To Kill a Mockingbird – Book Review
The novel To Kill A Mockingbird revolves around a young woman named Jean Louise Finch, nicknamed “Scout”. Scout experiences different events in her life that drastically change her. Scout and her brother Jem are being raised by her father, a lawyer named Atticus and a housekeeper named Calpumia in a small southern town. At this time in the South, racism and discrimination towards blacks was a big problem. The story begins when Scout is 6 years old and her brother is about to enter the 5th grade. That summer, Scout and her brother meet a young man named Dill who comes from Mississippi to spend his summers there. They become fascinated with a man named “Boo” Radley, a man in his thirties who has not been seen outside his home in years, mainly due to his repressed upbringing. They are under the impression that Mr. Radley is a big, ugly, evil man. Then comes the judgment. Scout’s father becomes a defense attorney for a black man, Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white woman. This has a great effect on Scout. During this trial, her friends make fun of her because her father was helping this black man. Scout begins to see the racism that exists. During the trial, Scout and her brother and close friend Dill are witnesses for the trial. Although they are young, they can see that Mr. Robinson is innocent. Although Mr. Robinson’s innocence was clear even in the eyes of the children, Mr. Robinson was still found guilty. Later, in an attempt to escape, Mr. Robinson is shot dead. Scout is extremely disappointed by the verdict and even more so by the death of Mr. Robinson and realizes the injustice that exists. Later, in a dastardly attempt by the father of the alleged rape victim, he tries to kill Scout and her brother to get back at her father for making him look back in court. This is when Mr. Radley reappears and stabs his attacker. Although Mr. Radley kills a man, he is not tried for murder because he was defending the Scout and his brother. Finally some justice. This gives Scout some hope that there is a chance for improvement in this unfair world.
(Discussion of the main themes in To Kill a Mockingbird)
There are many different themes present in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. The first topic I will discuss is “Prejudice.” The entire story revolved around the prejudices of this southern community. The whole reason the trial was held was because of people’s views of blacks in the South. Since the father of the alleged rape victim has such a prejudiced view towards blacks, he is embarrassed that his daughter was actually flirting with a black man. To combat this, he falsely accuses the innocent Mr. Robinson of rape. If it were not for the prejudiced opinion that existed in the South, the prosecution would never have been brought against Mr. Robinson. These biased views in the South created a double standard of justice. With all the negative points that can be found in the story regarding prejudice, there was a positive point regarding the subject of prejudice. This “ray of light” came in the form of Scout’s father, Atticus. Atticus represented hope. I hope there are still good people. Even in a hate filled society. Atticus represented the hope that one day things could change.
The theme “Prejudice” also ties in well with the title of the book “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In Chapter 10, Scout and Jem Finch get air rifles for Christmas. Scout’s father tells her and her brother that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds are harmless creatures that do nothing but sing for our enjoyment. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, Mr. Robinson is clearly the “Mockingbird”. He is a good man who has never hurt anyone and is figuratively and literally shot by society due to prejudice. Jurors sentence him to death not because he has done anything wrong but because of prejudice. He is then shot for trying to escape this unfair ruling. Mr. Robinson, just like a mockingbird, is shot for no reason.
The second topic I will discuss is “coming of age.” The “coming of age” theme basically involves a character evolving to a new level of self-awareness through his life experiences. This is clearly the case with Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. An example of Scout’s “coming of age” can be seen when she meets her friend Dill’s. Dill comes from a broken home and lives somewhere beyond Alabama. Scout, who comes from a good home, is aware of the different quality of life that exists and is capable of coming to the conclusion that life exists beyond the world she knows. Through these experiences, she becomes more tolerant of others, learning to “get into someone else’s skin and walk in it.” On her first day of school, she discovers that, just like with Dill, there are social classes and poor classes in society, some are respectable and some are not. She also learns that her father is an extraordinary man who fights for black rights in the courts. During Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout learns about equality and inequality, and eventually about racial bias. In the final chapters of the novel, Scout transitions to another “coming-of-age experience”. She learns that good people can still suffer injustice. She realizes this when she sees Tom Robinson suffer an injustice even though he did nothing to deserve it. She discovers that the courts don’t always result in justice. In the end, after all of Scout’s experiences and discoveries, we have a feeling that she won’t follow society’s prejudices about her. In the end, Scout had matured and grown more like a child than many adults in her life.
The third and last topic I will discuss is “Justice”. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird, I feel like the author, Ms. Lee, portrays true justice as something best seen through the eyes of the innocent. In the story, Scout and her brother, being innocent, can clearly see the injustice that is being done to Mr. Robinson. Unlike Scout and her brother, other people in society, more specifically the older people in town, people who have lived through different experiences, go blind when it comes to true justice. Or maybe they are not blinded, but just choose to ignore it. This is clearly seen when an innocent man is sentenced to death. This ignorance of justice can be attributed to the prejudices that are present and eventually instilled in southern society. So I feel like Harper Lee connects justice with innocence to some degree. In my opinion, Harper Lee portrays justice as something that is easily detected. The reason why I say this is even because of the young judge. The problem is that society can instill beliefs that can act as a veil and blind people from justice. The only way to uncover this veil is through people like Atticus, who can pass on their morality and nobility to the young and the “blind.”
(Would I recommend this book?)
I would definitely recommend people read the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I found it an interesting and powerful book. I feel like the book does a great job of portraying the extreme prejudice that existed in the South at the time. I feel like this book makes a powerful statement about how justice can be undermined through racism. I also think that the themes found in the book are themes that can still be found in our society today and that makes it more interesting. You can even argue that bias still has an effect on our legal system today. So if you’re looking for a powerful book about “coming of age” and the battle for justice, I highly recommend Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.
