To Kill a Mockingbird

Literature: A Mirror of Life

Britnie Hassen

Colorado Technical University

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird

Summary

This wonderfully written book by Harper Lee has allowed readers for many years to gain better insight as to what times were like during the 1930's when racism was still evident and like today affected more than just Black Americans. In the authors writings we are able to see the many themes she introduced in this novel. The more dominant theme in the story is that of prejudice, both racial and social within the town's people of Maycomb.

Racial prejudice is showcased throughout most of the novel following the aftermath of the American Civil war and the abolishment of slavery. With the war recently over the residents of Maycomb have yet to overcome the differences they have with Negros who live and work in the town creating a lot of turbulence amongst the residents of this small farm town located in the Deep South. The biggest example of this is during Tom Robinson's trial. The prosecuting attorney refers to Tom as "boy" using a tone of voice that one uses when speaking to the lowest creatures of the earth. This form of prejudice continues all the way to the verdict where Tom is found guilty simply because he is black and felt compassion for a white woman and not because of the evidence that Atticus had shown the court that should have clearly freed Tom of all charges against him.

Social prejudice was just as much of an issue as it dealt with the town's people belief system in how individuals should act and behave around others. People who live in this small town are often looked down upon because of the way they live based on their social class. Aunt Alexandria is the prime example of this, as her attitude towards everything is based on social status. An example of this would be when Aunt Alexandria forbids Scout to have a friendship towards the Cunningham's simply because they are poor and not because of their values.

Prejudice is directed towards some characters of the novel because they do not fit into Maycomb's usual behavioral patterns of society and little is known of them. This prejudice is fuelled by fear, which leads to rumors, which leads to superstition. Boo Radley, a victim of social prejudice, is shown throughout the novel as being misunderstood and possibly violent because he has been kept indoors for many years. Rumors and speculation of the events leading to Boo being kept indoors fuels the town's folk with false tales of his supposed late night outings he takes through the town thus furthering the negative comments made about him.

With all the judging going on in this small town it is no surprise that it all leads to a lot of conflict for those in the community who don't exactly follow the crowd. Atticus, the biggest defender for treating people equally goes through the hardest conflicts while trying to raise his children in a way that will make them respectable grown-ups. Atticus is very straightforward with his children. He would never prefabricate the truth to make it more suitable for children; he tells it as it is. Atticus always listens to his children's opinions and treats them with a great deal of respect and he teaches his children to act the same towards those they don't understand stating that one should never judge another until they have walked in someone else's skin. The town of Maycomb has seen its fair share of conflict based on the prejudices it shows people who are not exactly like them, but it gets worse during the trial of Tom Robinson as Atticus is called to defend him.

The people of this town have a hard time understanding why Atticus is trying so hard to prove Tom's innocence as it was simply unheard of to take the side of a black man over a white man in the 1930's. Atticus is wrongly persecuted by his peers based on his belief that all men are created equal, but he doesn't blame the towns people for their ignorance instead he tries to educate them on the facts and makes it his duty to instill these values in his children as he knows that the trial will be harder on them than anyone else. Atticus is aware that he was chosen for this case for a reason and despite the opinion of others, decides to do what is right or he would never be able to step into a church or look his children in the eye again if he were to let an innocent man suffer for the actions of his white accusers. By doing so the town starts to see things from Atticus's point of view and although they may not be ready to completely change the way they believe in regards to their social and racial prejudices there are more likely in the future to keep an open mind before thoroughly judging someone or something they don't understand.

Characters

The characters in this novel play an important role in the underlying message that Harper Lee tries to project through her writing. The three main characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are Atticus, Scout and Jem Finch as the story portrays the tribulations this family goes through during the time in history of which they lived. The main speaker in this novel is a grown up Scout telling the tale of her childhood while growing up with her family in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930's. Scout is considered an unusual child because she dresses like a tomboy even though the girls her age normally wore frilly dresses, highly intelligent for her age because she was able to read and write before stating school, overly confident by showing no fear when confronting others and extremely thoughtful of what is considered to be good and bad. The story starts off with Scout being a five year old child with all the innocence that comes with that age and although the story finishes with her as a child still, Scout is shown to have grown greatly in her understanding of the world around her making her more adult like in her reasoning's and behaviors.

Jem, on the other hand is portrayed as being more level headed then his younger sister, looking to Atticus for guidance and maintaining the morals