To Kill a Mockingbird
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To Kill a Mockingbird is a movie that portrays human goodness fighting against human evilness during the time of the Depression. The movie is set in the heart of the south where racism was a constant battle. Atticus, one of the movies bravest characters, takes on a task that many men and women would fear in that time period. Atticus is a man who believes in equality and one who preaches fairness to his children, neighbors, and court room. As we see in the movie, good and evil reside in human beings, but in hope that the good will always prevail. Along with the battle between good and evil, we also find many central themes such as, social inequality, perspective for others, racism, and lastly the infamous mockingbird. The Finch family was able to stand strong by their moral values and help shape the way into the new mindset of equality for all people.
Within in the town of Maycomb there are several social classes that Scout does not understand. The Finch family is higher up in social status whereas the Ewell family is in the lower part. The black families were viewed to be lower than the Ewells. Scout believes that everyone should have equal of everything. An example of this is her journey with the Cunninghams. Walter Cunningham is a polite young boy who is nowhere as privileged as Scout and Jem. Even though Walter and his family are lower in status, the Finch family welcomes Walter over for dinner. Scout learns to pick her friends by her definition of what a friend should be rather than societys ideals.
Another one of the main themes in this movie is perspective for others. Atticus throughout the movie teaches Jem and Scout to put their selves in the other persons shoes. This helped the kids to realize the world and how other people live in it. In doing so, Jem and Scout were able to gain a different perspective on life and how they understood it. One example of this is when Scout is dropping Boo Radley off at his house the night that he saved their lives. After Boo went inside, Scout stood on the porch and looked out at the neighborhood. She was able to see what Boo sees while he is trapped in his house. Scout gains a new respect for Boo, one that she never had before. This was a great theme for the movie because not many people thought about this concept towards African Americans. They were treated unequal and that they were not even considered as human beings. If people would have stepped into the shoes of African Americans and not thought of societys norms, they might have understood how they felt. This idea of putting yourself in someone elses shoes can be used for every aspect of our lives even today.
Racism was another main and important theme in To Kill a Mockingbird. Tom Robinson was accused of a crime that was almost impossible to convince the jury of his innocence because of his race. Atticus and Tom worked together and made it clear to the judge, jury,