Characterization

By: Andrew Villa

In the book, To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, there were many chapters in the book that had described almost all of the people that lived in Maycomb. Within the first half of the book, the author writes about not really how the characters look like (well, a few, like the judge or Mrs. Dubose), but she focuses more on how they act, and she shows this through a series of events that occurred in their life. For example, several times in the book, people have been complaining about Scout's behavior as a girl. Jem and Dill had always said, "You are acting more like a girl everyday" to Scout when she chickened out on an attempt to get Boo Radely out of his house; Scout always got frustrated at them when they said that. Also, her other family members, who would mainly be Aunt Alexandra, would also tell her that she needed to act more like a girl, and that she should of dressed nicer, and not wear overalls. From her reactions, and the way she dressed, the way she played sports with her brother and Dill, like football, and from the way she reacted to everything, I could conclude that Harper made Scout a Tom Boy. She also showed her audience that Scout liked herself the way she was, and this was all from the series of events that happened in Maycomb, and how people treated her.

There were also other events that were really hard to see that told the audience that certain characters weren't what they seemed. Jem always cared for her sister and others, like when he always tried to protect her when danger occurred, kind of like when Mrs. Dubose started having fits in front of them, he would always hold her hand tight and keep walking. He also cared for others who he wasn't too fond of, like Mrs. Dubose herself; he might of read that book to her because he was forced to, but he did feel very sorry for her when she died, and showed it by having that fit and ripping off the flower peddles. But, he had a big flaw as a character, he always seemed to try and be the big man around Maycomb, the one who calls all the shots, the one who fears nothing. When Dill asked Jem to touch Mr. Radely's house, Jem tried to give a bunch of accuses, but then touched it and ran. According to Scout, Jem was afraid of touching the house, but Jem decided to do it any how because he wanted Dill and Scout's respect, and he wanted to seem like a strong guy, he mainly wanted power. This trait that Jem has is a flaw because if he messes up on the slightest thing, then he gets everyone in trouble, like when they tried to take a look at Boo Radely from the window shutter. When Jem, Scout, and Dill were all caught, they almost got exposed when Aticus caught up with what they were doing, and if Dill didn't make that strip poker story up, they would of been swamped, all because of what Jem had did by getting stuck in the fence, and leading the plan with Dill. But, that characteristic wasn't always a flaw, it was also used as a good thing. When it was snowing in Maycomb, Jem told Scout and Cal how to construct their snowman, and because of that, they made a beautiful work of art. Jem also tried to take charge when him and Scout saw that sick dog on the street, and he decided to call for help, which he did, and it was the right choice to make. From all of these events, Ms. Lee showed us that Jem was a little bossy, and tried to act mature, but those acts usually led to a life changing moment, and that he was still a kind hearted person, and with that hard, good things would happen.

As many of you may have noticed, Scout and Jem are the main characters in the book; the entire book was made because of them. If this book was made out of the point of view of Dill, the book would be completely different. The book turned out the way it is now because the author put Scout and Jem in Maycomb, and let them explore freely. It is because of Scout and Jem's adventures in Maycomb that this book was as exiting as it is now, not everyone could of done those cool things that Jem and Scout did.

THEME :O

This particular book 'To kill a mocking bird' incorporates a theme, that describes a basic philosophy. 

The Theme if the book can be found by either reading the blurb, or by understanding the book.

Theme is basically what a book is based on, and how it is written.

This book describes that Dignity is the root of all human action.

This is disagreeable. It is of my own philosophy, that Lust, is the root of all human actions, not dignity. This book symbolizes redemption as well, also vengeance. But mostly, this book has a basic philosophy on how humans would interact with each other based on dignity, redemption and vengeance. The point is, this is wrong, because it is of human nature's craving for whatever they want/need, that causes people to do odd things. This is also known as lust. For an example, if someone wanted something, he/she would do what is necessary to receive it. However, in dignity, it does not make sense, you would not do such things, just to proclaim dignity. Although you could, you are more likely to not do it, as opposed to lust. Generally, this book themes a misled philosophy.

Generally theme is important to a book, it can be based on anything, but it also can be rejected.

-Michael Vitale