Essay Topic:

The personal peculiarities of the characters of Harper Lee’s “To kill a mockingbird”.

Essay Questions:

What is tragedy of the South of the described times?

What are the moral values of the characters of “To kill a mockingbird”?

How has racial injustice influenced the behavior and the lives of the characters?

Thesis Statement:

Each of the characters of Harper Lee’s “To kill a mockingbird” is a part of the Southern racial stereotypes.

Introduction:

The novel brightly describes the life of people back in the 1930s in the Southern United States. It is common knowledge that the life of the South was very different from the life of the North in the first place due to the racial injustice that existed there for a long time. The characters portrayed by Harper Lee reveal the real life in a small Southern town during 1930’s.

Atticus Finch – is a widower with two children and lawyer of a small town of Maycomb who results representing an African American man Tom Robinson accused of raping and killing a white girl.

Atticus Finch Scout (Jean Louise Finch) – is Atticus’ daughter. The novel describes three years of life of the girl and the dramatic changed in her perception of life which occur due to the tragic events she observes. Scout is a rebel and a tomboy. As she tells the story she forms a picture of human nature and its evilness.

Jem (Jeremy Atticus Finch) – is Atticus’ son, Scout’s elder brother who turns 13 by the end of the novel. Jem is always there protecting Scout and also learns the life lessons throughout the described three years. He converts into a man and forms an understanding of the world and people around him.

Aunt Alexandra – is Atticus’ sister, who is highly worried about the fact that Scout lacks the feminine traits of a lady. She perceives herself as a major feminine influence Scout desperately needs growing up without a mother.

Francis Hancock- is the grandson of Aunt Alexandra who constantly taunts Scout.

Uncle Jack Finch – Atticus’ brother who has no family of his own and comes to their house every Christmas.

Calpurnia – is the housekeeper of the Atticus Finch’s house. She has one of the major feminine influences on Scout. Tough she is an African American she can read and write and actually becomes the one who teaches Scout to do so.

Zeebo – the son of Calpurnia who can also read.

Boo Radley (Mr. Arthur Radley) – Atticus’ strange neighbor who never comes outside and for that reason catches the attention of the children,etc.

Conclusion:

Harper Lee’s “To kill a mockingbird”  is an extraordinary novel with rather interesting characters who happen to change throughout the book learning the truth of life and the racial injustice of the South in the 1930’s.