Themes in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

Some books are written to prove a point or some sort of idea. The novel,ToKill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is an excellent example of proving a pointor a theme. Themes in the book include resolution, gentlewoman, rest in another humans shoes, its not meter to worry, education, and trash. All the themesstand out, however, triplet in particular are exemplified in the book. The threemain themes in To Kill a Mockingbird are courage, lady, and standing in anothermans shoes.     The first theme is courage. Courage is apparent in the seeminglywickedMrs. Dubose. It is also courage for Jem to strive against Mrs Dubose.According to Atticus, the childrens father courage is, "...when you knowyoure licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it throughno matter what."(p112) Mrs. Dubose had great courage trying to formulate over hermorphine addiction and, even though she would have trouble doing it, bumpedthe addiction for the rest of her life. In t he beginning of the book, whenDill, Scout, and Jem were still hyped up over damn Radley Jem showed the ultimatecourage by venturing into the spooky dwelling place inhabited by Boo Radley.Jem went through the gate and touched the house. One time, all three wentinto the Radley yard to simply look inside Boos temptdow. However, the childrenwere frightened near death by a warning shot from Nathan Radley. The realcourage comes after that when Jem goes to correct his pants, facing a possibleconfrontation with Boo or Nathan. Another example of courage is Atticus defendingTom Robinson, a blackman who is innocent of rape but is tried because BobEwell said Tom did it. Atticus knew he would be defeated but he tried to winthe case anyway. Also, though the book doesnt really mention the way Scoutis not happy in school, it requires great courage for Scout to continue togo to school even though she has to deal with a bad first grade teacher. Leespoint in courage is a person is not defeated unt il the person loses faith andgives up.      The second theme in the book is lady. One of the people of thistheme isScouts Aunt Alexandra, who is constantly scolding Atticus for allowingScout to do unladylike things. Miss Maudie, the towns resident botanist,is a lady who Scouts uncle is always after. Once when Scout is being askedwhat she thinks her occupation would be, she answers, "Just a lady."(p230)Being a lady also has to deal with the types of clothes worn by the lady.