Many people look at themselves in the mirror everyday to see how they look from the outside. How about the inside? Many human’s today have different appearances then their reality. Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, drags on the story with many instances where appearances contrast with reality. She uses irony in her novel on several occasions to illustrate the difference between appearances versus reality. Harper Lee demonstrates that reality is not always how it appears to the eye through three unassuming characters throughout the book.
Harper Lee reveals the truth about the shadowy character, Boo Radley, towards the end of the book. He saves Scout’s brother, Jem. Atticus had said, “Thank you for my children, Arthur”(370).
No one would ever expect this to be coming out of anyone’s mouth. Boo Radley is a misunderstood, brave, and gentle character. No one has ever seen Boo Radley step outside of his house, but they have judged him in so many ways. Many people have determined him to be dangerous and creepy by his appearance. Boo Radley has kept his appearance the same since day one, but it takes real strong courage to come out and show his reality to the town. Ever since Boo had showed his true character, everyone’s perspective of him changed. Judging a character by their appearance without knowing their reality isn’t right. Harper Lee demonstrates this fact really well.
Similarly, Harper lee demonstrates the theme with the character of Mr. Raymond. In reality, Mr. Raymond is a sober man, pretending to be drunk. The people of Maycomb County have extremely negative views of him. Harper Lee shows that this certain type of character has a fake appearance, but a hidden reality. Scout asked Mr. Raymond,’ “You mean all you drink in that sack’s Coca-Cola? Just plain Coca-Cola?” “Yes ma’am,” Mr. Raymond nodded” (267).
The Essay on Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’: An analysis of the title
Unlike most books, the title of Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, has very little literal connection to the main plot itself, but carries a great symbolic weight in the book. We first start to realize the figurative meaning of the ‘mockingbird’ in chapter 10 when Atticus told Jem to “shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ’em, but ...
Residents in Maycomb County believe that he drinks whiskey out of a sack, but the reality is that he drinks Coke. Mr. Raymond doesn’t care what people think of him. Many people in this world see the negative things in other’s appearance. Harper Lee once again has shown that people never know if people in the outside are the same as in the inside.
Finally, Harper Lee uses a very negative, racist, cranky, wild and bitter character, Mrs. Dubose. The children, Scout and Jem, viewed Mrs. Dubose as a terrible racist that only talked non-sense. Surprisingly, Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict. Later, we realized that Atticus had a different view on her; he put himself in her shoes. Atticus was telling Jem,’ “She was. She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe…son, I told you that if you hadn’t lost your head I’d have made you go read to her. I wanted you to see something about her –I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs.Dubose won, all ninety –eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew” (149).
Atticus stepped into Mrs. Dubose’s shoes and felt her, learned her reality. Even though people think all sorts of crazy and unforgivable things about Mrs. Dubose, she doesn’t care at all. She spoke all her thoughts and comments to Atticus, but Atticus saw the reality in her. He put himself into her shoes, and seen her true character. Again, Harper Lee has turned a bad appearance to a brave and good reality.
Appearance and reality are two separate factors; reality is not always the same as the appearance. Harper Lee clearly illustrates that in this book. The characters such as Boo Radley, Mr. Raymond and Mrs. Dubose have fake, scary, evil, mean and wild appearances, but all three of their realities are completely different. They turn out to be great people with unassuming personalities. Harper Lee urges the readers to experience many instances where the appearance is different than the reality. After reading To Kill A Mockingbird, it is clear that people can’t judge a person by their appearances until they know their true character. Just like a mirror, the reflection you see in front of you may be completely different than the inside.
The Essay on Mrs Dubose Jem People Scout
Harper Lee portrayed Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose in an unique style. Mrs. Dubose was a very ill woman who only has a nigger woman as company. Her illness had separated her from socializing with friends and had restricted her from doing things that normal women are doing. For instance, having afternoon tea with neighbors, or taking a night stroll with friends. Mrs. Dubose was a very straight ...
