Empathy/Morality
People have the capacity to demonstrate both good and evil, and morality combined with empathy are the most important themes of the book
Characterization
Conflict
"Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell's shoes a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback, his kind always does."(pg.292)
Mr. Ewell spits in Atticus's face but he does not retaliate because Atticus knows that Mr. Ewell is mad that Atticus took away all of his credibility.
After Jem takes out his anger on Ms. Dubose's flowers, Atticus tells him that she is old and sick. Jem is forced to go back and do something nice for her. She wants Jem to read to her for a whole month and every day Scout went with him. As the days go on Scout starts to have empathy for her as she feels bad for the condition she is in
Heck Tate
Jem
Scout
Calpurnia
Atticus
"There's some folks who don't eat like us," she whispered fiercely, "but you ain't called on to contradict 'em at the table when they don't. That boy's yo' comp'ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?" (pg.32)
"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". (pg.374)
“Why couldn’t I mash him?” I asked.
“Because they don’t bother you,” Jem answered in the darkness.
(pg.320)
Scout wanted to kill a roly poly bug, and was annoyed that Jem wouldn't let her.
Sheriff Tate corrects Atticus, saying that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife. Atticus appreciates what Heck is trying to do, but he doesn't want anyone to cover for Jem. As the men argue, Atticus realizes that Boo Radley killed Ewell, and it is Boo who Tate is trying to protect.
Literary Devices
Irony
Foreshadowing
The gifts Boo Radley leaves in the tree show what a good person he is
Boo Radley saved Jem and Scout's life even though at the start of the book he frightened them
Narrator
Scout narrates the story and the reader follows her journey from a strong willed child to an empathetic young girl
Metaphor
Hyperbole
"There goes the meanest man god ever blew breath into" (pg.15). Calpurnia is talking about Mr. Nathan Radley and this is the only time in the book she speaks about someone's evil nature.
Connections
Text to World
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it".(pg.39)
A connection can be made to "The Central Park Five", a group of five black and Latino teenagers that were wrongly convicted of raping a female jogger in New York in 1989. A Netflix series was created to record the case and the city of New York had a moral obligation to provide a financial settlement with the individuals.
Atticus knew what he was getting into when he decided to defend a black man. Instead of letting the ignorance of others discourage him, he continued to put on a fair trial and taught his children valuable lessons along the way.
Diction
"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win"(pg.108)
These words show that Atticus thought it was wrong to not try to win the court case.