The Journey In To Kill A Mockingbird free essay sample

Essay, Research Paper The thought of the journey is a repeating subject within American literature. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a piece of literature that addresses the subject of the journey ( though it is more of a psychological and emotional journey than a physical one ) . In To Kill a Mockingbird, the journey takes the signifier of a immature miss s ( Scout s ) realisation that the universe is non as Nice of a topographic point that she thinks it is. Scout s self-enlightening journey begins when her male parent, Atticus takes Tom Robinson s instance. Tom Robinson is a black adult male who has been accused of ravishing a white miss ( Mayella Ewell ) . Mayella and her household are the castawaies of Maycomb ( the little Alabama town where the town takes topographic point ) chiefly because of the manner they live and their unconventional behaviour ( i.e. the kids merely attend the first twenty-four hours of school: He s one of the Ewells, mom am, whole school s full of mutton quad. We will write a custom essay sample on The Journey In To Kill A Mockingbird or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They come first twenty-four hours every twelvemonth and so go forth. ( 27 ) ) Most of the town knows that Tom didn Ts truly ravish Mayella, but they can t acknowledge this to themselves because if they did, they basically would be acknowledging that Mayella, a white miss, was lying and that would non hold been acceptable. They would instead impeach Tom, a black adult male, because that is justifiable in their heads ( in that that sort of behaviour is to be expected from person like him ) . Scout s mundane life experiences are at the caprice of the town when Atticus takes the instance. The townsfolk are ruthless when it comes to reminding Scout of their sentiment of Atticus and what he has done. Scout s first experience with their animus happens at school. He [ Cecil Jacobs ] had announced in the school yard the twenty-four hours before that Scout Finch s dada defended niggas. I denied it but told Jem. ( 74 ) Lookout does non truly understand what Atticus is making or the gravitation ( during that clip period, the 1930 s ) of what he is making. Scout even faces ridicule from household. At Christmas, Scout, Jem, and Atticus go to Finch s Landing to pass it with Aunt Alexandra, Atticus sister. It is at that place that Scout finds that even her ain household disapproves of her male parent s behaviors. Her cousin Francis says I guess it ain t your mistake if Uncle Atticus is a nigger-lover besides, but I m here to state you it surely does mortify the remainder of the family- ( 83 ) Lookout demands to cognize what he means but all Francis continues to make is name Attic us a nigger-lover. Scout s response is I don t know what you re talkin about, but you better cut it out this ruddy hot minute! ( 83 ) Even the grownups in the vicinity take their bend goading Scout and her brother. Mrs. Dubose tells the kids Your male parent s no better than the niggas and rubbish he works for! ( 102 ) From all of these remarks, Scout realizes that all of these people have turned against her and her male parent. This is really confounding for her because she had had a friendly ( or at least slightly apathetic ) relationship with most of them. This is when the realizatio N that the universe is non truly a really friendly topographic point starts to drop in. The realisation becomes steadfastly implanted in Scout s head before and after Tom Robinson s test. The dark before the test Tom is moved to the Maycomb gaol. Jem and Scout see Atticus leave the house and follow him to the gaol. They see Atticus discoursing with a group of work forces who appear to be hostile towards their male parent. What they experience and witness there makes Scout see that people she had once trusted and thought of as friends, had turned against her male parent. One of the work forces in the crowd is Mr. Cunningham, a adult male with whom her male parent often helped with legal affairs. Scout approaches him and attempts to get down a conversation with him, foremost about his boy Walter ( with whom she attends school with ) and so about his deduction. All of her efforts at get downing a conversation fail and she can t figure out why. She is wholly unmindful to the fact that the work forces are at that place to harm her male parent. She merely can non conceive of any organic structure desiring to harm her male parent. During the test, all the grounds points towards the fact that it was Mr. Ewell, and non Tom Robinson who beat Mayella up. However, the jury finds Tom guilty. From this finding of fact, Scout sees how unjust the universe can be. She does non see this on her ain but from the words of others. Jem repeatedly says It ain t right. ( 212 ) After the test is over, Scout thinks that life will travel back to normal. She is mistaken in this idea, though. The twenty-four hours after the test, Bob Ewell meets Atticus on a street corner and tongues in his face. The biggest daze of all though comes at Halloween. The school is seting on a pageant for the town and Scout is to be a jambon. The show goes good. Afterwards, Jem and Scout are waking place through a dark field. Scout has forgotten her places at the school and is still have oning her jambon costume. Jem tells her that they will travel back in the forenoon for her places because it is difficult for her to walk in the costume and it is already late. While they are walking place, Jem thinks he hears person following them and halt to listen. He dismisses the idea and they continue walking. This happens a few more times. The last clip it happens though, the individual who is following them runs up behind them and assail them. Jem ends up interrupting his arm and Scout is severely shaken. It turns out that the individual who attacked them was Mr. Ewell. He wanted retaliation on Atticus and decided that the best manner to acquire it would be to kill his kids. Mr. Ewell is the chief factor in Scout s realisation. Through her many experiences with other people, Scout realizes that the universe is non ever a friendly topographic point and that it can turn on you in the wink of an oculus. To Kill A Mockingbird does an first-class occupation of portraying a kid s loss of artlessness through a psychological and emotional journey. American literature is filled with different types of journeys, some more nonliteral than others, as is the instance in To Kill A Mockingbird.