To Kill a Mockingbird
Themes
Theme #1
One of the themes in To Kill a Mockingbird is about seeing other people's points of views. Atticus said, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” He said this a few times throughout the book to Jem and Scout. He is saying that you can’t judge a person until you put yourself in another person’s place and understand why they do what they do. Atticus first told Scout this after her first day of school with Miss Caroline. She really didn’t understand it at that point in the book. She gradually learns throughout the book what it really means. She finally fully understands it when she is standing on the Radley’s porch. She gets to see the world from Boo Radley's point of view. She understands there is a difference between the way people are perceived and the way people actually are. Heck Tate put himself in Boo Radley's shoes and understands what the attention of killing Bob Ewell and saving Scout and Jem would do to Boo, so he said Bob fell on the knife. Seeing other people's points of views was a very important theme in the book.
Theme #2
Another theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is courage. Atticus said, “Courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see through it no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” In other words he said courage is doing what you know is right even when you don't think you are going to win. Atticus followed his words really well and showed courage. He worked really hard for Tom Robinson even though he knew Tom was not going to win the trial. He lived in a town where a lot of people didn't agree with what he was doing. Some people were really mean and even tried to hurt his family, but Atticus still did what he knew was right. Another example of courage is Mrs. Dubose. Atticus made Jem read to Mrs. Dubose not just because he cut her flowers but because it was the right thing to do. She gave up morphine right before she died with the help of Jem’s reading, showing another example of courage in the book. One last area we see courage in the book is in Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem are as much involved in the trial as Atticus. They have to resist beating people up and hating people even though that’s what people are doing to them. Atticus taught everyone what real courage was throughout the book making it a real important theme.