~ To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Introduction
I’ve heard of To Kill a Mockingbird. My mother was a great fan of Gregory Peck, who played Atticus in the movie. I also heard many of my friends talk about reading this book as their English reading project.
It was the banned book project that made me pick up this book. I liked this book, just like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. After researching the period, I learned something new. I migrated to the United States about a decade ago, and I didn’t know about the Jim Crow Laws. The author addresses many social issues, some of which still exist in our society. Most importantly, I learned something important, which is moral courage.
Plot Summary
Scout lives in Maycomb, a small town in Alabama, with her father, Atticus, and her brother, Jem. Atticus is a lawyer in Maycomb. Her mother passed away two years after Scout was born, so she has no memory of her. Don’t worry. She had her loving father, Atticus, and Calpurnia, a colored servant, taught her not only reading but also imparting life lessons.
Every summer, a boy named Dill stays with his aunt, who lives next door. They got to know each other very quickly. Dill was a fun boy who was full of tall tales. Jem, Scout, and Dill spend much time together during summer exploring. Boo (Arthur) Radley lives south of Atticus’s house. People made all kinds of creepy rumors about Boo Radley because he never showed up in public. Jem is fascinated by Boo, so he asks many things about Boo and tells Scout and Dill many creepy stories about Boo.
Now, the children are all curious. One day, Dill dered Jem to march to the front yard of Boo Radley. Jem was hesitant at first, but he touched the house with courage. Dill and Jem are working so hard to try various schemes to get Boo out of his home. One day, Nathen, Boo’s bother, chased them off from the property with a shotgun from their property.
When school started, Scout, already an advanced reader, got into trouble with her teacher, who disapproved of her ability to read ahead of her classmates. Her teacher also prohibited Scout from reading, insisting she must learn how to read by blank at school.
Scout and Jem find that someone leaves them small gifts in the tree knot outside their house. They enjoyed them. They got chewing gums, a medal, and then a watch. So, they wrote a thank you note to whoever was giving them a gift, but Boo’s father, Nathern, filled the tree-knot with cement. Scout found Jem was crying with frustration.
That winter, Maycomb experienced a freezing winter. In the early morning, Miss Maudie’s house was on fire. While watching the fire burn down Miss Maudie’s house, someone put a blanket around Scout’s shoulder. Atticus told Scout that Boo Radley put the blanket around Scout, but she did not notice at the time.
One day, tensions arose in town because Atticus was appointed to defend Tom Robinson, a black person falsely accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. Scout’s classmates and even her relatives ridicule Atticus for defending Tom, and Scout fights with her cousin Francis after he insults her father.
Scouts started to wonder why her father was different from others in town. She thought Atticus was old, but one day, Jem’s and Scout’s perception of their father changed. One day, a rabid dog appeared in the neighborhood, and the sheriff came to Atticus to shoot the dog. Atticus one-shotted the dog. Atticus is the best at shooting. She also found out he was good at many other things.
One day, Calpunia suggests Jem and Scout go to her black church. Scout noticed that Calpunia talked differently around her people. Lula told Calpunia off for bringing Jem and Scout to the church, but other people welcomed them and thanked them for her father for defending poor Tom. In the Church, she observed that there were no hymn books. Calpunia told Scout that that was because no one could read. At church, She found out Bob Ewell was accusing Tom of, which Scout did not comprehend.
Their Aunt Alexandria started to live with them so that her aunt could give their children a “feminine influence.” Everyone invited her aunt to tea at home, and she became the center of the town’s social life. Aunt Alexandra told Atticus to get rid of Capurnial, but Atticus firmly refused. Jem tells Scout not to worry about Atticus so much because he is worried about Defending Tom. Scout was mad at Jem because he was ordering around. After she said goodnight, she stepped on something warm. She went to Jem to check under her bed, and they found Dill. He escaped from his host family. Dill’s new stepfather not only neglected him but also cruelly punished him. He was bound in a chair and left to die in the basement because his new father disliked him. Dill somehow managed to escape and came to their house. Jem notified Atticus that Dill was with them. Atticus agreed that Dill could stay with them.
As Tom’s trial approaches, the threat of mob violence looms large- a possibility of people harming Tom. Atticus was worried that Tom would get attacked by a lynched mob, so he went to stand guard outside the jail. At about 10 o’clock, Jem snuck out of the house with Scout and Jill and followed Atticus. Four cars drove in, and a group of men got out. Scout raced out from the hiding place. Atticus told his children to go home. Jem refuses. Scout looked around the group and spotted Mr. Cunningham, her classmate’s father. She started to talk about his legal entailments and his son. She told him to say “hey to his son. Mr. Cunningham felt ashamed and defused the situation. (Scout’s innocence saved the many lives that night).
Trial started. Everyone attends, except for Ms. Maudie. Jem, Scout, and Dill tried to sneak into a courtroom without being noticed by Atticus. They waited too long, so they got a seat on the balcony where only African Americans could sit. Atticus did cross-examine; no doctor was summoned at the time the girl was injured, and her bruises were on the right side of her face – it becomes clear that Mayella’s injuries were inflicted by someone left-handed, like her father, Bob Ewell, not Tom, who has a crippled left arm. Jem was confident of the victory. To his surprise, all 12 jury members gave the verdict of guilty. The night Jem Cried. Jem complained to Miss Maudie that he no longer thinks good things about people in this city. She tells Jem that there are still good things about this city and points out why the judge appointed Atticus to defend Tom.
Bob Ewell is humiliated by the trial, so he starts harassing people involved in the case. Everyone is worried except for Atticus. When Scout asked Atticus what happen to Tom if he lost, Atticus told her that he would get electrocuted as rape is a capital offense in Alameda. Atticus said that Alabama always favored a white man over a black man, but he hoped to win in the higher court. Scout also discovers that Cunningham, one of the jury members for Tom’s trial, wants to acquit. When Scout wanted to invite Walter Cunningham to the dinner, Aunt Alexandra forbade Scout to ask him. Scout found out that there are class systems from Jem.
One day, Aunt Alexandra invited Scout to her gathering for a missionary circle. Scout looked like a girl and even acted like a lady. Suddenly, Atticus appeared and told Calpunia that Tom Robinson was shot 17 times in his attempt to escape from the prison. Mr. Underwood wrote a long editorial stating that Tom’s death is like shooting an innocent man.
On Halloween, there was a Halloween agricultural pageant in which every school kid portrayed themselves as food. Scout dressed like a Ham. On the way back home, Jem kept hearing the noise. Then suddenly, they are attacked by a man. Jem tried to protect Scout. Boo Radley emerges from the middle of nowhere to save them, killing Bob Ewell in the process.
Atticus thought it was Jem who killed Boo in self-defense. The sheriff said it was not Jem who killed Bob Ewell despite knowing it was Boo who killed Bob Ewell, The sheriff said Tom Robinson died for no good reason, and now the responsible for Tom’s death is dead. Scout saw that putting Bob into the spotlight would be just like a sin to kill a mockingbird.
As Scout reflects on these events, she finally understands her father’s advice to consider other perspectives to understand a person truly.
Historical Contextual Analysis
The Jim Crow Law
In order to understand the book on a deeper level, we have to discuss the Jim Crow Laws. This novel is set in the 1930s. Slavery was abolished after the Civil War; however, there was an awful law that legally relegated African Americans to second-class citizenship. According to Jim Crow Museum (n.d.) The Jim Crow Laws were enforced in the southern part of the United States, mandating the separation of races in public places from the 1870s to the mid-1960s. Even Christian ministers and theologians taught white people as the “chosen people” and that African people existed to serve white people.
One tragic event, Tom Robinson’s trial, reflects on the realities in the United States around this time. The reason Atticus was worried that the lynching mob would assault Tom Robinson. Lynching against African Americans during the time to control African Americans (Berreys et al.,n.d). As Atticus’s anticipation, all 12 juries gave the verdict of guilty to Tom Robinson for assaulting Mayella Ewell despite the evidence suggesting the deep racial discrimination around this time. When Jem spoke up against it, he explained that a black man could not win against the accusation of a white man. And Mayella’s accusation of rape, despite her lies, led to the conviction of Tom Robinson and his death.
The Jim Crow laws physically separated whites and African-Americans at the time. Scout also noticed the racial division; they went to different churches. When Calpurnia, their African-American servant, went to the church, Scout noticed that Calpurnia talked and acted differently among her people. The church had no hymn book because African-American people could not read. Later, she found out that African Americans did not have schools to go to. During Tom’s Trial, African Americans had to watch the trial from the balcony.
When we look into the history around the time the story was staged, we start to see how special Atticus was. Unfortunately, some racial discrimination still exists in the United States.
Scout’s tomboyish nature contrasts with traditional expectations of women.
The expectations for women and girls are rigidly defined. Women are expected to be confined to domestic roles, maintain the house, and care for their children. They are expected to attend social activities such as missionary circles. Scout’s aunt, Alexandra, expected Scout to attend one of those social activities in dress. In reality, Scout hates to be in a dress. Alexandra is concerned that Scout lacks “feminine influences” as her mother died two years after her birth.
Scout, however, resents those conventions of what a lady should be. Instead, she prefers wearing overalls, climbing trees, and playing physical games with her brother Jem and friend Dill. She is a tomboy. She even strongly resented behaving like a lady when Jem told her to act like one by jumping onto Jem. She also attacked her cousin Francis for mocking Atticus. As a result, Scout gets into trouble with someone like Aunt Alexandra.
Character Analysis
Why The Story’s Narration Was Made From Scout
The books are mostly written from Scout’s perspective. The narration flipped between Scout as an innocent kid and Scout as an adult, reflecting on her childhood. This book talks about racism, classism, and prejudice, which are grim. Because the narration is from Scout’s innocent perspective, the tone is light and even humorous despite describing dreadful events.
Scout is ignorant and innocent, just like most girls her age. Her morality is closely tied to her interaction with Atticus, Calpunia, Jem, and Miss Maudie, and she slowly internalizes it as the story progresses. At the end of the book, she uses the metaphor of Mockingbird when She begins to grasp the complexities of morality.
Scout’s moral growth is different from that of Jem’s. Jem, unlike Scout, is aware of more things. When Scout gets to fight with Cnuungham’s kid, he invites the boy over to the house. He has a lot of growth as the story progresses. When Dill escapes his house, Jem lets Atticus know where Dill is, indicating that he understands the responsibility, even if that is breaching a kid’s secret code.
Jem became an adult man when he saw his father was about to be attacked by Lynch Mobs. He disobeyed his father because he sincerely feared for his father’s safety. Ironically, it was more likely Scout’s innocent behavior toward Cunningham stopped the lynch mobs, the possible deaths of many that night. He is still a kid, believing in the fair justice and the goodness of the people of Maycomb, which was shuttered and broke his heart after Tom’s trial.
Atticus as A Moral Figure
Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, is portrayed as a moral figure. He stands up for justice and equality, which makes him more remarkable as this is the time when racial discrimination was legalized in the place where they live. It was considered highly unconventional to defend an African American like Tom Robinson. The trial in the novel was still highly biased, which led to an innocent man like Tom Robinson’s death.
He portrays a consistent moral figure and believes in fairness and justice. He is a loving father. The quote that best represents his character is: “The main one is, if I didn’t, I couldn’t hold up my head in town, I couldn’t represent this county in the legislature. I couldn’t even tell you or Jem not to do something again.”In the book, he also discusses his views of being a hero to his children. His definition of the Hero is not someone strong but someone who can protect a weaker or someone who acts on their belief.
While Atticus is portrayed as a moral figure, I saw some flaws in him. His sense of justice is so strong that he imposes it upon his children. For example, he forces Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose as punishment for destroying her garden. In reality, Mrs. Dubose was racist and mean and insulted the children. Atticus said she had a morphine addiction, but that does not justify her menacing actions like she did. This raises the question: Atticus may be expecting too much from his children.
Atticus understands that people can be both evil and good. Some people, like Bob Ewell, are a menace and evil. While he tells his children that it is essential to see people from their perspective, he fails to see how someone like Bob Ewell could harm his children.
Boo Radley as A Enigmatic Figure
Boo Radley is an enigmatic figure in the novel. Lee uses some Southern Gothic themes in the book, describing him as mysterious and creepy, just like a Halloween monster. We can see this from how Jem described Boo Radley as dining on raw squirrels and any cats they could catch.
Boo Radley is a mysterious man who does not appear in public. Since Atticus never talked about Boo, Jem asked other people like Miss Crawford. The Gosshipy Miss Stephanie Crawford told Jem about Boo’s childhood event when Boo stabbed his father with scissors. The story we never be confirmed in the book; the more creepier the rumore gets, the more children are fascinated by the story of Boo Radley.
He was protective of Jem and Scout. There was the narrative from his perspective from chapter 31 of the book where we could learn how he perceived the story from his end. “Autumn again, and Boo’s Children needed him.” Despite the trouble these children caused, he cared for and protected children in his way by putting a blanket on Scout, saving children, and getting rid of Bob Ewell from the town.
He reminded me of Lennie Small from “Of Mice and Men.” How Boo is portrayed in the book suggests he struggles with mental illness. Miss Stephanie commented that Boo was to be sent to Asylum; instead, he was kept locked in a house. He does not fit the townie’s narrow view of “normal.” Adding to his peculiar behavior makes townee see him as some kind of monstrous figure; in reality, Boo is a mockingbird.
The Symbolism and Motifs To Enhance The Novel’s Meaning
The author addresses multiple themes in the book, which include the destruction of innocence, racial justice, and moral courage. To understand the novel in a deeper level, we should consider what is the symbolism shown in the story and how characters such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley related.
The Mockingbird as a Symbol in the World
Mockingbird is the state bird for multiple states in the United States. Tennesses’s state bird is also the Moking bird. Lee’s choice of the mockingbird is a central metaphor of the novel, and she highlights the vulnerability of goodness in a world tainted by prejudice and justice. As Miss Maudie said, mockingbirds are harmless to the garden and exist only to bring beauty and goodness.
Mockingbirds describe people like Tom Robinson and Boo Radley, who are vulnerable to the cruelty of society despite their goodness. Tom Robinson always helped the Ewell household without anything in return, yet he is being prosecuted for a crime he never committed. Boo Radley is also an excellent hurt man, trying to protect children in his way, misunderstood by the community.
Just like Mockingbirds, Tom and Boo are also harmless but good to society. Tom has been helping the Ewells with their house chores for free on multiple occasions. Boo took care of Atticus’s children in his ware. However, that society is often quickly destroyed by mockingbirds, someone like Tom and Boo, through racial injustice, fear of the unknown, or social expectations.
The Theme of Moral Courage
The author addresses several social issues throughout the book. One of the most important was the theme of moral courage. Many of us think that a hero is someone with power, strength, or success. Lee is messaging readers that the true hero is someone who can display the quiet determination to do what is right despite the likelihood of failure or social backlash.
Several characters in the novel exhibit moral courage; however, Atticus is a prominent example of all of them. Not only did he demonstrate his commitment to justice, where everyone in the United States should be equal in the court, but he also consistently demonstrated his view of his heroism. You will see his view of heroism when he says, “When you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway, and you see it through no matter what.” (Lee, 1952, p. 127)
Atticus knew that it was more likely that Tom Robinson would lose in the trial from the beginning.
It was so unconventional that an African person would win against any white male at the time. I bet Atticus faced overwhelming societal pressure, which Jem or great aunt noticed after Atticus took on the role of defending. It was Atticus’s quiet determination to do what is right that moved many people’s hearts, even though he lost the case. He taught his children, including Dill, by showing what he believed was right.
The Important Lessons From The Book
As I pointed out earlier, Lee wanted to say in this book that society is often quick to destroy innocence due to racial injustice, fear of the unknown, or social expectations. Multiple times, “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” is emphasized, and this sentiment captures the moral wrong of punishing the innocent for society’s prejudices and fear.
There is a part where Atticus teaches his children that real courage is not a man with a gun. Still, it is someone who stands up for their principles even when facing inevitable defeat. Atticus shows children that throughout the story. Lee delivers a moral lesson to stand up for what is right, even when it is unconventional, just like Atticus.
Atticus’s view is not someone who is strong but can stand up with their principal. He made me think about someone like Martin Luther King Jr., an author who constantly told us that courage is rooted in moral resilience rather than being strong. Knowing that Tom Robinson had great challenges winning the case or the social backlash he and his family would face, he demonstrated his belief in moral courage. A person like Atticus could eliminate existing social issues.
Like other parts of the world, the U.S. made mistakes in the past. However, I want to point out that our society has become much better than it was a long time ago. People like Atticus in the book made a change by demonstrating their version of Moral Courage. There are still a lot more social issues we need to work on.
Unfortunately, these books are banned in some parts of the United States for the use of derogatory words. The book taught me an important moral lesson. When you become 18 years old, I hope you will put this book as one of a book to read.
References
Berrey, S., Jeffries, H. K., Jackson, A., Warren, L., & Ayers, H. (2020, September 22). Jim Crow, Lynching and White Supremacy | Learning for Justice. https://www.learningforjustice.org/podcasts/teaching-hard-history/civil-rights-movement/jim-crow-lynching-and-white-supremacy
What was Jim Crow—Jim Crow Museum. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2024, from https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/what.htm