To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

"Somehow, if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down...I could take being a coward for him." p. 77 To some of us, the word hero invokes a picture of someone with superpowers and tights. Someone who always does the right thing and saves the day. Someone who always defeats the evil villain. There is a more realistic version of a hero. A hero can be someone who does the right thing, someone who is looked up to, someone who never holds grudges. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are a few very definite heroic and non heroic characters that can be easily recognized.

Atticus is definitely the easiest heroic character to recognize. His two children never want to let him down, and they look up to him. Always doing the right thing, Atticus suffered from a lot of ridicule from children and adults. No matter what anyone said, Atticus stuck to his guns and defended Tom Robinson; it was the right thing to do. "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." p. 112 Being the great person that he is, Atticus wanted Jem to see the real bravery in Mrs. Dubose, she never gave up fighting her sickness even though death was inevitable. If a disgusting man, inside and out, spat in my face, I would of probably lost it and hit him square in the face. When Bob Ewell spat in Atticus' face, he kept his cool and didn't do anything irrational. "I wish Bob Ewell didn't chew tobacco." p. 217 Atticus didn't lose his temper, didn't throw any punches, didn't even name call. He is a true heroic character.

Although not as recognizable, I believe Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are also heroic figures in the novel. Tom always helped Mayella Ewell, even though getting paid was out of the question. "It occurred to me that in their own way, Tom Robinson's manners were as good as Atticus's." p. 198 Black people were looked down upon a lot in this time period, so saying an African American's manners are as good as a very polite white man is definitely saying a lot. Tom was a very polite, very good man and he didn't deserve to die. Boo Radley was also a hero in his own way. When Miss Maudie's house burned down and Scout was sitting on the curb practically freezing to death, Boo covered her up with a warm blanket. Bob Ewell attacked Jem and Scout and Boo saved them. He is definitely a very heroic character. "Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mocking bird, wouldn't it?" p. 276 Shooting a mocking bird is a sin, sending Boo to court would be a sin too.

On one hand, there's the heroic figures. On the other, there's antiheroic and Bob Ewell is as bad as they get. Ewell forces himself upon his own daughter and he won't admit to it at the trial, even though the evidence clearly shows that it was him. He was completely ready to let someone else take the blame and be killed to cover up the truth. "The witness said he never called a doctor to any of his'n in his life, and if he had it would of cost him five dollars." p. 175 The safety of his own daughter wasn't even worth five dollars to Bob Ewell. He also carries terrible grudges against everyone connected to the case. Sure, he's really mad about the case with Robinson going wrong, but that is a terrible excuse to attack children. Ewell is just a nasty, disgusting villainous man, like many that live in our world today.

If only there could be more people like Atticus, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. The world needs more heroic people and less anti heroes. Everything could be so much safer, so much better. Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird shows the heroic type of people that we need more of, and the non-heroic type that we need way less of.

Cave

One way in, one way out. We have created this mess for ourselves, and we expect it to resolve itself. One way to resolve it, one way out of the cave we are stuck in. The darkness of the cave shadows our relationship, but not for long. Soon we will resolve, we will see each side, we will both understand. Soon we will be free of our cave, free and able to be friends again?

Stars

Fahrenheit 451 Essay

Fire. Our savior, burning everything in sight. Every book will be burned. Books are the roots of all evil. Who would ever of thought that kerosene could smell so sweet? I, as a fireman, have the most important job in our society. To dispose of books and whoever is hiding them. Watching the flames swallow houses whole fills my body with raw joy. These are the nightmarish thoughts of a "noble fireman" in the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In the novel, Bradbury shows the reader that for some people, no matter what happens, it is never too late to change.

When the word "wife" is said out loud, the first thing that comes to my mind is a woman that love and cares about her husband. Mildred, Montag's wife, is the exact opposite of what a wife should be. Montag was changing right before her very eyes, Mildred didn't care for him enough to change with him. "Ladies, once a year, every fireman's allowed to bring one book home from the old days, to show his family how silly it all was, how nervous that sort of thing can make you, how crazy." (p. 94) Not wanting anyone else to witness the drastic changes being made, Mildred tries to hide them. Finally, when she is unable to avoid change any longer, she flees.

Faber was always a good person but he was too cowardly to do the right thing by himself. It took Montag's help to make Faber do the right thing, instead of hiding and doing nothing. "I feel I'm doing what I should've done a lifetime ago." (p, 131) Faber is one of the characters who shows that it's never too late to change and make the right choice.

Of all the characters who underwent changes, Montag made the biggest change of them all. He goes from a depressing, ignorant "fireman" to a man with a reason to live again. "Last night I thought about all the kerosene I've used in the past 10 years. And I thought about books. And for the first time I realized that a man was behind each one of those books. A man had to think them up. A man had to take a long time to put them down on paper. And I'd never even thought that before." (p. 52) Meeting Clarisse was the beginning of all these changes, and witnessing a women burn was the turning point of Montag's life.

Freedom at last. Breathing in the smoke free air and relishing on the sweet escape. How could I ever of thought books were bad? Firemen and the government are the evil in this society, not the books. Walking through the darkness, so alone, but finally feeling good inside. Change is always possible, no matter what circumstance.