Question by Andrew G: What are the general life lessons that apply in To Kill a Mockingbird?
Basically, I’m trying to find out the main messages of the story, and I’m having a hard time identifying them without seeming very generic.
An example of a generic theme I’m talking about is “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
I was thinking of using such statements as:
“The color of a person does not define their character.”
“A person’s true character cannot be judged by their preconceived notions, but of their moral qualities and how they act upon them.”
Are those really the life lessons of the book? What other ones are there?
Thank you in advance if you help me out.
See answers below. Add your own as well
I just took a final on this test a made an easy A
The life lessons are
Do not judge a book by its cover- This is obviously reffers to tom robison and how even though he was innocent he was killed. Also When Miss Maudie was mean towards the kids, she was a mean lady but she was trying to kick the habbit of morphine, Or Atticus shooting the dog, when every one thought hhe was a nerd the kids find out he was the best shot in town.
Life is not fair- Jem, Scout and dill find this out when they witness Tom robinson’s conviction. He was innocent but because of his color he was found guilty. Scout and jem were treated unfairly by bob ewell when he tries to kill them because they are atticus’ children. Boo Radley was treated unfairly by the towns people and treated like an outcast.
Do not harm the innocent- when the famous line ” mocking birds dont do anything wrong but sing their hart out… its a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
I hope this helped
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The life lesson I see is – that it’s easy to judge people by your own prejudices. It’s much harder to see someone through their eyes.
This has very little to do with color for me.
Yes, there is the obvious one between black and white, but there are much subtler examples throughout the book.
The “poor” boy that comes to dinner, the “grouchy lady” that Jeb has to sit with, the man that can’t pay Atticus with money and or course the neighborhood “bogeyman”.
To see someone that is hungry, a lonely lady, a proud man or a neighborhood kind soul is much harder.
Especially to do it without pity, but with a sense that everyone is equal is the hardest of all.
The second statement you list is very well written and serves your purpose very well. Pax – C