To Kill a Mokingbird Journals

Never kill a mocking bird A mockingbird is a harmless bird that makes the world more pleasant. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the mockingbird symbolizes Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, who were both peaceful people who never did any harm. To kill or harm them would be a sin. Scout's father, Atticus, tells Scout and Jem, â€Å"I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. â€Å"(p. 69) The mockingbird symbolizes these two characters because it does not have its own song.Whereas, the blue jay is loud and obnoxious, the mockingbird only sings other birds' songs. Therefore, the mockingbird is seen through the other birds. The people of Maycomb only knew Boo Radley and Tom Robinson by what others said about them. Both of these characters do not really have their own â€Å"song† in a sense, and therefore, are characterized by other people' s viewpoints. This statement is a great metaphor and comparison of Boo and Tom. They keep to themselves and only want to help out the community. Personally I do have a Boo Radley in my life. My mom likes to keep to herself and doesn’t really like to go out places.She always says that she is fine where she lives and she would never try to change the people around her. She really is a mockingbird she loves to cook and care for us. I know that if it was on her hands to save us and god forbid her being harmed in return, she is the angel of the family and even though she tries to keep to herself we and she knows that e love her very much. She is a very calm person and only cares for those around her. First day of school Scout had a really bad first day of school. She started off with the wrong foot with her teacher. Although she wanted to go to school, Scout had a horrific day.Her teacher was upset because Scout could read. She also tells her that she is not allowed to read out lo ud. The teacher loans the Cunningham money for his lunch. He says he can pay her back tomorrow, Scout explains that he won't be able to because he is from a poor family. Scout then gets her hands hit with a ruler. And at the end of hat school day, scout meets the Cunningham and beats him up in attempt to get back at him for making her start off the school on the wrong foot. I’m not a big fan of school. But then again, who is? I remember my first day of school, in America.It was bad I had no idea how to speak English due to that I was raised in Mexico. Kids would make fun and taunt me. It was really frustrating for me up through middle school until I â€Å"mastered† the language. I really do thank the kids that made fun of me though. It helped me try harder and harder. I don’t like to fight, and it’s kind of ironic because my dad always said â€Å"fight with your brain. Show them that you are in fact better than them. † And so I did I tried my harde st to be where I am now. Dead bird In to kill a mocking bird, Tom Robinson was convicted of a crime he did not commit.He was accused and convicted of raping Mayella Ewell, but the truth was that he never raped Mayella. It was all a cover up for Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, for beating Mayella. The shown above is a mockingbird. As you can see it has been shot and it is dead, in the novel Atticus states that you should never kill a mocking bird because it is a sin. But this foreshadow for Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is convicted purely because he is a black man and his accuser is white. The evidence is in his favor, that race is clearly the single defining factor in the jury's decision.Atticus fights against racism, and a few other townspeople are on his side, including Miss Maudie and Judge Taylor. Jem and Scout also believe in racial equality, but are obviously in the minority because they’re kids. After the trial, Tom was taken to Enfield Prison Farm, which was about 7 0 miles away. This is where he would attempt to escape and be shot to death. This is a very ugly side of the world. Tom was killed for a crime he did not commit. It was al because he was balck and he lived on the south. Going back to his rights there were no blacks on the jury. Also he stated that he felt sorry for the girl. he helped when she asked for it.He was only there to help and he ot stabbed in the back by them. Victory without winning. Well, the question is how Atticus is victorious, not whether or not he won the case. Think about it, if you read the book. He got to bring out the truth, and he stood for right against everyone, even though it might cost him his place in the society of that small town. Ultimately, people respected him. Racism such as in To Kill a Mockingbird sometimes goes on because individuals do not feel racist but they continue in fear of their neighbors thoughts. Atticus stood for the moral high ground regardless of people and his defense was flawless.Ev en though the jury still voted out of fear and ignorance. Atticus really shows what the right thing to do is and that help the community as much as you can. Miss Maudie considers this as progress and a positive step towards real justice, although it may be a small, it is still â€Å"one in the right direction†. Atticus adds that although he cannot be sure who it was, at least one person on the jury took an initial stance for Tom's innocence, and he thinks that person was Mr. Cunningham. He guesses this from the awkward writing on the slip of paper used to write the verdict.Atticus makes a great fight for justice in this case and is respected in his whole town. I think that now people will start to respect the African americans in their community because they’ve been mistreated for so long and Atticus makes the first step in that town. Tree Findings One day Scout finds gum in the tree near the Radley home. On the last day of school the Jem and Scout walked home together in their way, they find a package covered with foil and containing two scrubbed, Indian-head pennies and two Soap Dolls of a boy and a girl  that looked like them in the tree near the Radley Place.They think Boo put them there for them to find. Throughout the story the kids try to get a peek at Boo but they never can, but in many pccasion Boo helps the kids and protects them. Near the end of the story Boo saves Jem And Scout from nearly being killed. He kills Bob Ewell by stabbing him, thus saving the Finches. Boo Radley really remind me of my grandparents. When I was a kid they would always hide gifts around the house, and told us to find them, once year they hid stuff on the trees in or back yard and it took us 2 days to find them all.They really knew how to make us waste time and play around. Another similarity between them is that they always tried to protect us even if had done something bad. They would always tell my mom not to yell us for doing bad stuff, but she still did . My grandparents really took care of us when we were young and I’m really thankful for it. Role Model. Atticus can be described as a calm, courageous, intelligent and intellectual man, who understands human nature and f moral values in life. Jem makes it clear that he is his role model. He wants to be just like him.They both show their need for each other. Throughout the novel, their relationship continually grows stronger as they remain supportive for each other. In the beginning He felt humiliated because Atticus was different from other parents. Atticus was a lot older and did not fish and hunt like other parents. Jem’s feelings towards Atticus change. When, the mad dog was coming towards the finch’s home and Atticus is called immediately. To Jem’s greatest surprise, Atticus shoots the dog without any hesitation. My role model Is my father. He has been though a lot during his life.From him getting married when he was 16. He has made it this far in lif e with 3 kids that look up to him. He has had 2 vertebral operation and an arm operation and he is still o top of his â€Å"game†. My father is the strongest man in the world and I respect him for being who he is. He Is a straight forward man and isn’t afraid to speak his mind. He would always tell me to â€Å"fight with my brain and not my arms† which I find very ironic due to that that is what is said in the novel. he has helped me through so much and I thank god for giving me the best father of them all.No offence to all other fathers but mine is the best. Growing up. Scout and Jem grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone, and everybody followed the same costumes. But her family was different. They didn’t follow the costumes they adopted Atticus’ way of life and way to see it. Most of the people from Maycomb were arrogant, racist, ignorant man from the south. Atticus was different he didn’t believe in racism he stood for what was right at all times and taught his children this way. Scout and Jem had not sin in their hearts but they knew right from wrong.They knew that the people of Maycomb were ignorant and were treating not only Tom Robinson but the other blacks and boo the same way. The way I was raised I was always told to not look down on people. My parents always said that everyone is going to be better than you at some things and you have to deal with it and if you don’t want to, well then try harder. I was always told not to discriminate others because I would be discriminated too, for being Hispanic. The one thing I really never want to lose is respect. Respect is the most important feature to have if you have respect you have trust and everything derives from respect.If you don’t have respect you don’t have anything, Atticus had a lot of respect from other he was the talk of the town. He and his family gained a lot of respect because of Atticus and how he made a step forward and set an example in his town. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Susan Boyle is a Scottish singer who came to public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV show Britain's Got Talent singing â€Å"I Dreamed a Dream†. At the beginning she seemed unimpressive she seemed like she was just going to embarrass herself. People thought she had no talent and that she was goober.Simon the judge from Britain’s got talent was very skeptical and even laughed at her so did many people from the audience. But to their surprise Susan shut them and up and showed them who was boss. She was an extraordinary singer. Claps and cheers were heard from the stands. When you watch the video of the performance it will sure give you goose bumps. Jem and scout were also skeptical about Atticus. He never played football or went hunting like all the other parents. He wouldn’t even teach them how to use the air rifles when he bought them for them. They were ashamed of him because he wasn’t very manly or outdoorsy.But one day when a mad dog was heading towards the finch’s house Atticus was called home from the city in attempt to protect his kids. To everyone’s surprise Atticus shot the dog in the head with one bullet, while the dog was running. This really shocked Scout and Jem because they had never seen this side of their father. Heck Tate told the kids that his father was nicknamed â€Å"one shot finch† for his great accuracy with guns. Both Atticus and Susan surprised the people around them because they didn’t appear to have the required abilities to do what did, but they ended up being pretty darn good at it.