To Kill A Mockingbird Quote Analysis

Mr. Finch starts his argument by presenting the facts of the case, trying to logically prove Tom Robinson’s innocence; he does this through the rhetoric and the use of logos. He begins by presenting medical evidence that supports Tom Robinson’s case. Atticus verifies that Tom uses his right hand and that Mayella Ewell’s facial injuries strongly suggest a left-handed assailant. Through the cross-examination of the witnesses, Atticus shows that their jumbled stories bring up serious questions about the crime. To anyone in modern times the proof he presented would’ve won Mr. Robinson freedom, but despite Mr. Finch’s best efforts to supply logical evidence, the jury did not immediately believe Tom Robinson.

Jem’s relationship with Scout changes as he matures in the story. He goes from a fellow conspirator and playmate for his sister to her protector, resembling Atticus more and more with every chapter. In chapter 4, they are playing a game enacting what they perceive Boo Radley to be like. Atticus interrupts the game and inquires whether the game was about the Radley’s or not. Jem lies, saying no in response. In page 40, Scout yells in confusion and Jem remarks, “Shut up! He’s gone in the living room; he can hear us in there.” This shows his mischievous behaviour and the fact that he is still

Scout depicts the theme of human dignity by following Atticus' words of wisdom and putting them to use in her everyday life. She demonstrates the immense understanding that humans are to be treated

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, all the literary features are established making this novel very worthy to read. This excerpt is from chapter three of the novel. It is the evening after Scout’s first day of school, and Scout seeks for help from Calpurnia, and Atticus. Scout questions the need to return back to school to Atticus, as she does not accept Miss.Caroline’s perspective on Scout having to stop reading at home.With the use of imagery and the characterization of Atticus, this excerpt proves that family with always educate you, and spoil you with

In part one, Jem gets mad at Mrs. Dubose and decides to kill some of her flowers. When Atticus finds out, he makes him read to the sick old woman on a regular basis until she passes on. Atticus tells Jem that she was addicted to morphine and she was very sick. Jem realizes that what he did is wrong. Maturation can even be seen here when he understands the situation Mrs. Dubose was in. Also in part one, Scout gets into several fights at school. Every time someone makes fun of her or someone in her family she beats them up. Atticus tells her it is wrong to solve her problems this way and to stop fighting no matter what someone says. She doesn’t listen until part two when she stops fighting people altogether. This shows tremendous maturation on her part because she has gotten past the childhood habit of fist fighting when she had a problem with someone. Both of these acts show the children’s progressive maturation.

Before, Jem would always be Scout’s playmate but now he tells her to “stop pestering him” and that she should start “bein’ a girl and acting right”. Jem now likes to be kept alone and feels as if Scout is a lot more childish than he had realized.

Atticus displays his evidence as logos when he highlights that Tom Robinson swore an oath with his right hand, when Mayella Ewell was beaten primarily with a left. This shows that a man with a crippled left hand obviously could not have beaten her. It would be impossible for Tom Robinson to accomplish this, Atticus knew this. He pointed this out to a stubborn jury, single minded in the fact that they refuse to acknowledge his innocence.

“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.” This was the first sentence of the entire novel and a flashback of what had happened in the past. It sets up the problem and since Bob Ewell had had previous disagreements and conflicted moments with Atticus, it would only make sense that he would go after Atticus’s children. The flashback is foreshadowing something about the conflict. In addition to that, while in the courtroom during the trial, Atticus reveals that Tom Robinson has no use of his left arm because “He got it caught in a cotton gin, caught it in Mr. Dolphin Raymond's cotton gin when he was a boy...like to bled to death...tore all the muscles loose from his bones.” Which could be setting up the problem for the antagonists who in this book, are Bob and Mayella Ewell. Now that Atticus has proven that Tom has no use of his left hand, it means he most likely didn’t beat Mayella as it would have been too challenging for him to beat the right side of her face using only his right hand. Which overall means that Mayella and Bob have no clear evidence that it was Tom who beat Mayella. Bob Ewell, though, was shown to be left handed. Based on what you’ve just read, clearly Harper Lee included flashbacks in the story to set up the conflict which later came up in the

Jem had changed throughout the story from acting like a child and doing things that children do to becoming more mature and taking part in the

Furthermore, Atticus wishes to portray Tom positively and the Ewells negatively. Atticus’s pathos appeal attempts to do this as shown when he says, “...there is … evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell is beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left” (272). This insinuates that Mr. Ewell is the true perpetrator of Mayella’s injuries as he is left hand dominated. Tom on the other hand, has a useless left arm, making the accusations directed at him very unlikely. This takes the feeling of indignation the jurors have for Tom and places it on a new

In the case, Atticus asks Mr. Ewell to write his name - '"What's so interestin'?" he asked. "You're left handed, Mr. Ewell," said Judge Taylor."'. By asking Mr. Ewell to write his name in front of court, Atticus proves to everybody that Bob could have very well beat Mayella. This is because he is left handed, and if he would have swung, would have hit her on the right side of her face (where she was bruised). Although it is questionable, we know that Mayella had a higher chance of being bruised by a strong left hand in the right side of her face than a weak, disfigured hand. Mayella herself talks about her father Bob - "I said he does tollable." Mr. Ewell leaned back again. "Except when he's drinking?" asked Atticus so gently that Mayella nodded."(245). Mayella seems somewhat in denial while wanting to admit the truth. This ultimately tells us that Mayella knows her father is not tolerable when he's drunk. If she is with him all the time, we know she is abusive because he his intolerable towards her in the form of his drinking. This also shows that he had a better chance of beating Mayella than Tom because he could have been drunk as he got home and beat her. Overall, this evidence points toward the fact that Bob Ewell could have beaten Mayella

As the novel progresses, both Jem and Scout are shown to mature, this is due to "To Kill A Mockingbird" being a bildungsroman novel. Through this coming of age process, we are actually shown Jem’s new found maturity enabling him to find empathy and acceptance regarding the Boo Radley myths, as he finally took his father’s advice to “climb into someone else’s skin and walk around in it” when he was explaining to Scout his epiphany that he “[is] beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut in his house all this time. It’s because he wants to stay inside.”

This way, Jem would be left to go with people his own age” (Lee 343).

Jem and Scout's relationship changes throughout the novel because the both mature and grow. In the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout were closer but as Jem went to puberty you realize that the world is not fair. Jem became more reserved that he started getting annoyed with Scout and started spending less time with her. In the beginning of the novel Scout was more of a tomboy. She would get into fights all the time, but learned from Atticus to walk away.

Atticus Finch must defend a black man, Tom Robinson, in a case against the Ewell’s. The daughter, Mayella Ewell, said she was raped and beaten by Robinson. They also had witnesses in court saying they saw him outside of her window, but this was false. The truth was that Mayella called for Robinson to fix a door in the house, but she tried to get with and of course he refused. This displeased her, so she lied about getting attacked by him. In court, she had a black eye on her right side. Atticus noticed this and asked Mr. Ewell (Mayella’s father) to write his name. He did so, then he asked Tom to catch something and he couldn’t because his left side was mangled due to a cotton gin accident. Ewell wrote his name with his left hand. This was important because it shows Mr. Ewell had actually raped and beaten his own daughter, but because this was during the south at a time of racism, Robinson was convicted of the crimes he was charged with, though everyone in the town knows who actually did the crime. In chapter 28, the children (Jem and Scout) are coming back from a play they did at school. It’s pitch black out and they hear someone. That someone eventually runs and tries to attack them. He slashed almost through Scout’s costume and again tries to attack Jem when he tries to help Scout. When Scout is down on the ground, she hears struggling, then it stops. This was actually Mr.