TIME TO KILL

We've all wanted to take the law into our own hands at some point; most of us are constrained by consequence - if not morality. After the rape and brutal treatment of a nine year-old black girl, (Tanya) at the hands of two despicable rednecks, Carl Lee (Samuel L. Jackson), the girl's vengeful father, takes the law into his own hands. This is a simple story of revenge - except that this is the South, the town of Canton is torn along racial lines. The murdered men are white, and the girl and her father are black. Thus begins a tale that might have been an examination of vigilantism, and might ha...

• Word Count: 317
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... although he was innocent. The jury who had listened to his trial was made up of all white men. A major theme in To Kill A Mockingbird is racism. The town of Maycomb was filled with racism, which is why Tom Robinson was convicted of rape. The setting of To Kill A Mockingbird is a small, southern town in the ... 1930's. This setting is the most important fictional element that affected the theme of racism in To Kill A Mockingbird. The early 1900's were a hard time for negroes. The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified on December 6th, 1865 which ended slavery. Most Southerners were for slaver...

• Word Count: 531
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

To Kill A Mockingbird To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee takes place in Maycomb county, Alabama in the 1930's. In a time when black people did not have the same rights as the white people. The story is about two people but the most important part is about a black man whose name ... don't count." (page # 194) The jury's verdict is guilty and then later when he was in jail he tried to escape but did not get over the fence and died. The only person who broke the law was Mayella. She tempted a blackman. In To Kill A Mockingbird Atticus told Jem "I"d rather you shot at tin cans in the ...

• Word Count: 590
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... , which also sting his children. A few nights before the trial is set to begin, Atticus is told by some black residents that some angry whites have threatened to kill the imprisoned Tom, so he "guards" his client's safety himself, by maintaining a guard outside the jail. During the trial, Atticus wastes no time in directing his questioning toward the complainants, the alleged rape victim Maybelle ... Ewell and her father Bob, and accuses them of lying. The jury, however, convicts Tom Robinson anyway, and Bob Ewell vows to get even ... , and realizes the error of her ways. She also has a ...

• Word Count: 683
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... is cruelly mistreated in what is meant to be an unbiased environment, the court. Although however heartbreaking Tom's death is, it is an essential component in this novel. The incident makes readers think about Atticus" final speech in the court, at the time the speech is not fully considered by the ... readers but when Tom dies the speech gives the readers a sense of responsibility. Many things happen during the novel that may make it seem to be bleak. There are many drab incidents with Boo ... reader is learning from the text. Tom's death was a total devastation in the novel. It brou...

• Word Count: 751
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... back yard, 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." This is the first and one of the only times a character directly talks about mockingbirds. There are two main characters that symbolize the mockingbird. Arthur & ... the house fire and Boo puts a blanket on Scout, and when he starts leaving stuff in the knothole in the tree. The most important time he helps them is at the end of the story when he saves them from Bob Ewell. Boo Radley is innocent and likes ... they don't do one thing but ...

• Word Count: 533
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... courtroom peers. He believed that all people, no matter their nationality, deserve to be treated justly. The concept of equality that Finch espoused was beginning to pick up speed by the 1960's, with more white Americans embracing the idea that it was time for equality for all. When Finch's young daughter, Scout, asks him why ... he was defending Tom Robinson, a black man, he said, "For a number of reasons. The main one is that if I didn't, I couldn't hold my head up in town. I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again." ... one's head", was a concept that was picking up ...

• Word Count: 473
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... " in the novel are Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. A quote, which comes up numerous times in the book, is "It is a sin to kill a Mockingbird." The symbol of the "mockingbirds" is used throughout the text when Scout says, "It's a sin to Kill A Mockingbird". This sets the reader up so when Tom Robinson does get killed the reader realises that Tom Robinson was a "mockingbird". What ... not. Dolphus Raymond married a black woman. Mixed marriages were not accepted but Dolphus owns a lot of land. Because people cannot understand how he can love a Negro, Dolphus pretends to drink all the time so p...

• Word Count: 888
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Symbolism is indeed used extensively throughout Harper Lee's timeless classic, To Kill A Mockingbird. Many of the main ideas and points were put across through hidden meanings and phrases. Some examples of symbols in this book ... the book. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird," states Miss Maudie when explaining to Scout what her father meant by saying it is a sin to shoot a mockingbird. These lines are the source of the novel's title and introduce one of the key images of the ... 's house burning down was also a major...

• Word Count: 415
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... her father defends Tom Robinson. She learns to notice the goodness in people and tries to block out the evil. The best passage in this book was, "Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie ... about it. "Your father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy ... but sing their hearts out ... for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." The reader likes this quote because it tells why hurt or kill ... is the heart of a person not the co...

• Word Count: 656
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School