To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee, published in 1960, which won the Pulitzer Prize. It has become a cultural staple of America, as it discusses America’s racism, as well as the concepts of justice and fairness.
To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression. The narrator of the story is Jean Louise Finch (nicknamed Scout by acquaintances), who is 6 years old during the story. She has a brother, Jem, and a father, Atticus, a lawyer, who has been widowed. Jem and Scout are friends with a boy named Dill, who is very interested (or obsessed) with the “Radley Place,” a house that houses a supposedly hostile person named Boo Radley. Lee describes the house as “low, was once white white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it” (9). As seen in the description above, the house was largely in shambles. What was worse than the house, however, was Boo Radley, who was blamed for many of the “stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb,” including the mutilation of pets and animals, though those have been discredited (9). Dill, Jem, and Scout decide to taunt Boo Radley, as Scout dares Jem to touch the house if he’s not scared of Radley. Jem hesitates, but after Scout sneers at him, he “threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with his palm and ran past us, not waiting to see if his foray was successful” (16). As they looked back towards the house, they saw it stayed virtually identical, but suspected that they saw an inside shutter move. However, this movement was very hard to notice, so it’s possible they were imagining it.
In the next chapter, when Jem attended school, her teacher, Miss Caroline, “a pretty little thing,” berated Walter Cunningham for forgetting to bring his lunch. It becomes clear that Walter’s life is undesirable and unfortunate, as his “face told everybody in the first grade he had hookworms. His absence of shoes told us how he got them. People caught hookworms going barefoot in barnyards and hog wallows” (21). As a Cunningham, Walter’s life makes relative sense, as the Cunninghams lived a very frugal life due to their poverty, and made sure they owe nobody anything. Another one of Scout’s classmates, Burris Ewell, had terrible hygiene, as “He was the filthiest human I had ever seen. His neck was dark gray, the backs of his hands were rusty, and his fingernails were black deep into the quick” (29). Burris, who had cooties, was told to clean himself by Miss Caroline and to come back to school the next day. Burris snorts in response and responds that he only attends the first day of school every year, because he is an Ewell - his mother died and his father doesn’t care about him. Burris, likely to start a fight, was told down by Chuck Little, a conscientious and decent person despite the fact that he “didn't know where his next meal was coming from,” and sulked out of the room full of rage (29). However, before he left, he yelled at Miss Caroline on page 31: “‘Report and be damned to ye! Ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’! You ain’t makin’ me go nowhere, missus. You just remember that, you ain’t makin’ me go nowhere!’” Miss Caroline starts crying, and Burris, satisfied, leaves.
Scout and Jem get more curious about Radley, and they ask Miss Maudie, “a widow, a chameleon lady who worked in her flower beds in an old straw hat and men’s overalls,” about Boo (47). Miss Maudie tries to defend Radley, saying that he is an introvert who doesn’t like leaving the house, but concedes that “‘If he’s not [crazy] he should be by now. The things that happen to people we never really know. What happens in houses behind closed doors, what secrets-’” (51). That ends their conversation, and after Scout and Jem helped Miss Maudie work on her flower beds, Miss Maudie gave them fresh poundcake to take home. When they go back to the house, Jem is upset by Scout, and refuses to talk to her for a while. It is also around this time that Atticus takes up a very severe case from the local jail which involves a black man, and he gives the children a piece of advice - before you judge someone, you should place yourself in their situation. At school, there are ramifications for Jem and Scout for Atticus’s case - Cecil Jacobs, another student, “announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers” (85). When Jem asks Atticus about the whole deal, Atticus tells her that the man he was defending, Tom Robinson, is a colored man who lives “‘in that little settlement beyond the town dump. He’s a member of Calpurnia’s [Atticus’s housekeeper] church, and Cal knows his family well. She says they’re clean-living folk’” (86). Atticus then continues describing the case, as he said that the main reason he decided to defend a black man was because he has standards, and must represent the law and justice - if he turned down the case, he would be a hypocrite whenever he would give his children moral advice. Atticus then says that he is not going to win the case because of the racism of the judges, but that he is still going to give it his best shot, as “‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win’” (87).
That Christmas, Atticus takes his children to Finch’s landing to meet their uncle, Uncle Jack. Uncle Jack is said to be “one of the few men of science who never terrified me, probably because he never behaved like a doctor. Whenever he performed a minor service for Jem and me, as removing a splinter from a foot, he would tell us exactly what he was going to do, give us an estimate of how much it would hurt, and explain the use of any tongs he employed'' (89). After a humorous conversation between himself and Scout, in which Scout tells him he knows nothing of children, he has a conversation with Atticus in which Scout shouldn’t have eavesdropped on. One of the main topics of the conversation involved Francis, a child in the family, who denounced Atticus as a nigger-lover and as the ruination of his entire family. Atticus, upon hearing this, calmly tells Uncle Jack, who was quite incensed, to leave it, as he says that all children use bad language at one time or another. Uncle Jack also tells Atticus that it will be a tough case, as even though Tom Robinson, the defendant, is black, and was accused of raping a member of the Ewell family, the family has little credibility and social standing, which should give him an advantage. He also tells Atticus that the previous generation of the Ewell family was also disastrous, so they haven’t changed at all. Atticus tells Uncle Jack that even though he doesn’t want to be the person who does the case, he has no choice, as he has been chosen by the legislature, and that “‘You know what’s going to happen as well as I do, Jack, and I hope and pray I can get Jem and Scout through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease. Why reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up, is something I don’t pretend to understand … I just hope that Jem and Scout come to me for their answers instead of listening to the town’” (101). Atticus then catches Scout eavesdropping, and tells her to go back to bed.
Soon, when Atticus met with Miss Maudie, he told the children that they can “‘Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,’” which was the only time Scout remembered Atticus told them it was a sin to do something (103). Miss Maudie spoke in defence of Atticus, telling them that “‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’” (103). Not long after, a dog with rabies was spotted, whose name was Tim Johnson, who belonged to Mr. Harry Johnson, who drove the Mobile bus and lived in the southern corner of Maycomb. Atticus, upon seeing the dog, shot it to put it out of its misery - Tom Johnson “made two steps forward, then stopped and raised his head. We saw his body go rigid” (110). Atticus also remarked that that was the first time he fired a gun in thirty years, which supports his nonviolent nature. After that incident, a woman, Mrs. Dubose, who was confined to a wheelchair and lived alone save for a black servant, insulted the memory of Scout and Jem’s mother, saying that: “it was quite a pity our father had not remarried after our mother’s death. A lovelier lady than our mother never lived, she said, and it was heartbreaking the way Atticus Finch let her children run wild” (115). Although Scout didn't remember her mother, Jem did, and he was enraged upon hearing the insult. Deciding to let it go, he became even angrier on page 117 upon hearing Mrs. Dubose tell them that “‘Your father’s no better than the niggers and trash he works for!’” Having had enough, Jem got his revenge by ravaging the flowers and bushes that Mrs. Dubose owned. Atticus, upon finding out, told his children to apologize to Mrs. Dubose and to make it up. Mrs. Dubose then requested that Jem will read to her for two hours every afternoon after school and Saturdays for a month. Jem eventually finished his task, and felt some sympathy for Mrs. Dubose, as she was, after all, a sick old woman in the end. Less than a month after the completion of his task, Mrs. Dubose died. Atticus told Jem and Scout that Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict who took it because of a painful disease, but wanted to “‘leave this world beholden to nothing and nobody’” (127). Whenever Jem would read to her, she would resist the urge to take morphine, and before she died, she shed her addiction, and died a free woman. She even gave Jem a present - “a white, waxy, perfect camellia,” a Snow-on-the-Mountain (128). Atticus then said that she was a great person, despite her various prejudices, and that “‘I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew’” (128).
Jem later turned twelve, and began acting like a typical adolescent. Calpurnia soon brought Scout and Jem to her church, which was separate from the white one, as racism and segregation were rampant at that time. One black woman felt angry at Calpurnia for bringing white children into a black church, remarking that the whites have their own church. Despite various tensions, Jem and Scout are allowed to attend the service. A while after, Scout finds Dill hiding in her house, and Dill reveals that he ran away from his parents, because they didn't want or need him. He said that they weren’t cruel to him, but they didn't like him at all and would buy him whatever he wants as a substitution for affection and attention - “‘They buy me everything I want, but it’s now-you’ve-got-it-go-play-with-it … I-got-you-that-book-so-go-read-it’” (162). Atticus finds out about Dill, and telephones his parents, and “After many telephone calls, much pleading on behalf of the defendant, and a long forgiving letter from his mother, it was decided that Dill could stay” (164). After a week of peace, it all came tumbling down, for there were rumors that the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) has resurfaced, which terrifies Atticus, though he hides it. Atticus then went to see Tom Robinson, who was in a cell, and is soon surrounded by a mob who wants to lynch Tom for his supposed rape. They were close to attacking Atticus until Scout showed up and resisted, kicking “a burly man” who “yanked Jem nearly off his feet,” which, to her surprise, caused him real pain (173). Scout then found Mr. Cunningham in the mob, the father of Walter Cunningham, and asked him how his entailment was going. Scout describes that she knew Mr. Cunningham’s entailment because Atticus was involved in them, which made Mr. Cunningham very uncomfortable, as she appeals to his sense of individuation and responsibility on page 174 - “‘We brought him home for dinner one time. Maybe he told you about me, I beat him up one time but he was real nice about it. Tell him hey for me, won’t you?’” Cunningham decided to leave, instructing the mob to leave as well, and they obey him.
Not soon after, the trial for Tom Robinson begins. The courthouse where the trial took place in was large, but so many people attended that it was packed to the brim, with little space remaining. The judge, Judge Taylor, was “amiable, white-haired, slightly ruddy-faced, he was a man who ran his court with an alarming informality … although he seemed to take his job casually, in reality he kept a firm grip on the proceedings” (187). In this case, however, the judge was serious, as he knew cases like these happened very rarely, but defined entire ages. To begin the trial, Sheriff Tate, a witness, testified that he Mr. Ewell called him to see to his daughter, as she had been beaten badly, supposedly by Tom Robinson. The injuries, he reveals, were extensive, involving her neck, eye, and arms. After Tate, Mr. Ewell was called to testify, and his poor reputation became apparent as Scout remarks that “Every town the size of Maycomb had families like the Ewells. No economic fluctuations changed their status - people like the Ewells lived as guests of the country in prosperity as well as in the depths of a depression. No truant officers could keep their numerous offspring in school; no public health officers could free them from congenital defects, various worms, and the diseases indigenous to filthy surroundings” (193). It was also revealed that he lived behind a garbage dump in a run-down cabin, and his numerous children were constantly dirty. Judge Taylor, upon calling up Ewell, showed his seriousness by saying that there will be no “more audibly obscene speculations on any subject from anybody in this courtroom as long as I’m standing here,” and then asks Mr. Ewell to testify (196). Ewell states that on November 21 he was coming from the woods and heard Mayella screaming. It was sundown, but when Mr. Ewell ran to the window, he could see “‘that black nigger yonder ruttin- on my Mayella’” (196). After a brief tumult, Mr. Ewell continued, and testified that he did indeed see Tom Robinson raping Mayella. Atticus then proceeded to cross-examine Mr. Ewell, asking him why he would run to see Tate and not a doctor, considering the extent of Mayella’s injuries. He also asked Ewell if he could read and write, and when Ewell said he could, he asked him to write his name on a piece of paper. It turned out that Ewell was left-handed, and he wasn’t ambidextrous, which incriminated him for lying and domestic abuse, as Mayella’s right eye was bruised, not her left.
Mayella Ewell was called to the podium, and she said that she asked Tom Robinson to break some used furniture for a nickle before he allegedly began raping her. Atticus then questioned Mayella about her home life, asking her questions like “‘How many sisters and brothers have you?’”, “‘How long has your mother been dead?’”, “‘Did you ever go to school?’”, “‘Who are your friends?’”, and “‘Do you love your father?’” (207-208). It became clear to all those present that Mayella’s home life was very bad, as she only went to school for 2-3 years, grew up without her mother, had too many siblings to ensure a high quality of life, felt insulted when asked whether she had friends or not, and implied that her father could act violently (he’s a complete alcoholic). Atticus then asked Mayella whether Tom Robinson was the one who beat her, and she said he was. Atticus then asked for Tom Robinson to stand up, and Tom Robinson turned out to be an amputee - his left hand was caught in a cotton gin when he was young, which severed his arm. Therefore, the chance that he could have bruised Mayella’s eye with his left hand is nil, which supports his case. He then asked her question after question, including one regarding her siblings - why didn't they come help her upon hearing her screaming? The last one he asked was especially damning, as it went as follows: “‘Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?’” (213). Mayella then breaks down crying and yells at Atticus.
Atticus’s only witness is Thomas Robinson, who stated that the only time he was arrested before was for disorderly conduct, in which he received a jail sentence of 30 days. Furthermore, he said that he did get into a fight, but only when the other person tried to cut him. He then said that he knew Mayella pretty well, as he passed by her place on a fairly regular basis, and when she called him inside to destroy an old chifferobe, she told him that all the children had gone into the town to get cream. Tom responded that it was nice of her to do so, and Mayella then “‘reached up an’ kissed me ‘side of the’ face. She says she never kissed a grown man before … what her papa do to her don’t count … I say Miss Mayella lemma outa here an’ tried to run but she got her back to the door an’ I’da had to push her. I didn't wanta harm her, Mr. Finch, an’ I say lemme pass, but just when I say it Mr. Ewell yonder hollered through the’ window’” (221). Mr. Ewell then proceeded to threaten Mayella’s life, calling her a whore, and Tom proceeded to escape. Then the lawyer for Ewell, Mr. Gilmer, a virulent racist, proceeded to debase Tom, insulting him and calling him “boy” repeatedly, and became enraged when Tom said he felt sorry for her situation, as he believes that blacks shouldn’t feel sorry for whites. After a brief recess, Atticus gave a brilliant, reasonable, calm speech that defended Tom Robinson’s innocence, dissecting the entire scenario. He stated that there was no evidence Tom Robinson abused Mayella, the witnesses gave erratic answers to the cross-examination, and Mayella was responsible for what happened to Tom Robinson - she “‘has committed no crime’” for feeling lonely and attracted to a black man, though society believes she did (231). Despite his sympathy for her, he states that while “She is the victim of cruel poverty and ignorance,” he cannot pity her, for she is white, and she has destroyed Tom Robinson’s life in an attempt to put him away to avoid feeling guilty (231). Atticus then described how after Ewell saw Mayella’s sexual advances on Tom, he severely beat her with his left hand and swore that Tom Robinson was raping her to defend his reputation. Atticus then talks about the stupidity of racism, for people of every culture, race, and color do bad things, including lying, seeing that “‘There is not a person in this courtroom who has never told a lie, who has never done an immoral thing, and there is no man living who has never looked upon a woman without desire’” (232). Atticus then appeals to the past, mentioning Thomas Jefferson’s quote that “all men are created equal,” as well as to the system of justice, as the law is supposed to make the poorest man equal to the richest, the idiot equal to a genius, the black man equal to the white. Atticus ends his speech by telling the court and jury to “‘restore this defendant to his family’” (233). Unfortunately for him, the jury is extremely racist and prejudiced, and Tom was unanimously decided to be guilty. This also destroyed Jem’s belief in a just world, as when the verdict was being read, “his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them’” (240).
When they returned home, Jem weeps and talks about how unfair the whole process is, which Atticus concedes is true. However, Atticus says this is to be expected, as it happens all the time and will happen again in the future. Mr. Ewell then stopped Atticus when he went to the post office, spat at him, and told him he would get his revenge. Even worse, Tom Robinson died, as during the prison’s exercise period, he attempted to escape by climbing over the fence. The guards warned him to stop, and when he didn't, they shot him seventeen times. When school began for Scout, there would be current events assignments, and one of the topics was on Adolf Hitler and his persecution of the Jews. While most people in Maycomb viewed his genocidal policies to be wrong, Scout mentions, ironically, that they are against one kind of discrimination only to be tolerant of another. After a Halloween celebration in the school in which Jem and Scout dressed up as food, as Jem and Scout were walking home they were attacked by Mr. Ewell, who attacked them and “slowly squeezed the breath out of me,” but was “jerked backwards and flung on the ground, almost carrying me with him” (301). Ewell then proceeded to breathe heavily, proceeded to cough violently, and stopped moving. Once Scout got to safety, she inquired about Jem, and it turned out that he’s mostly fine, though his arm was broken and he had a bump on the head. Sheriff Tate then checked on Ewell, and it turned out he was dead from the knife which was stuck into his abdomen. Sheriff Tate told Atticus that Mr. Ewell deserved his death, as he was low enough to harass Tom Robinson’s wife after his death, and that anyone who is despicable enough to attempt to kill children should be shot before they could cause any harm, and even then “‘they ain’t worth the bullet it takes to shoot ‘em. Ewell ‘as one of ‘em’” (309). Soon after, Boo Radley showed up, and it turned out he was the one who saved Scout and Jem from being killed by Ewell. Boo wore sand-stained khaki pants and a torn denim shirt, possessed a slim figure, a pale complexion, a jutting chin, a wide mouth, scarcely noticeable indentations at his temples, gray eyes, and thin hair. To summarize, Boo was not the monster Jem and Scout believed to be, as he simply looked like a world-weary man who wanted to keep to himself. After Boo’s appearance, it was agreed upon with the sheriff that Ewell’s death is to be ruled as purely accidental, as he supposedly fell on his own knife while trying to harm children.
Atticus then thanked Boo Radley for saving his children, and Boo asked if Scout would see him home. She agreed, and when they reached his house, “His fingers found the front doorknob. He gently released my hand, opened the door, went inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again” (320). She thought about the past, and how Boo gave her and Jem presents in exchange for nothing (the presents were left underneath a tree), including: “two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives” (320). Scout then says that she feels bad, as neighbors are supposed to give presents in return for presents, and for all that Boo gave her and Jem, she gave him nothing in return. The book ends on a hopeful note, as Atticus tells Scout that most people are nice “when you finally see them” before proceeding into Jem’s room to watch over him (323). He stayed there the entire night, and was there when Jem awoke to the light of day.
Personal thoughts:
To Kill a Mockingbird is hailed as a classic, and it is easy to see why it is so after reading it. The characters are fleshed out, understandable, realistic, and unique. The book itself is of manageable length and is easy to get through, and continues to hold relevancy, as many kinds of discrimination and racism still exist, however small their power may be when compared to the world of a century ago. To Kill a Mockingbird is a humanitarian text in that it urges people to be cautiously kind, like Atticus - treat everyone with fairness and decency. If you could, be kind, and at worst, be understanding. The only complaint I have about Atticus is that he should have been more emotional upon hearing of Tom Robinson’s verdict and death and of Ewell’s attempt on the lives of his children, as all those things matter to him very much, so he should be willing to speak out for them, even if it jeopardizes his kindness. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee should be read by anyone who is interested in racism, discrimination, culture, small-town America, justice, and the human spirit.
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