To Kill A Mockingbird-Themes and Techniques

Essay by leelingHigh School, 10th gradeA, April 2009

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There are various issues and themes presented in the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and "The Rabbits" by John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan. These themes are being smoothly conveyed through the use of different language techniques including complex metaphors, similes, hyperboles, imagery, personification and symbolism. Among the main themes used in the novels are courage, prejudice, hypocrisy, justice, education, social inequality, poverty and perspective.

"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. Somehow it was hotter then: a black dog suffered on a summer's day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum"; a quote Harper Lee uses to describe the fictitious town of 'Maycomb, Alabama' where the story is set.

The story takes place in the 1930s during the time of the Great Depression and the writing reflects some of the economic problems some people were having at that time. The narrator and main character begins her story at almost six years old. A rebellious tomboy, Scout has a fierce disposition toward any who challenge her, but at heart she believes in the goodness of people. Joining scout in her exploits is older her brother Jem, who is nearly ten at the beginning of the story. Jem is quieter and more reserved than his sister, and has very high standards and expectations for people and Dill, A friend of the Finch children, who...