To Kill a Mocking Bird Essay

Composers often use texts to challenge the value systems of their times. How true is this of
the texts you have studied this term?

Composers of texts courageously present a view which is unconventional to their era, prompting
new unaccustomed beliefs which challenged the previously accepted ideals. Harper Lee’s ‘To kill
a mockingbird’ and Cole’s ‘Dancing with the Prime Minister’, challenge the preconceived ideas
surrounding the African American and Indigenous Australian community. The audience not only
gain a deeper understanding of the context of both texts, but essentially are confronted with the
challenging ideas presented to them in regards to values, attitudes and social conventions.

Through characterising a nameless group of white men, Lee asserts the notion that
preconceptions of the African American minority was a pervasive problem of the time. This is
explored through the concept of mob mentality whereby during the jail confrontation of Tom
Robinson, he is targeted due to the prejudgement of his case in response to his racial ethnicity.
“Shadows became substance as light revealed solid shapes moving towards the jail door.” The
mysterious nature of the mob is exposed through the metaphor describing the men as ‘shadows.’
This lack of identity emphasised the notion of the uneducated and ignorant Lynch mob displaying
such power due to their sheer mass and absence of individualism. However, Lee asserts the
notion that through exposing the true identity of these men, they lose power and their attitude
towards violence dramatically changes whereby they begin to question their pre-existing
judgements. Through a declarative statement, Scout, a symbol of innocence, begins to remind
one of the members, Mr. Cunningham, that "entailments are bad” and explains Atticus’s previous
involvement in resolving his problems. Lee adds irony to the situation which further expresses the
need for these members to become desensitised to violence through...