There was never a story so historically accurate and yet so immersed in its character's own lives as Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.
Set in the American South, Alabama, Lee masterfully spins a tale of prejudice and ignorance of equality through the young yet intelligent eyes of a little girl, our central character, Scout Finch. "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" – a lawyer's advice to his children while he defends the real mockingbird in this story, Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl. In the time of the Great Depression when rights for black people had only just been won, the odds are cruelly turned against Tom and his lawyer Atticus Finch.
But inequality is everywhere, not just in court. Seen and heard by Scout and her brother Jem in their very own neighbourhood in Maycomb, hidden in snide comments and everyday actions. Family name, colour, race, background – all values that the adults of Maycomb hold so dear. It only takes a child with an open mind to see how very wrong they are.
The characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are vividly drawn to build an entire world. The beliefs and faults of the Deep South in the thirties are humorous and yet not only make the reader think, but teach them of how people used to think of race in the past, and how foolish this way of thinking was.
Harper Lee uses fiction to show what real courage is, not "a man with a gun in his hand" but "when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what".
Although the lengthy and detailed descriptions of the characteristics and habits of Maycomb County and its residents may seem a little unnecessary or stilted, this is what makes the small town seem like an entire world to the reader and also, later on in the book, the reader will be sure to come to the realisation that a lot of these characteristics and habits are the product of prejudice.
Boo Radley will seem quite a significant mystery towards the start of the story, a never-heard-of man who stays locked up in his house, never seen by his neighbours. However, once the major events of the trial and several other happenings occur, the reader, as well as the characters in the story, Jem and Scout, will come to know that Boo Radley is a perfect example of the effects of judgment based on race, family and colour.
Lee uses a perfect blend of character, mystery and history to portray the past as accurately and honestly as a classic such as this could.
This story is a lasting one with characters that are remembered long after the last page is read.
A touching book, simply for being so remarkably real.
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