To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each character’s personality in the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is intricately described, therefore giving the reader an image or idea of the kind of person he or she is. A picture of the character is formed in the mind with maybe rough edges but a soft heart on the inside. A character’s personality may be oversimplified by drawing shapes in symbolism, but the shapes may be helpful in perceiving the general extent of the characteristics. With a little help from Lee’s descriptions, I have been able to form images in my mind (and draw them on paper) of the personalities of Scout, Jem, Atticus, Dil, Calpurnia, Boo Radley, and Bob Ewell.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Scout’s shape has a green half-heart bottom, two green finger-like extensions that reach out from the top, one toward Atticus and the other toward Jem, and another green finger-like extension projecting from the side toward everyone else in Maycomb. The green in each of the finger-like extensions and the half-heart bottom represents her youth and innocence which affect her outlook on life. In the center of the shape, a red core represents the love and passion that fill her heart and is the inspiration for her actions and reasoning. Atticus is connected to Scout by the finger-like extension because Scout looks up to him, trusts him, and learns both moral and academic lessons from his actions and words. When Scout narrates, she says, â€Å"As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next afternoon. So I l eft Jem alone and tried not to bother him†(57). This shows her respect toward Atticus and demonstrates her real trust in his advice. The other finger-like extension reaching from the top, toward Jem, shows their connection and her natural admiration, love, respect, and trust in her older sibling. â€Å"Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained- if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time† (13). This sho... ... like Calpurnia and Boo, has a quality, not to be proud of, but different from the others: he is a drunk. He is small because he rarely shows up in the novel, but does play a significant role as the opposite of the innocent mockingbird.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each shape generalizes the personalities and connections of the characters, although not in depth. Atticus is shown to have a big influence on the entire community, always maintaining his maturity and dignity. Scout’s respect is shown, as well as her special understanding connection with Boo Radley. Jem’s big heart and development of maturity can be seen in his shape and the colors designated for each part. Dill’s confident appearance and true insecurity is expressed through the edges of the shape. Calpurnia is shown as a mature caretaker that leads through example, and Bob Ewell is shown as the opposite of every moral the novel is meant to express. When the shapes are put together to create a picture with meaning, the outcome would show the different types of people, not as individuals in Maycomb, but as the actual town of Maycomb, showing that, no matter how old or how young, each person in Maycomb matters.