Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Development of Theme in To Kill a Mockingbird

How this metaphor demonstrates the theme...

Harper Lee compares the innocence of a mockingbird to the innocence of the characters in the text. For example, Tom Robinson's innocence was killed by the jury when he was accused of a rape he didn't commit. It was a sin by these men to make a decision to convict Tom based on racism, not truth. During Tom's conviction, he started to doubt in what he believed in, which was the goodness of the people in Maycomb, when he runs away and doesn't give his appeal a chance. He does this because he doesn't trust the jury could find it in their hearts to label a black man as innocent, so he avoids it altogether by running away and eventually being killed. This quote shows how his innocence was destroyed by the prejudice he endured from the court.

Quote

"It's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (103).

What exactly ARE mockingbirds?

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/id

Quote

"'An' they chased him 'n' never could catch him 'cause they didn't know what he looked like, an' Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of those things... Atticus he was real nice...' ... 'Most people are Scout, when you finally see them.'" (323)

Quote

This demonstrates the theme

because...

"Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell's shoes for a minute..." (249).

Atticus repeatedly says a form of this phrase throughout the book because it teaches Scout how to understand what people are going through in order to avoid pre-judging people. This quote is Atticus's response to Scout complaining about her teacher who is new from a rival town. The class judged her because she doesn't know the common knowledge in Maycomb, such as the social classes. Miss Caroline becomes resentful towards the class because she was judged for being ignorant even though she can't control this. Miss Caroline was an innocent person before Scout assumed she was a bad teacher because of her origins. Atticus often says this phrase to remind Jem and Scout to walk around in someone's shoes before you assumes things about them based on knowledge you think you know.

Theme Statement

Quote

How Lee uses this quote to demonstrate the theme...

"'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.'" (33).

Again, readers see this pattern of Atticus trying to have his children avoid being prejudice. He wants Jem to know some people can't control the things that make them a stereotype, like the fact Bob Ewell can't control the fact he was born in a racist town and hates anyone who associates with blacks. It's not Bob's fault he is racist, he simply had an interaction with his town and family being racist and it caused him to forget he once saw all men as equal. Atticus understands Bob's anger towards him defending Tom Robinson, but Jem doesn't, so that is why Atticus wants to teach him to consider things from Bob's perspective.

Atticus is a patient and peaceful person, and hearing him teach Scout at such a young age how to understand people shows his great paternity skills. Along with the motif of his teachings, Lee also empasizes that Atticus is an excellent father. After him repeatedly hounding Scout about the dangers of prejudice, she finally becomes a reflection on Atticus's moral behavior in the end text. The two motifs of his strong teachings and his effective way to parent often overlap in the text.

How this reveals the theme...

Scout is seen describing the misunderstood character in Jem's book. However, readers are able to infer she is describing Boo Radley. Boo Radley was judged by the whole county for hiding from the world. His innocence became tainted from the reputation people made for him. Because he wasn't sociable enough, he became a sort of scary "legend" in the county. After actually interacting with him, though, Scout and the rest of the town is able to see Boo is an innocent man despite the things peopled judged him before for. Boo became resentful towards the town because of the way they assumed things about him, and this quote helps readers to understand the theme because it equates two different characters who overcame prejudice.

Metaphors in To Kill a

Mockingbird

Although people are born innocent, an interaction with prejudice can cause them to become resentful and doubt what they previously believed in.

Motifs in To

Kill a Mockingbird

How this relates to the theme...

Quote

Tom describes Bob Ewell calling his own daughter a whore. Bob judges his daughter for wanting to kiss a black man because he is judged for being a poor, unemployed alcoholic. We feel sorry for Mayella, because her dad assumed she was a "whore" for kissing Tom, but we also feel sorry for Bob because he knows that his family is already unpopular for something he can barely control. The prejudice he experiences for being unemployed causes him to be hateful to others through no fault of his own thoughts, but other peoples he's been influenced by. He was innocent at one point, but once the evil of racism and poverty came into play he became a hateful man. Lee uses the device well because it triggers a feeling of empathy with the antagonist, something that is difficult to do.

"'It was the way he said it made me sick, plain sick.'" (226).

Quote

Motif

Quote

"'He says you goddamned whore, I'll kill ya.'" (221).

Any repeated element in a work that points in the direction of a theme or that serves as a unifying agent.

Metaphor

"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." (321).

The way this quote reveals

the theme...

The comparison between unlike objects which equates to one another.

Scout is able to stand on Boo Radley's porch and truly experience what it's like to be in his shoes. After years of simply gazing at the Radley Place from the outside, she finally sees Maycomb from the outside looking in as a misfit Radley. This use of imagery by Lee also helps to develop the theme. She implies her ideas on prejudice in different ways as a pattern, not just through dialogue, making her theme even more powerful because it appears everywhere.

Dill is a young boy who doesn't understand the concept of racism and the connection it has with the jury's verdicts. Dill starts crying after hearing the hateful way the attorney was speaking to Tom. His interaction with prejudice caused him to have an outpour of emotion whereas others who are used to it wouldn't have reacted in such a way. He starts to dislike the court and it's ways whereas before he felt pride in them. Lee triggers our empathy as a reader because Dill is so young and innocent that we feel sorry he has to experience this racism secondhand. We see how this affects him, and while this is happening, the theme of the book develops. The theme ties all of the interactions with prejudice into one thing that can be related to almost all characters. Lee does this through literary devices that cause readers to think and feel.

This develops the theme because...

Lee uses the pattern of Atticus teaching his kids how to avoid prejudice to develop the theme. In the end of the text, Scout is physically placed in Boo's place. She sees Maycomb for how it really is. She understands why Boo stayed inside all these years and why he became resentful for being labeled insane. By stepping in his shoes, she is able to see the way prejudice affected Boo like it did to so many others in this text.

Quote

How does Harper Lee develop this theme throughout the book?

"'I never wanta hear about that courthouse again, ever, ever, ever, you hear me?...'" (283).

Notice how...

This framework of the prezi mimics gears and machinery. The two unlike objects, the prezi framework and development of theme, are a metaphor themselves. They equate to one another because the literary devices within the gears show how every part in the book helped to make the development of theme work!

Pathos in To Kill A Mockingbird

How this reveals the theme...

Jem's outrage is a metaphor for the innocence lost in this case. Jem could not believe the people in Maycomb, who he always thought were the "best people in the world" could do this to Tom. Jem begins to turn away from Maycomb. It shows that once someone interacts with prejudice,

they often doubt what they believed in

previously. Jem couldn't accept the fact his innocence was protecting him from the reality Maycomb is racist, and that's what made him so angry after the trial was over. It was the place where he had the "aha! moment" that Maycomb County, Alabama was not heaven on earth.

She used literary devices to reveal the underlying theme behind the text. Some prominent ones are...

  • metaphors
  • motifs
  • pathos

Quote

"'Come on round here, son, I got something that'll settle your stomach...' As Mr. Dolphus Raymond was an evil man I accepted his invitation reluctantly." (227).

Closing Thoughts

Reveals theme because...

As readers, we feel sad for Mr. Raymond because his gesture seems threatening because he is an "evil man" labeled by the people of Maycomb County. Because he has mixed children, the town judges him even if they don't know him personally. Mr. Raymond dislikes Maycomb for this prejudice, so he furthers his reputation by pretending to be a drunk. This develops the theme because it shows people who are affected by prejudice often have feelings of resentment towards the source of the hate.

Harper Lee uses effective writing techniques in order to communicate her powerful ideas throughout the text. Her metaphors are discrete yet understandable in terms of developing a theme out of them. She also uses a pattern device that emphasizes her point throughout the plot, showing the true meaning behind her words. Her use of pathos in order to get the reader to empathize and connect to the characters also helps to enrich the theme of the story. By writing her ideas in different forms, readers are able to see how advanced she is at creating a story within a story. The ideas she used in her book can be applied to human nature, making this book very fascinating because it is timeless.

Pathos

The quality in literature that stimulates a deep sense of pity, sympathetic sorrow or tenderness in the audience or reader.

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi