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 change her drastically. Scout and Ella’s brother Jem Ella are being raised by Ella’s 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 black people was a big problem. The story begins when Scout is 6 years old and her brother is about to enter 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 hasn’t 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 trial. Scout’s father becomes defense attorney for a black man, Tom Robinson, 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 her close friend Dill are witnesses to 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 children, Mr. Robinson was still found guilty. Later, in an attempt to escape, Mr. Robinson is shot and killed. Scout is extremely disappointed in the verdict and even more so in Mr. Robinson’s death and realizes the injustice that exists. Later, in a cowardly attempt by the alleged rape victim’s father, 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 whole story revolved around the prejudices of this southern community. The whole reason the trial was held was because of people’s views toward black people in the south. Since the father of the alleged rape victim has such a prejudiced view of 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. Were it not for the prejudiced opinion that existed in the South, the charge would never have been brought against Mr. Robinson. These prejudiced 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 when it came to the topic of prejudice. This “ray of light” came in the form of Scout’s father, Atticus. Atticus represented hope. I hope good people continue to exist. Even in a society full of hate. Atticus represented the hope that one day things can change

The theme “Prejudice” also ties in well with the book’s title “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In Chapter 10, Scout and Jem Finch get airguns 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 bird”. He is a good man who has never hurt anyone and is figuratively and literally shot by society due to prejudice. Juries 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 nightingale, is shot for no reason.

The second topic I will discuss is the “age of majority.” The “coming of age” theme basically involves a character evolving to a new level of self-awareness through his experiences in life. 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 of hers. 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 able to come 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 court. During Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout learns about equality and inequality, and eventually racial bias. In the final chapters of the novel, Scout goes through 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 they did nothing to deserve it. She discovers that the courts do not always result in justice. In the end, after all of Scout’s experiences and discoveries, we get the feeling that she won’t follow the prejudices that society upholds 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 that 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 being done to Mr. Robinson. Unlike Scout and her brother, other people in society, more specifically the older people in the village, people who have lived through different experiences, become blind when it comes to true justice. Or maybe they are not blinded, but simply choose to ignore it. This is clearly seen when an innocent person 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 extent. In my opinion, Harper Lee portrays justice as something that is easily detected. The reason I say this is even because of the young judge. The problem is that society can inculcate 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 to read the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I found it to be 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 subverted through racism. I also think that the themes that are 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 prejudice still has an effect in our legal system today. So if you’re looking for a powerful book about “coming of age” and the battle for justice, I recommend Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.