Harper Lee - To kill a mockingbird

Harper lee, To kill a mocking bird.

SparkNotes: To Kill a Mockingbird: Themes, Motifs & Symbols

The Importance of Moral Education

Because exploration of the novel’s larger moral questions takes place within the perspective of children, the education of children is necessarily involved in the development of all of the novel’s themes. In a sense, the plot of the story charts Scout’s moral education, and the theme of how children are educated—how they are taught to move from innocence to adulthood—recurs throughout the novel (at the end of the book, Scout even says that she has learned practically everything except algebra). This theme is explored most powerfully through the relationship between Atticus and his children, as he devotes himself to instilling a social conscience in Jem and Scout. The scenes at school provide a direct counterpoint to Atticus’s effective education of his children: Scout is frequently confronted with teachers who are either frustratingly unsympathetic to children’s needs or morally hypocritical. As is true of To Kill a Mockingbird’s other moral themes, the novel’s conclusion about education is that the most important lessons are those of sympathy and understanding, and that a sympathetic, understanding approach is the best way to teach these lessons. In this way, Atticus’s ability to put himself in his children’s shoes makes him an excellent teacher, while Miss Caroline’s rigid commitment to the educational techniques that she learned in college makes her ineffective and even dangerous.

What are examples of satire involving education, court system, religion, and democracy in "To Kill a Mockingbird?" - To Kill a Mockingbird - Questions & Answers

There are many examples of each of these institutions being satirized, but I will give you a few. First of all, education is satirized because Scout is chastised by her teacher for reading too well! The court system and democracy are satirized in that they both fail miserably. Tom Robinson is unjustly accused and tried for a crime he did not commit because of his skin color, and there is no democracy for him nor hope for freedom. Religion is satirized when Calpurnia takes the children to her Black church and the congregation is prejudiced against Jem and Scout because they are White. Also, in a town that thinks of themselves as religious, there is little evidence of any religious precepts. Look further at enotes links for more ideas!

The film: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) van Robert Mulligan