and Jem attend church with Calpurnia and Scout truly enjoys the experience. Afterwards, she asks Calpurnia if she might be able to visit her house sometime because she has never seen it. Calpurnia agrees, but the visit is never made, largely because Aunt Alexandra puts a stop to it. Jem, Scout and Dill also sit with the black citizens of the town in the balcony of the court house to observe the trial. In addition, Scout and Dill have a lengthy conversation with Mr. Raymond, a white man who married a black woman and has mixed children. Mr. Raymond reveals that he pretends to be an alcoholic by carrying around a paper bag with a bottle of Coca-Cola inside in order to let the town excuse his choice to marry a black woman.
http://www.gradesaver.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/study-guide/major-themes/

Another example is when the group of angry men congregate outside of the jail to do harm to Tom Robinson. They want to take him out, hurt him, or possibly worse, simply for being black. Then, there is the delightful Mrs. Merriweather and Mrs. Farrow, who prattles out their racism at the missionary circle that Aunt Alexandra hosts. They talk about how their black servants have been acting downright "sulkym dissatisfied" because of the trial, and how it

was no good to "stir 'em up," referring to the black people in town. Mrs. Farrow says that it's no good trying to educate or better black people...it is just "a losing battle".

ituations of racism that stand out. The first is when Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to her church. Scout and Jem were told to go home and stay with their own kind. They were judged strictly by their race and how the people at Cal's church felt about whites. The second situation dealt with Tom Robinson. Although it was clear that Tom did not rape Mayella, he was found to be guilty because he was black.

Tom Robinson is convicted purely because he is a black man and his accuser is white. The evidence is so powerfully in his favor, that race is clearly the single defining factor in the jury's decision. Atticus fights against racism, and a few other townspeople are on his side, including Miss Maudie and Judge Taylor. Jem and Scout also believe in racial equality, but are obviously in the minority. When Atticus loses the trial, he tries to make his children understand that although he lost, he did help move along the cause of ending racism as evidenced by the jury's lengthy deliberation period. Usually, such a trial would be decided immediately.