To Kill A Mocking Bird - REVIEW

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How many of you have read this book?? According to me this book simply is an amazing read. I am posting my review on this book...and would love it if you people did the same! ____________________________________________ TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD By Harper Lee With the help of this book, Harper Lee is able to show the readers moral values and the difference between right and wrong. She does this by making Scout (the main character in the story) and her brother Jem completely innocent, as they have not seen evil so early in their lives. The first time they see or experience evil is when Mr. Ewell attempts to kill both Jem and Scout. This experience changes their life forever and they realize how different can the world be from their views. It is Atticus Finch, their father, who teaches them all the morals and values. He has experienced many evils in his life (for example – the death of his wife), but he has never lost faith in the good of people. He teaches Scout and Jem what is right and what is wrong from a very young age, because they had no mother who could teach them these values. Atticus believes that every person has a good side and a bad side and he strongly holds the view that in the end, the good always triumphs over the bad. We can see this when he backs Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping Mr. Ewell’s daughter. Even though no one helped Atticus out, he always stood by Tom Robinson and never gave him up, no matter how hard things were. This book also shows how prejudice and ignorance is viewed by the innocent. In this story, the image of Boo Radley, the seemingly crazy person who lived down the street, was changed drastically throughout the story, for Scout. Scout always thought Boo Radley as a crazy thing one should watch out for and never as a person. However, when Boo Radley saved Scout’s life, she started seeing him not just as a person, but also as a friend. Jem, on the other hand, was distressed at the end of the court case between Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell. He was shocked to see the evils of racism and even began to lose hope on the justice system. The story progresses in a systematic manner. It starts with Scout and Jem, yet to see any evils in their life. Once Jem starts going to school, he begins to see evil that Scout is shielded from. Teasing on the playground, fighting in the lunch room and his broken arm by the hands of the school bully – all show Jem evil from a very young age. It was only after the court trial that Jem saw the Real World. The court trial happened when Jem was in his teens. He had trouble adjusting to the pressures on him and his family. He hated it when the people called Atticus a ‘n*gger lover’ and he, himself, had the view that black people were all dirty and uneducated, mainly because none of the black people in the community were allowed in schools. He did not know what to do or what to think when his father took it upon himself to save a black man. All the white people in town wanted to see the black man get hanged, only because he was black and not because of the charges that were laid against him. Jem found himself stuck in the middle with his father on one side, and the whole society on the other. Both Jem and Scout had a scary experience that changed the way they treated other people. Both of them were almost murdered by Mr. Ewell, the night after the trial. Jem realized that Mr. Ewell was a cowardly man. To settle scores with Atticus, he had wanted to strike Atticus on his weak spot – his children. The children realized that negative things can come out from positive things. Even though Atticus Finch was able to save Tom Robinson, he also revealed that Mr. Ewell beat his children and was an improper father. This finding came back to haunt the Finch family. The only salvation that the young children got was Boo Radley. Boo Radley never used to leave his house and he was always made fun of by Jem and his friends. However, this did not stop him from doing the right thing. He saved the children and brought them back to Atticus. A big debt of gratitude was finally paid to Boo Radley. For years he had been ridiculed by the whole town for being a monster. When he put his whole life on the line to save the children, it was then that he got the respect he deserved.