SB1 To Kill a Mockingbird Further Research

Key Quotes:

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.

Atticus give scout a crucial piece of moral advice, this determines her attitudes towards the trial and the segregation evident in the rest of the book. The simple wisdom of Atticus’s words reflects the uncomplicated manner in which he guides himself by this sole principle. His ability to relate to his children is manifested in his restatement of this principle in terms that Scout can understand (“climb into his skin and walk around in it”).

Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.
“Your father’s right,” she said. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Portrays the idea of mockingbirds as innocent people who are destroyed by evil. For instance Boo Radley, not harming anyone.

Key Facts:

point of view  · Scout narrates in the first person, telling what she saw and heard at the time and augmenting this narration with thoughts and assessments of her experiences in retrospect. Although she is by no means an omniscient narrator, she has matured considerably over the intervening years and often implicitly and humorously comments on the naïveté she displayed in her thoughts and actions as a young girl. Scout mostly tells of her own thoughts but also devotes considerable time to recounting and analyzing Jem’s thoughts and actions.

tone  · Childlike, humorous, nostalgic, innocent; as the novel progresses, increasingly dark, foreboding, and critical of society

tense  · Past

setting (time)  · 1933–1935

setting (place)  · The fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama

protagonist  · Scout Finch

major conflict  · The childhood innocence with which Scout and Jem begin the novel is threatened by numerous incidents that expose the evil side of human nature, most notably the guilty verdict in Tom Robinson’s trial and the vengefulness of Bob Ewell. As the novel progresses, Scout and Jem struggle to maintain faith in the human capacity for good in light of these recurring instances of human evil.

rising action  · Scout, Jem, and Dill become fascinated with their mysterious neighbor Boo Radley and have an escalating series of encounters with him. Meanwhile, Atticus is assigned to defend a black man, Tom Robinson against the spurious rape charges Bob Ewell has brought against him. Watching the trial, Scout, and especially Jem, cannot understand how a jury could possibly convict Tom Robinson based on the Ewells’ clearly fabricated story.

climax  · Despite Atticus’s capable and impassioned defense, the jury finds Tom Robinson guilty. The verdict forces Scout and Jem to confront the fact that the morals Atticus has taught them cannot always be reconciled with the reality of the world and the evils of human nature.

falling action  · When word spreads that Tom Robinson has been shot while trying to escape from prison, Jem struggles to come to terms with the injustice of the trial and of Tom Robinson’s fate. After making a variety of threats against Atticus and others connected with the trial, Bob Ewell assaults Scout and Jem as they walk home one night, but Boo Radley saves the children and fatally stabs Ewell. The sheriff, knowing that Boo, like Tom Robinson, would be misunderstood and likely convicted in a trial, protects Boo by saying that Ewell tripped and fell on his own knife. After sitting and talking with Scout briefly, Boo retreats into his house, and Scout never sees him again.

themes  · The coexistence of good and evil; the importance of moral education; social class

motifs  · Gothic details; small-town life

symbols  · Mockingbirds; Boo Radley

foreshadowing  · The Gothic elements of the novel (the fire, the mad dog) build tension that subtly foreshadows Tom Robinson’s trial and tragic death; Burris Ewell’s appearance in school foreshadows the nastiness of Bob Ewell; the presents Jem and Scout find in the oak tree foreshadow the eventual discovery of Boo Radley’s good-heartedness; Bob Ewell’s threats and suspicious behavior after the trial foreshadow his attack on the children.

These are all considerations that need to be taken into place when designing for the book covers, at the same time as making points from these visible; I need to depict them in an abstract way. As the brief requires an unobvious outcome, therefore I need to figure out the ways which almost link themes and facts of the book to someone who knows about the storyline, but, unclear to a new audience.